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Expose Docs

Prerequisites

Before deploying the Expose server, ensure you have the following ready.

VPS Setup

1. Provision a VPS

Get a VPS from any provider (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Vultr, etc.) with:

  • Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+
  • At least 1 GB RAM
  • Public IPv4 address

2. Install Docker

SSH into your VPS and install Docker:

Terminal window
# Update packages
apt update && apt upgrade -y


# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh


# Add your user to the docker group
usermod -aG docker $USER


# Install Docker Compose
apt install docker-compose-plugin -y


# Verify installation
docker --version
docker compose version
Terminal window
# Create a user
adduser expose
usermod -aG docker expose
usermod -aG sudo expose


# Switch to the new user
su - expose

Domain Setup

DNS Records

You need three DNS records pointing to your VPS:

api.yourdomain.com      →  YOUR_VPS_IP
*.expose.yourdomain.com →  YOUR_VPS_IP
*.hosted.yourdomain.com →  YOUR_VPS_IP

Verify DNS

Wait for DNS propagation (usually 5-30 minutes), then verify:

Terminal window
dig +short api.yourdomain.com
# Should return your VPS IP

Traefik Setup

Expose uses Traefik as a reverse proxy for TLS termination. If you don’t have Traefik set up already, here’s a quick guide:

Create Traefik Directory

Terminal window
mkdir -p /opt/traefik
cd /opt/traefik

Create Configuration

Create traefik.yml:

api:
  dashboard: true


entryPoints:
  web:
    address: ":80"
    http:
      redirections:
        entryPoint:
          to: websecure
          scheme: https
  websecure:
    address: ":443"


certificatesResolvers:
  letsencrypt:
    acme:
      email: your@email.com
      storage: /letsencrypt/acme.json
      dnsChallenge:
        provider: ovh  # Change to your DNS provider


providers:
  docker:
    exposedByDefault: false
    network: web

Create Docker Network

Terminal window
docker network create web

Create docker-compose.yml

services:
  traefik:
    image: traefik:v3.0
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
      - ./traefik.yml:/etc/traefik/traefik.yml:ro
      - ./letsencrypt:/letsencrypt
    environment:
      # Add your DNS provider credentials
      - OVH_ENDPOINT=ovh-eu
      - OVH_APPLICATION_KEY=xxx
      - OVH_APPLICATION_SECRET=xxx
      - OVH_CONSUMER_KEY=xxx
    networks:
      - web


networks:
  web:
    external: true

Start Traefik

Terminal window
docker compose up -d

Next Steps

Once you have:

  • ✅ VPS with Docker installed
  • ✅ DNS records configured
  • ✅ Traefik running

Continue to DNS Configuration for detailed DNS setup.