Configure Coolify: Dashboard Setup & First Project Deployment

In our previous guide, install and self-host Coolify on an Ubuntu VPS, we walked you through installing Coolify on an Ubuntu server — a powerful, affordable and quickly-becoming-popular self-hosted system to deploy and manage applications effortlessly.

Now, it’s time to take things further! In this guide, we’ll show you how to:

• Get familiar with the Coolify dashboard
• Configure the local deployment destination
• Create your first project
• Connect an instance domain and set firewall access
• Deploy a first Docker Compose project

By the end, you’ll have a Coolify dashboard on a custom domain and a simple Docker Compose project deployed on your server.

If you’re ready to take more control of your web hosting at a fraction of the cost, let’s dive in.

Production note: before relying on this instance, back up /data/coolify/source/.env and store it securely outside the server. It contains important Coolify installation secrets, including APP_KEY, which is needed to recover encrypted credentials. See the official Coolify backup guidance, and never publish the file or paste its contents into a tutorial.

Why Use Coolify for Deployment?

Coolify is built for developers who want more control over their applications without paying high hosting fees. Here’s why you should consider it:

• Self-hosted — you own your infrastructure and data.
• Supports multiple frameworks — deploy Next.js, React, Node.js, PHP, Laravel, and more.
• GitHub & GitLab integration — set up automated CI/CD pipelines for smooth deployments.
• Built-in databases — PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, and MongoDB with one-click setup.
• Automatic SSL — secure your applications with Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates.
• Docker-powered — easily manage and scale containerized applications.

Now, let’s dive into how to manage Coolify and deploy your first project.

Get familiar with the Coolify dashboard

The Coolify dashboard is clean and intuitive. Here’s what you’ll find:

• Projects — deploy and manage your applications.
• Services — manage databases like PostgreSQL, Redis, MySQL.
• Destinations — connect GitHub, GitLab, or custom servers.
• Activity Logs — view logs for deployments and server performance.
• Settings — configure server settings, security, and user management.

Access the Coolify dashboard after installation

Once your Coolify installation is complete, you can access its web dashboard by navigating to:

http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8000

This initial direct-IP route uses HTTP before the dashboard has been configured behind a proper domain and TLS route. Create the first Coolify administrator account immediately after installation if the setup screen is still waiting for you — an unclaimed installation should not remain publicly accessible.

Log in with the admin account you created during setup. You will then get a short introduction to Coolify — simply click the Next button to proceed.

Configure Your Coolify Server

Before deploying your project, you need to define how and where Coolify should install it. In this example, we’ll use the same cloud server running Coolify by selecting the Localhost option, allowing our test applications to run directly on the server.

Create your first project

Next, select the necessary resources by clicking the “Let’s do it” button.

Now skip everything and let’s jump to:

Connect a Custom Domain to Coolify

Once your Coolify account is set up, the first priority is securing access with a custom domain. Using http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8000 is useful for initial setup, but it is not a production route because it does not provide the dashboard’s normal HTTPS hostname.

Coolify’s integrated proxy manages routing and Let’s Encrypt TLS for configured application and dashboard domains. Traefik is the default proxy used in this guide; current Coolify versions also support Caddy as an alternative, but the configuration flow below follows the normal Traefik path. See the Traefik proxy overview and Caddy overview if you need to compare the two.

To do this

Head over to your domain provider’s DNS management page (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, etc.) and point a dashboard hostname such as coolify or srv1 to your server’s public IP. If you plan to use subdomains for applications, add a wildcard * record or individual records as shown above.

@ points the root domain to the server. * allows Coolify to create and use subdomains. Use the dashboard hostname that matches the domain you will enter in Coolify.

Finalizing your domain setup

Important: if your DNS provider doesn’t offer an “Auto” option for TTL, choose the lowest value available to speed up propagation.

Next, open Coolify’s settings page and enter your custom domain in the “Instance Domain” field, which will be the dashboard domain — you can use something like srv1.yourdomain.com or coolify.yourdomain.com.

Final step: once you’ve added the domain, visit it in your browser. Coolify should now be accessible over HTTPS! Give it a few minutes for the DNS and SSL setup to complete.

