Generate config

SimpleDeploy reads its config from /etc/simpledeploy/config.yaml by default. Generate a starter file, then edit three things.

Generate

sudo simpledeploy init --config /etc/simpledeploy/config.yaml

That writes a fully commented YAML file with sensible defaults.

Edit

sudo vim /etc/simpledeploy/config.yaml

You must set three fields before starting the server:

# Management UI domain (TLS cert is provisioned for this name)
domain: manage.example.com

# TLS via Let's Encrypt
tls:
  mode: auto
  email: you@example.com    # ACME account email

# Encryption + signing key. NEVER commit this anywhere.
master_secret: "PASTE_LONG_RANDOM_STRING_HERE"

Generate the master secret:

openssl rand -hex 32

The `master_secret` encrypts stored registry passwords and signs JWTs. Losing it means you cannot decrypt those secrets. Back it up somewhere safe (password manager).

Optional fields you might tweak

# Where SQLite + local backups live
data_dir: /var/lib/simpledeploy

# Watched directory: each subdirectory = one app
apps_dir: /etc/simpledeploy/apps

# Reverse proxy listen address
listen_addr: ":443"

# Management API + dashboard port (used internally by Caddy)
management_port: 8443

For metrics retention, rate-limit defaults, and registry config, see the full Configuration reference.

Create the directories

If they do not already exist:

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/simpledeploy
sudo mkdir -p /etc/simpledeploy/apps

Validate

sudo simpledeploy serve --config /etc/simpledeploy/config.yaml --check

(or just start the service: errors print to journalctl -u simpledeploy).

Next: create the admin user.