Install

Point DNS for Bouée's address, such as support.example.com, at the server first: an A record, and an AAAA record if the server has IPv6 (one address for everything). Then clone the Bouée repository onto the server and run the installer from it:

cd bouee
bin/install

It asks for that hostname, then:

• writes .env from .env.example, generating every secret, readable by you alone;
• builds Bouée and starts it with PostgreSQL, Garage and Caddy. It records the Compose profiles in .env (COMPOSE_PROFILES), so plain docker compose commands include all of them: docker compose logs -f web;
• lets Caddy obtain the certificate from Let's Encrypt, which is why ports 80 and 443 must be open;
• waits until Bouée answers, and prints the setup link for first-run setup, offering to copy it.

To set Bouée up from a file instead of the browser, with no setup link, add --config bouee.yaml (Automated install).

Running it again is safe: an existing .env is kept as it is, and one it did not write is only used once you say so. bin/install --help lists the options: --domain and --yes for a run without questions, and --no-proxy behind a reverse proxy you already run, which then forwards to Bouée on 127.0.0.1:3000 (step 4 of the manual install). Keep a copy of .env somewhere safe and separate from the server: the secrets in it are needed to read a restored backup.

With the bundled Caddy, brand hostnames need no proxy changes: each one gets its certificate on its first visit, once Bouée confirms that it serves that name (see Brand hostnames).