For current domain options and DNS formats, see the official Coolify domain documentation.

Important: secure your Coolify server. Coolify manages deployment, routing and application lifecycle, but you remain responsible for host security, firewall rules, updates, exposed ports, backups and application security. Before production, follow the guide to secure your Coolify server with CrowdSec and Traefik. For SSH-focused protection, see how to protect Coolify SSH with Fail2Ban.

Configure Coolify Firewall Ports Safely

When a hosting provider offers a network firewall or security group, use it for the first layer of protection. It can block unwanted traffic before it reaches your server. Open the provider’s Firewalls or Security Groups section and create the following inbound TCP rules for an initial self-hosted setup:

• 22/tcp — SSH access, unless you configured another SSH port
• 80/tcp — HTTP traffic and certificate challenges through the Coolify proxy
• 443/tcp — HTTPS traffic through the Coolify proxy
• 8000/tcp — direct Coolify dashboard access by IP
• 6001/tcp — realtime dashboard updates when using direct IP access
• 6002/tcp — Coolify web terminal when using direct IP access

For current port requirements and firewall guidance, see the official Coolify firewall documentation.

Important: do not remove SSH access while changing firewall rules. A wrong SSH rule can lock you out of the server.

Once the Coolify dashboard works correctly through its HTTPS domain, public access to ports 8000, 6001 and 6002 can normally be closed. The dashboard, realtime connection and web terminal will then use the proxy through ports 80 and 443. Keep 80 and 443 publicly reachable when the server hosts public websites, and restrict SSH to trusted source addresses whenever practical.

Good news! Once you configure a domain for an app, Coolify can run it over HTTPS through its built-in reverse proxy and SSL certificate management.

Coolify is ready — let’s deploy your first project.

So far, we’ve successfully set up a custom domain and secured the server with proper firewall rules. Now that everything is in place, let’s dive into deploying your first project using Coolify.

Deploy Your First Docker Compose App with Coolify

Inside the Projects menu, you’ll find a variety of applications, databases, and services ready for deployment.

For this guide, we’ll start with a blank Docker Compose container. Simply click on its icon to open the configuration panel.

Now, it’s time to set up your Docker Compose configuration. Simply paste the configuration of the service you want to deploy.

For this example, we’ll use a basic Docker test image to ensure everything runs smoothly before deploying a real application. Because the application is intended to sit behind Coolify’s proxy, do not publish an unnecessary host port. The intended path is:

Internet → Coolify proxy → application container

services:
  app:
    image: docker/welcome-to-docker
    expose:
      - "80"

After Coolify parses the Compose file, configure the application’s domain in its Domains field and confirm that the service listens on internal port 80. Coolify will route the public domain through the proxy to that container port. If an application listens on another internal port, add that port in the Coolify domain configuration rather than publishing it directly on the server.

Click the “Save” button to store your configuration and return to the project setup page.

Hit the “Deploy” button to start the deployment process.

Sit back and watch Coolify work its magic!

Once your Docker container’s status changes to “Started”, verify it by visiting:

https://{sub.your-domain}

Congratulations! If everything went smoothly, you should see the success screen.

Coolify production checklist

• First administrator account created
• Dashboard domain works over HTTPS
• /data/coolify/source/.env and APP_KEY backed up securely
• Provider firewall configured with only required ports
• Unnecessary management ports closed after domain setup
• SSH remains accessible and restricted
• Application routes through the Coolify proxy
• First application deploys successfully
• Backups and server security reviewed before production

Conclusion

In this guide, we covered how to configure Coolify, connect a domain, secure it with SSL, and deploy your first simple project using Docker Compose. With its user-friendly interface and automation capabilities, Coolify simplifies application deployment while giving you full control over your infrastructure.

If you haven’t installed Coolify on your server yet, start with the installation guide linked near the beginning of this article.

Continue your setup

For a local staging or home-server setup, read Run Coolify on a Local Ubuntu VM. If your internet connection cannot accept port forwarding, use Cloudflare Tunnel with Coolify.