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Choose your setup path

There are four ways in. They install the same software; they differ in how many questions you answer and where you answer them.

PathAudienceTimeEnds with
One-line installAnyone with a fresh Ubuntu or Debian serverAbout 10 minutesA configured /opt/vidra, ready for vidra deploy
Web setup wizardThe same, but you would rather answer questions in a browserAbout 10 minutesThe same env file, written by the same engine
Production deployment by handOperators with existing infrastructure, an external database, or their own TLS terminator30–60 minutesA deployment you assembled step by step
Development setupContributors and anyone evaluating the codeAbout 5 minutesA local stack with hot reload and a demo account

One-line install — the default​

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yegamble/vidra/main/install.sh | sh

Installs Docker if it is missing, unpacks a checksum-verified release bundle into /opt/vidra, installs the vidra CLI, and runs the terminal interview. It starts no containers and opens no ports; vidra deploy does that.

Take this path unless you have a specific reason not to. See Quickstart for the whole sequence.

Web setup wizard — same questions, in a browser​

vidra setup --template env/production.env.example --web

Serves a nine-step wizard from the CLI process and prints a one-time link. It binds to loopback only and there is no flag to change that: it writes the env file and can run the deploy, and its one-time token is its only authentication, over plain HTTP, before the TLS it is configuring exists. Reach it from your own machine with ssh -L 8321:127.0.0.1:8321 user@server.

Both front ends share one engine, and a parity test pins them to the same answers.

Production deployment by hand — full control​

Everything the installer automates, done deliberately: clone, bootstrap.sh, fill in env/production.env, render the Caddyfile, render-check the compose chain, run the two migrators, bring it up. This is the path to take when you have an external Postgres, your own load balancer terminating TLS, or a provisioning system that will not tolerate an interactive installer.

See Production deployment.

Development setup — a local stack​

git clone https://github.com/yegamble/vidra.git
cd vidra
make dev

Backend and search stack in containers, frontend on the host for hot module reloading. make seed gives you a demo account. This is not a deployment path — the local stack disables the global API rate limiter by default.

See Development setup.

What you configure, whichever path you take​

  • Domain and TLS — VIDRA_TLS_MODE chooses the topology as well as the issuer: acme, acme-staging and internal run the managed Caddy; external leaves Caddy out entirely so your own proxy is the front door; plain-http is a deliberate no-TLS lab mode.
  • Media storage — local volume or anything S3-compatible, with an optional dual-tier IPFS mirror. See Storage backends.
  • Optional components — scanning (ClamAV), captions (Whisper), live media (RTMP), tracing (OpenTelemetry), IPFS. These are compose profiles, written to VIDRA_COMPOSE_PROFILES.
  • Secrets — JWT_SECRET, POSTGRES_PASSWORD, REDIS_PASSWORD, MFA_KEY_KEK, SEARCH_INTERNAL_SECRET and the SMTP and S3 credentials. vidra setup mints every one the template leaves blank.

Whatever you choose, the instance is not usable until you redeem the owner-claim token. That step is in Quickstart.