Installation Guide

AgencyStack provides multiple installation methods to fit your needs and technical comfort level.

Prerequisites

Before installing AgencyStack, make sure you have:

  1. Domain Name Configuration:
    • Configure DNS records for your domain to point to your server’s IP address
    • Set up A records for your main domain and any subdomains you plan to use
    • Allow time for DNS propagation (can take 24-48 hours)
    • Example DNS records: 
      example.com.         IN A     203.0.113.10
*.example.com.       IN A     203.0.113.10
  2. Server Requirements:
    • Debian 11+ or Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or newer
    • Minimum 2GB RAM (4GB+ recommended)
    • Minimum 20GB storage
    • Open ports: 80, 443 (and 22 for SSH)
    • Root access or sudo privileges
  3. Network Requirements:
    • Stable internet connection
    • Ability to make outbound connections to Docker Hub and GitHub
    • No firewall blocking HTTP/HTTPS traffic
    • Public static IP address (recommended)
  4. Email Requirements:
    • Access to an SMTP server for sending system emails
    • Can be your existing email provider (Gmail, Office 365, etc.)
    • Or a transactional email service (SendGrid, Mailgun, Amazon SES)
    • The email domain does NOT need to match your primary domain
    • For testing, you can skip email setup or use a service like Mailtrap
  5. Software Dependencies:
    • The installer will automatically install these for you:
      • Docker and Docker Compose (for containerization)
      • Git, Make, Curl, Wget, JQ (for installation and configuration)
      • OpenSSL, Certbot (for SSL certificates)
      • UFW, Fail2ban (for basic security)
      • Vim, ZSH, Htop, Procps (for system management)
    • Additional dependencies specific to optional components:
      • NodeJS (for JavaScript-based components)
      • Python 3 (for various automation scripts)
      • PostgreSQL client libraries (for database components)
    • No need to install these manually unless you choose the manual installation method

The simplest way to install AgencyStack is with our one-line installer.

Option 1: One-Step Installation (Fully Automated)

Using curl (if available on your system):

curl -sSL https://stack.nerdofmouth.com/install.sh | sudo bash

Using wget (alternative method):

sudo bash -c "$(wget -qO- https://stack.nerdofmouth.com/install.sh)"

This will download the installer, set up the environment, and launch the interactive component selection menu.

Option 2: Two-Step Installation (More Interactive)

For a more deliberate, sovereign approach:

# Step 1: Prepare the environment only
curl -sSL https://stack.nerdofmouth.com/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --prepare-only

# Step 2: Run the interactive installer when you're ready
sudo bash /opt/agency_stack/repo/scripts/install.sh

This approach gives you time to review the system between preparation and component installation.

The installation process will:

Manual Installation

For more control over the installation process, you can perform a manual installation:

Prerequisites

Steps

  1. Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/nerdofmouth/agency-stack.git /opt/agency_stack
cd /opt/agency_stack
  1. Make scripts executable (requires root access):
sudo chmod +x scripts/*.sh
sudo chmod +x scripts/agency_stack_bootstrap_bundle_v10/*.sh
  1. Run the installation:
sudo make install
  1. Verify the installation:
make test-env

Component Selection

During installation, you’ll be prompted to select which components to install. Choose from:

  1. Core Infrastructure Only: Traefik, Portainer, basic monitoring (minimum requirement)
  2. Business Suite: Core + ERPNext, KillBill, Cal.com, Documenso
  3. Content Suite: Core + WordPress, PeerTube, Seafile, Builder.io
  4. Team Suite: Core + Focalboard, TaskWarrior/Calcure
  5. Marketing Suite: Core + Listmonk, PostHog, WebPush
  6. Full Stack: All of the above components
  7. Custom: Select individual components

Post-Installation

After installation completes:

  1. Access the Portainer dashboard at https://portainer.yourdomain.com
  2. Set up your first client with:
make client
  1. Consider setting up the self-healing infrastructure for production deployments

Post-Installation Configuration

After completing the basic installation, you may need to configure additional settings:

Email (SMTP) Configuration

AgencyStack uses SMTP for sending notifications, password resets, and other system emails. During installation, you’ll be prompted for SMTP details.

AgencyStack includes Mailu, a complete email server solution. To use it:

  1. During installation, select to install the Mailu component
  2. When prompted for SMTP details, use:
    • SMTP Enabled: true
    • SMTP Host: mailu (internal Docker network name)
    • SMTP Port: 25 (internal network port)
    • SMTP Username: admin@yourdomain.com (replace with your domain)
    • SMTP Password: The admin password you set during Mailu installation
    • SMTP From: noreply@yourdomain.com (or any address on your domain)

This configuration uses the local Mailu instance, providing a fully integrated solution with:

Option 2: Using External Email Provider

If you prefer using an external email provider:

Setting Description Example
SMTP Enabled Enable/disable email functionality true or false
SMTP Host Your email provider’s SMTP server smtp.gmail.com
SMTP Port The port for your SMTP server 587 (TLS) or 465 (SSL)
SMTP Username Your email address or username notifications@yourdomain.com
SMTP Password Password for your email account your-secure-password
SMTP From The email address emails appear from noreply@yourdomain.com

Note for Gmail users: You may need to create an “App Password” if you have 2-Factor Authentication enabled. Visit Google Account Security → App Passwords.

Note for Office 365 users: Make sure SMTP AUTH is enabled for your account and you’ve allowed “Less secure apps” if required.

You can update these settings later by editing the /opt/agency_stack/config.env file and restarting the affected services.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during installation:

  1. Check the logs in /var/log/agency_stack/
  2. Run the environment test: make test-env
  3. Ensure all ports are available: 80, 443, 8080, 9000

For additional help, see our troubleshooting guide or contact support@nerdofmouth.com.