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How to Deploy Flarum With xCloud One Click Apps

Updated November 9, 2026 · 6 min read

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You can run a Flarum forum on your own server with xCloud without writing a Docker Compose file. Click New Site, pick Flarum in the app catalog, choose a server, enter a site title and the administrator details, choose Demo Site or Go Live, and click Next. xCloud starts Flarum with its own database, serves it over HTTPS and shows you the login. This guide walks through each screen up to the Flarum admin dashboard.

Who this is for: anyone who wants a community forum, a support board or a discussion space for their product or members, on a server they control. For server sizes and prices, see Flarum hosting on xCloud.

What the Flarum app includes

Part What you get
Flarum Flarum 1.8.19, in a community Docker image (crazymax/flarum).
Database MariaDB 11.8.3 in its own container. It is only reachable by Flarum, not from the internet. xCloud generates the database name, user and password.
Scheduler A second Flarum container that runs Flarum’s regular background work every minute. The admin dashboard shows Scheduler: Active.
Web address Your forum opens on your domain over HTTPS. The admin panel is at /admin.
Saved data Two volumes on the server: one for uploads, extensions and storage, one for the database. They survive restarts and redeploys.
Administrator account You choose the username and email. Leave the password empty and xCloud generates one.

As of November 2026, Flarum is open source under the MIT license.

Before you start

  • An xCloud account that can create sites.
  • An Nginx server. xCloud installs Docker on it if it is not there yet. An existing server needs at least 512 MB RAM, 1 CPU core and 8 GB of free disk. You can also create a new server during setup.
  • For Go Live: a domain you can point at the server. For a first try, Demo Site needs no domain.

Step 1: Find Flarum in the app catalog

From the xCloud dashboard, click New Site. On What would you like to host today?, type Flarum in the search box, then click the Flarum card.

The Flarum card in the xCloud app catalog after searching for Flarum

The Flarum page opens. It shows Runs on Nginx, Docker and the recommended size: 4 GB RAM · 1 vCPU · 8 GB disk.

Step 2: Choose where Flarum will run

Under Where should it run?, follow the path that fits you.

Use a server you already have

  1. Click the server’s card. Each card shows the server’s RAM, CPU and free disk.
  2. Click Continue.

The Install Flarum Into form opens. Go to Step 3.

An existing Nginx server selected under Where should it run? on the Flarum install page

A server that is too small or on the wrong stack is listed under server cannot run this app. Open that list to see why.

Use a new server

Click Deploy on a new server. If no server on your account can run Flarum, click Create Managed Server on that option instead.

The server creation page opens with a Flarum Setup section. Enter the administrator details there (Step 4 explains each field) and create the server. When the server is ready, xCloud installs Flarum automatically on a demo domain. Open the new site from your site list to reach Site Overview. On its first start, Flarum needs 1 to 2 minutes to create its database and your administrator account, so if the forum does not load yet, wait and refresh. Then skip to Step 6, and go live from the demo site when you want your own domain.

Use a server from your own provider

If no server on your account can run Flarum, you can also click Connect a Provider under Use your own provider and create the server there. When you open that server in xCloud, its overview page shows Finish installing Flarum. Click Continue to come back to the Flarum page, then follow Use a server you already have.

Step 3: Add the site title and choose a domain

  1. Enter a Site Title, for example Community forum. Add Tag (optional) helps you group sites.
  2. Under Domain Setup, choose one:
    • Demo Site: xCloud gives you a test domain, shown under Domain Name. Click Regenerate for a different one. Use this to try Flarum first.
    • Go Live: enter your own domain and point its DNS at the server.

Demo Site selected under Domain Setup in the Install Flarum Into form

Step 4: Set the administrator account and install

Under Administrator:

  1. Administrator username: keep flarum or enter your own (3 to 30 characters: letters, numbers, dashes and underscores).
  2. Administrator email: enter an email address you control. You can sign in with this email or the username.
  3. Administrator password: leave it empty to let xCloud generate a strong one, or enter your own (12 to 72 characters).

The Administrator username and Administrator email fields under Administrator

Click Next at the bottom of the form.

Step 5: Wait for the setup to finish

xCloud shows a progress page with each stage: checking the server and DNS, installing Docker, setting up the app, SSL, HTTPS, Nginx and monitoring. You can leave this page; the setup keeps running.

