标签：#coolify

This is Part 2 of the Directus + Coolify series. If you're new here, start with "Secure Your VPS Before Hackers Do" and the first Directus + Coolify post — the bundled, single-Compose-file setup — before following along with this one. Introduction In the first method, we coupled all of the services into one stack using a single Docker Compose file. The network between all services was created automatically, and we didn't have to start them up individually — which removes the risk of a race condition if service startup isn't handled properly. If you're running a single app, that's genuinely the recommended way to set up Directus on a Coolify-managed VPS. Going in, I assumed there were several good reasons to split the services apart instead — more control over backups, monitoring, restarts, that kind of thing. So before recommending decoupling, I actually tested each of those assumptions on a live Coolify instance. Most of them turned out to be wrong. Myth 1: Restarting Directus Restarts the Whole Stack I expected that restarting Directus inside the bundled Compose file would restart Redis and Postgres along with it. It doesn't. Coolify lets you restart each service in the stack independently — Directus, Database, and Cache each get their own Restart button, right there in the same view. No decoupling needed for this one. Myth 2: You Need a Separate Database Resource for S3 Backups Same story. Even with Postgres bundled inside the Directus Compose file, Coolify still gives it its own dedicated Backups option, S3 included. This isn't a separate-resource-only feature. Myth 3: Scheduled Tasks Require Separate Services Also not true. Coolify exposes a Scheduled Tasks tab per service, even inside a single bundled stack — complete with a Container name dropdown letting you target the cron job at just the database, or just Directus, without splitting anything apart. What Actually Holds Up Two things survived testing. First: metrics. This one's confirmed directly in Coolify'

Coolify's one-line install script is great — until it isn't. Right now it officially supports Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, and 24.04 LTS. If you're running anything newer (Ubuntu's already on 26.04 LTS), the script won't work and you're left doing it manually. This is that manual walkthrough — set up in the order that fits a security-first VPS workflow rather than the order Coolify's own docs use. If you've been following along with the Ansible playbooks from earlier in this series, this picks up right where that left off. Minimum Hardware Requirements CPU: 2 cores Memory: 2 GB RAM Storage: 30 GB free Coolify can technically run below this, but it's not recommended. Prerequisites Before touching Coolify itself, you'll need: SSH access to your VPS CURL installed Docker Engine installed If you're reconnecting to a server you've rebuilt or re-provisioned, clear the old fingerprint first: ssh-keygen -f '/home/your-path/.ssh/known_hosts' -R 'your-vps-ip' Installing SSH If you followed the earlier videos in this series, OpenSSH is already installed. If not: sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y openssh-server Confirm it's running and check which port it's listening on (you should have already changed this from the default 22 — see the VPS security video): sudo systemctl status ssh sudo ss -tulpn | grep ssh Installing CURL sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y curl curl --version curl and ca-certificates also get installed as part of the apt-update Ansible playbook below, so this may already be handled. Running the First Ansible Playbook Connect Ansible to the VPS: ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING = FALSE ansible -i ./inventory/hosts vpsDemo -m ping --user root --ask-pass Then run the update playbook: ansible-playbook ./playbooks/apt-update.yml --user root -e "ansible_port=22" --ask-pass --ask-become-pass -i ./inventory/hosts If you haven't set up the Ansible inventory and playbooks from the earlier videos, do that first — this guide assumes they're already in place. Installing Docker