Open the server Apps tab
Select your VPS, open the Apps tab, and start a new app deployment. Keep sensitive server details hidden before capturing or sharing screenshots.

Classic open-source forum software
Add your server credentials to Server Compass
Choose from our template library
Fill in settings and click Deploy
Use the phpBB template in Server Compass to deploy a self-hosted open-source forum software with persistent phpBB application and MySQL volumes on your VPS, then verify the phpBB web UI in a browser.
Select your VPS, open the Apps tab, and start a new app deployment. Keep sensitive server details hidden before capturing or sharing screenshots.

Click New App and choose the template deployment path so Server Compass can load the built-in catalog.

Use the template picker search to find phpBB in the Server Compass template catalog.

Choose the phpBB template. Server Compass fills the phpBB image, host port, published server URL, and persistent phpBB application and MySQL volumes.

Confirm the app name and compose services. In this run, the app was named phpbb-demo and used host port 8080.

Review the generated environment values, confirm the port is available, and click Deploy Now.

Keep the deployment modal open while Server Compass uploads the compose file, pulls the phpBB image, starts the container, and verifies the stack.

After deployment finishes, return to the Apps tab and confirm the phpBB app is marked Running with its application URL available.

Open the application URL in a browser. The phpBB web UI confirms the site is reachable.

It deploys phpBB with MySQL plus persistent application and database volumes.
The tutorial used host port 8080, which maps to the phpBB web server on container port 80.
The tutorial verifies the clean first-run web UI because real library paths, users, metadata providers, and remote access settings depend on the production server.
No. The deployment guide should live on the phpBB template detail page and be linked from the reusable template deployment docs page.
For terminal enthusiasts: deploy phpBB manually with these simple steps.
Open a terminal session and log into your VPS. Replace the placeholder with your actual IP.
# Connect via SSH
ssh root@your-vps-ip
# Alternative with key file
ssh -i /path/to/key root@your-vps-ipFirst time? Make sure Docker is installed on your VPS. Run: curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
Create a workspace for your deployment files.
# Create and navigate to project directory
mkdir -p ~/apps/phpbb
cd ~/apps/phpbbConfigure your containers with this Docker Compose setup:
services:
phpbb:
image: php:8.2-apache
ports:
- "8080:80"
environment:
- PHPBB_DB_HOST=db
- PHPBB_DB_NAME=phpbb
- PHPBB_DB_USER=phpbb
- PHPBB_DB_PASSWORD=<your-db-password>
volumes:
- phpbb_data:/var/www/html
restart: unless-stopped
depends_on:
db:
condition: service_healthy
command: >
bash -c "
docker-php-ext-install mysqli pdo pdo_mysql > /dev/null 2>&1;
if [ ! -f /var/www/html/index.php ]; then
curl -sL https://download.phpbb.com/pub/release/3.3/3.3.14/phpBB-3.3.14.zip -o /tmp/phpbb.zip &&
apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y -qq unzip > /dev/null 2>&1 &&
unzip -q /tmp/phpbb.zip -d /tmp/phpbb &&
cp -r /tmp/phpbb/phpBB3/* /var/www/html/ &&
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html &&
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html &&
rm -rf /tmp/phpbb /tmp/phpbb.zip;
fi;
apache2-foreground
"
db:
image: mysql:8.0
environment:
- MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=<your-db-root-password>
- MYSQL_DATABASE=phpbb
- MYSQL_USER=phpbb
- 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:
phpbb_data:
db_data:
PORTHost port to expose(default: 8080)DB_NAMEDatabase name(default: phpbb)DB_USERDatabase user(default: phpbb)DB_PASSWORDDatabase passwordDB_ROOT_PASSWORDRoot passwordSpin up the containers and verify the deployment.
# Start all services
docker compose up -d
# List running containers
docker compose ps
# Watch the logs
docker compose logs -fAllow incoming traffic on the application port.
# Allow the application port through firewall
sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp
sudo ufw reload
# Access your app at:
# http://your-server-ip:8080Deploy phpBB without touching the command line. Server Compass gives you a clean UI for one-click deployments.
After deploying phpBB with Server Compass, complete these steps to finish setup
Run the installation wizard at /install
Configure database (use host db, port 3306)
Create admin account
Remove install directory
Need help? Check out our documentation for detailed guides.
Common questions about self-hosting phpBB
Simply download Server Compass, connect to your VPS, and select phpBB from the templates list. Fill in the required configuration and click Deploy. The entire process takes under 3 minutes.
phpBB requires a minimum of 256MB RAM. We recommend a VPS with at least 1024MB RAM for optimal performance. Any modern Linux server with Docker support will work.
Yes! Server Compass provides volume mapping that allows you to import existing data. You can also use standard phpBB backup and restore procedures.
Server Compass makes updates easy. Simply click the Update button in your deployment dashboard, and the latest phpBB image will be pulled and deployed with zero downtime.
phpBB 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.
Download Server Compass and deploy phpBB to your VPS in under 3 minutes. No Docker expertise required.
Download Server Compass