How to install AFFiNE on a Cloud VPS

AFFiNE is an open-source workspace that combines documents, whiteboards and databases in one place, a self-hosted alternative to Notion and Miro.

The self-hosted version removes per-user subscriptions: you pay only for the server, no matter how many teammates use the app.

One-click install on cloudlinux.ro

The fastest way: AFFiNE installs automatically at the first boot of a new server.

1. Create a Cloud VPS from the control panel.
2. In the configuration step, pick AFFiNE from the app catalog.
3. Start the server. The install runs in the background for a few minutes and its status shows on the server page.
4. Access details and generated passwords are saved on the server in /root/app-credentials.txt. The app will be available on port 3010.

Manual install on any Ubuntu server

If you prefer doing it yourself, below is the exact script our automatic install runs. Execute it as root on a fresh Ubuntu server (24.04 recommended). It stops at the first error, and when it finishes you will find the access details in /root/app-credentials.txt.

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
DB_PASS=$(openssl rand -base64 32 | tr -dc 'A-Za-z0-9' | cut -c1-24)
mkdir -p /opt/affine && cd /opt/affine
curl -fsSL -o docker-compose.yml https://github.com/toeverything/affine/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
cat > .env <<EOF
AFFINE_REVISION=stable
PORT=3010
DB_USERNAME=affine
DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASS}
DB_DATABASE=affine
DB_DATA_LOCATION=/opt/affine/postgres
UPLOAD_LOCATION=/opt/affine/storage
CONFIG_LOCATION=/opt/affine/config
EOF
docker compose up -d
IP=$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}')
printf 'AFFiNE: http://%s:3010\nCreeaza contul de administrator la http://%s:3010/admin (primul cont devine administrator).\n' "$IP" "$IP" > /root/app-credentials.txt

You can also save this script as a recipe in your account and reuse it on any new server.