Welcome to RunCloud – the best way to manage your cloud servers and web applications.

Whether you’re a developer, a web agency, or a business owner, RunCloud can help you simplify, automate, and optimize your web hosting operations.

Here is a quick tutorial to help you get started with RunCloud.

Step 1: Connect Your Server to RunCloud

Before using RunCloud, you need to connect it to a virtual or dedicated server that runs Ubuntu. This tutorial will cover only the necessary steps for launching your first server.

If you are looking for step-by-step instructions, we have written separate posts on connecting a server to RunCloud using various cloud platforms such as DigitalOcean, UpCloud, Vultr, and more, which dive deep into the topic and explain each step of the process.

RunCloud does not support virtual machines that use OpenVZ virtualization technology. Before connecting a server to RunCloud, you must provision a fresh server accessible from the internet. When creating a server, make sure it meets the following requirements:

  • Uses Ubuntu Server (20/22/24 LTS) 64-bit operating system
  • More than 2GB of disk storage
  • At least one core processor
  • At least 512MB RAM
  • Public IPv4 Address (NAT VPS is not supported)

You can quickly deploy a server either by using RunCloud’s cloud integrations or by manually creating a fresh server and opening the following ports in your firewall:

  • 80/TCP: For HTTP traffic
  • 443/TCP: For HTTPS traffic
  • 443/UDP: For HTTP/3 traffic (optional)
  • 34210/TCP: For communicating with the RunCloud agent
  • 22/TCP: For establishing an SSH connection (you can close this port once the server is connected to RunCloud).

To connect your cloud server to RunCloud, log in to your RunCloud dashboard and click on the “Connect a New Server” button.

Note: If you are subscribed to the RunCloud Essentials plan, any inactive or offline servers connected to your RunCloud account will count towards your usage quota. If you cannot create new servers, you will need to either upgrade your subscription or delete an existing server.

On the next screen, select your cloud provider. If your cloud provider is not listed, select “Other“.

Next, you must enter basic information about your server, such as the name and IP address. In the name field, you can enter anything you like; in the IP address field, you need to enter the public IP address of your server (your cloud company provides this).

You also need to choose the server stack you want to use. If you’re unsure, just continue with the default Native NGINX selection. If you want to learn more on this topic, you can refer to our in-depth comparison of OpenLiteSpeed vs. NGINX vs. Apache.

After you have filled in the details, click on the “Continue” button.

On the next screen, you can enter your server’s root password. This will allow RunCloud to automatically log in to your server and install the RunCloud agent.

Alternatively, you can switch to the “Manual Installation” tab, copy the script that RunCloud generates, and run it on your cloud server as root. You can access your server’s terminal using SSH or any other method.

The script will install the RunCloud agent on your server and connect it to your RunCloud account. Depending on your server speed and network connection, this may take a few minutes.

Once the script finishes running, you will have successfully connected your cloud server to RunCloud. You can now manage your server from your RunCloud dashboard.

Step 2: Create A Web Application on RunCloud

A web application holds all the files and settings for your website. You can create multiple web applications on a single server and host them on different domains or subdomains.

To learn more about web applications, read our posts on Understanding web applications, creating a web application on RunCloud, and how to install WordPress.

To create a web application on RunCloud, go to your RunCloud dashboard and click on a connected server. Click the “Deploy New Web App” button on the next screen. You will see a screen like this:

You can click on different tabs at the top to change the installation type. In this tutorial, we will create an empty web application – a basic application that configures all system settings, such as the domain name and automated backups. However, it doesn’t install any CMS platform, such as WordPress or Drupal.

Next, you can configure basic information about your web application, such as the name, domain name, PHP version, and web application stack. You must also choose the server where you want to create the web application.

Since we’re just creating an application for testing purposes, you can leave all settings to default and use a test domain name. Don’t worry – this can be changed later.

After filling in the details, click the “Create Web Application” button.

That’s it! You have successfully deployed your web project to RunCloud. You can now visit your domain name and see your web project live online.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can create a support ticket or post your query on the RunCloud community.

Once your application has been deployed, you can learn how to perform automated backups, use Atomic Deployment to manage application updates, or use RunCloud Developer API.