The setup progress page while xCloud installs Flarum

When it finishes, the site’s Site Overview page opens. On its first start, Flarum creates its database and your administrator account. This can take 1 to 2 minutes, so if the forum does not load yet, wait and refresh.

If a stage fails, open Recent Events on the site, click View on the failed event, and fix what it reports (often DNS for Go Live). Then try again, or contact support with the event output.

Step 6: Copy the Flarum login

On Site Overview, the Flarum Credentials card shows the Forum URL, the Admin URL, the Username, the Email and the Password. Click the eye icon to show the password, or click Copy next to each value.

The Flarum Credentials card with the Forum URL, Admin URL, Username, Email and Password on Site Overview

Step 7: Sign in to your forum

Open the Forum URL and click Log In in the top right. Enter the username (or email) and the password from the card, then click Log In.

The Log In link at the top right of a new Flarum forum

Opening /admin before you sign in shows “You do not have permission to access this page.” Sign in on the forum first.

Step 8: Open the admin dashboard

Once you are signed in, open the Admin URL (your domain followed by /admin). The Flarum Dashboard opens. Its top row shows the Flarum, PHP and database versions, and Scheduler: Active confirms this background work is running.

The Flarum admin Dashboard showing the Flarum version, PHP, MySQL and Scheduler Active

Your forum is ready. Set it up from the menu on the left.

After your first sign-in

Task Where in Flarum Why
Name your forum Administration → Basics The forum starts with the title “Flarum”. Change the title, description and home page here.
Turn on email Administration → Email Password resets, sign-up confirmations and notifications need your SMTP details. Set them up here; the app has no mail settings in xCloud. You also need email to change your password later.
Open sign-up Administration → Permissions Public sign-up is off after install. Turn it on only after email works, so new members get their confirmation emails.
Organize topics Tags under Features in Administration Group discussions into categories before members start posting.

Change the administrator password

xCloud uses the administrator username, email and password from the install form only once, when Flarum creates the account. Changing ADMIN_PASSWORD in the site’s Environment page later changes nothing.

  • To change your password, first set up email in Administration → Email. Then sign in, open your account Settings, click Change Password and use the link Flarum emails you.
  • The credentials card keeps showing the password from the install, so note your new one somewhere safe.

Uploads

Flarum accepts uploads up to 16 MB by default (UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE=16M in the site’s Environment page).

Update and back up Flarum

  • Update: your site stays on the Flarum version it was installed with. As of November 2026, xCloud installs Flarum 1.8.19. Flarum has released newer 1.8 versions, including security fixes. Check Announcements on your Flarum Dashboard. Back up first, read the Flarum release notes, then follow Update a One Click App and edit its Docker Compose. As of November 2026, Flarum’s upgrade guide says to check that your extensions support Flarum 2 before you move from Flarum 1. Never remove the volumes during an update.
  • Back up: back up both volumes at the same time: the data volume (uploads, extensions and storage) and the database volume. See Back up and restore Docker apps for what xCloud backs up and how to restore it.

Common mistakes

  • Choosing Go Live before the domain’s DNS points at the server. Start with Demo Site, then go live from the demo site.
  • Opening the forum within a minute of the setup finishing and seeing an error. The first start is still creating the database; wait and refresh.
  • Turning on sign-up before email works. New members then never get their confirmation email.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to write a Docker Compose file to deploy Flarum on xCloud?

No. The Flarum One Click App already defines Flarum, its MariaDB database and the scheduler. You pick Flarum in the app catalog, choose a server, enter a site title and the administrator details, and click Next.

What server does Flarum need on xCloud?

An Nginx server. xCloud installs Docker on it if it is not there yet. An existing server needs at least 512 MB of RAM, 1 CPU core and 8 GB of free disk. The install page shows 4 GB RAM, 1 vCPU and 8 GB disk as the recommended size.

Where do I find the Flarum administrator password?

If you leave Administrator password empty, xCloud generates one. Open the site in xCloud: the Site Overview page shows a Flarum Credentials card with the Forum URL, Admin URL, Username, Email and Password.

Why can’t new members sign up on my Flarum forum?

Public sign-up is off when xCloud installs Flarum. Set up outgoing mail in Administration → Email first, so new members get their confirmation emails, then turn on sign-up in Administration → Permissions.

If you run into any issues while deploying Flarum, feel free to reach out to our support team.