Fresh Install

For a genuinely first-time setup with no old server behind it — complete Machine Prep first. Everything below configures state that Migration brings over from an old server anyway (Coolify's database — services, env vars, and domains, so SSL/DNS settings are included — plus the rest of the settings below). Doing these on a server that's about to be restored is wasted effort; they'll be overwritten.

1. Tunnel to the setup wizard rather than opening port 8000 to the world — no infra change, nothing exposed publicly, gone the moment the SSH session closes:

   pass-cli ssh-agent daemon start --vault-name Tech
   export SSH_AUTH_SOCK=~/.ssh/proton-pass-agent.sock
   ssh -L 8000:localhost:8000 debian@<server-ip>

   Then browse http://localhost:8000 and create an admin account.

2. Add DNS records at Infomaniak pointing dashboard.<domain> to the server:

   • A record: <ipv4>
   • AAAA record: <ipv6>

   For a migration instead, DNS isn't added fresh — see DNS → Migrating a subdomain for real for the OpenTofu-managed cutover.

3. Configure https://dashboard.<domain> in Coolify settings and let it issue an SSL cert via Let's Encrypt. If the cert fails, re-save the domain in settings or restart the proxy to retry:

   sudo docker restart coolify-proxy

4. Enable server metrics in Servers → localhost → Metrics — toggle it on to get CPU, memory and disk stats per container.

5. Enable 2FA on the admin account in Coolify settings.

6. Set up shared SMTP variables at the team level (Team → Shared Variables) so they can be referenced across all services as {{team.VAR_NAME}}:

   Variable	Value
   DEFAULT_SMTP_HOST	your SMTP host
   DEFAULT_SMTP_PORT	587
   DEFAULT_SMTP_USERNAME	your SMTP username
   DEFAULT_SMTP_PASSWORD	your SMTP password
   DEFAULT_SMTP_FROM	your from address

7. Configure transactional email in Settings → Transactional Email:

   Field	Value
   Enabled	✓ (must check this box)
   Host	your SMTP host
   Port	587
   Encryption	STARTTLS
   Username	your SMTP username
   Password	your SMTP password

   Test by sending a test email from the Notifications tab in the main interface.