Concrete CMS

Application512MB+ RAM

User-friendly CMS with drag-and-drop editing

Download Server Compass View Documentation

cmsphpdrag-dropenterprise

Deploy Concrete CMS in 3 Steps

Connect Your VPS

Add your server credentials to Server Compass

Select Concrete CMS

Choose from our template library

Deploy & Configure

Fill in settings and click Deploy

No Docker knowledge required

Manual Deployment Guide

Manual Concrete CMS Setup

For terminal enthusiasts: deploy Concrete CMS manually with these simple steps.

Open a Terminal Connection

Start by opening a terminal window and connecting to your VPS via SSH.

terminal

# Connect to your VPS
ssh root@your-server-ip

# Or with a specific SSH key
ssh -i ~/.ssh/your-key root@your-server-ip

First time? Docker required! Install it with: curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

Create Application Directory

Create a dedicated space for your application deployment.

terminal

# Create and navigate to project directory
mkdir -p ~/apps/concrete5
cd ~/apps/concrete5

Create Deployment Configuration

Create a docker-compose.yml file with the following configuration:

docker-compose.yml

services:
  concrete:
    image: php:8.2-apache
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      - DB_SERVER=db
      - DB_DATABASE=concrete
      - DB_USERNAME=concrete
      - DB_PASSWORD=<your-db-password>
      - APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT=/var/www/html/public
    volumes:
      - concrete_data:/var/www/html
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    command: >
      bash -c "
        apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y -qq unzip libzip-dev libpng-dev libjpeg-dev libfreetype6-dev libicu-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libonig-dev libxml2-dev git > /dev/null 2>&1;
        docker-php-ext-configure gd --with-freetype --with-jpeg > /dev/null 2>&1;
        docker-php-ext-install pdo pdo_mysql mysqli zip gd intl curl mbstring exif fileinfo opcache > /dev/null 2>&1;
        a2enmod rewrite > /dev/null 2>&1;
        sed -ri -e 's!/var/www/html!/var/www/html/public!g' /etc/apache2/sites-available/*.conf;
        sed -ri -e 's!/var/www/!/var/www/html/public!g' /etc/apache2/apache2.conf /etc/apache2/conf-available/*.conf;
        if [ ! -f /var/www/html/public/index.php ]; then
          curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer;
          composer config --global audit.blocked-advisories false;
          if [ -f /var/www/html/composer.json ]; then
            cd /var/www/html && composer install --no-interaction;
          else
            rm -rf /var/www/html/* /var/www/html/.[!.]* 2>/dev/null || true;
            composer create-project concretecms/composer /var/www/html --no-interaction --prefer-dist;
          fi;
        fi;
        mkdir -p /var/www/html/public/application/files /var/www/html/public/updates;
        chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html;
        chmod -R 775 /var/www/html;
        apache2-foreground
      "

  db:
    image: mysql:8.0
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=<your-db-root-password>
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=concrete
      - MYSQL_USER=concrete
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=<your-db-password>
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "mysqladmin ping -h localhost -u root -p$$MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD || exit 1"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
      start_period: 30s

volumes:
  concrete_data:
  db_data:

Environment Configuration

PORTHost port to expose(default: 8080)

DB_NAMEDatabase name(default: concrete)

DB_USERDatabase user(default: concrete)

DB_PASSWORDDatabase password

DB_ROOT_PASSWORDRoot password

Launch Your Application

Deploy the stack and monitor the startup process.

terminal

# Spin up containers
docker compose up -d

# Verify deployment
docker compose ps

# Check logs for errors
docker compose logs -f

Enable External Access

Set up firewall rules to permit incoming connections.

terminal

# Allow the application port through firewall
sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp
sudo ufw reload

# Access your app at:
# http://your-server-ip:8080

Skip the Terminal

Skip the command line. Deploy visually.

Deploy Concrete CMS without touching the command line. Server Compass gives you a clean UI for one-click deployments.

Visual config editor
Instant deployment
Automatic HTTPS
Smooth updates
Live monitoring
Quick rollbacks

Download Server Compass$29 one-time • Lifetime license

After Deployment

After deploying Concrete CMS with Server Compass, complete these steps to finish setup

Complete the installation wizard

Configure database connection

Create admin account

Start building pages with drag-and-drop

Need help? Check out our documentation for detailed guides.

Concrete CMS FAQ

Common questions about self-hosting Concrete CMS

How do I deploy Concrete CMS with Server Compass?

Simply download Server Compass, connect to your VPS, and select Concrete CMS from the templates list. Fill in the required configuration and click Deploy. The entire process takes under 3 minutes.

What are the system requirements for Concrete CMS?

Concrete CMS requires a minimum of 512MB RAM. We recommend a VPS with at least 1024MB RAM for optimal performance. Any modern Linux server with Docker support will work.

Can I migrate my existing Concrete CMS data?

Yes! Server Compass provides volume mapping that allows you to import existing data. You can also use standard Concrete CMS backup and restore procedures.

How do I update Concrete CMS to the latest version?

Server Compass makes updates easy. Simply click the Update button in your deployment dashboard, and the latest Concrete CMS image will be pulled and deployed with zero downtime.

Is Concrete CMS free to self-host?

Concrete CMS is open-source software. You only pay for your VPS hosting (typically $5-20/month) and optionally Server Compass ($29 one-time). No subscription fees or per-seat pricing.