Self-Hosting dotCMS on a VPS: A Complete Production Guide

VPS and Domain Setup

1. Provision Your VPS#

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Create a new server on your cloud provider and choose:

• Region: nearest to your users for lower latency
• OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
• Plan: 4 GB RAM minimum; 8 GB recommended if running the full stack in this guide

After your VPS is provisioned, note the assigned IP address.

2. Reserve a Static IP#

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By default, cloud VPS IPs are dynamic — they may change if the server restarts. Before pointing your domain, assign a static (reserved) IP:

• DigitalOcean: Networking → Reserved IPs → Create Reserved IP → assign to your droplet
• Hetzner: Floating IPs section
• AWS/Azure/GCP: Elastic IP / Static IP equivalents

This is essential. Your domain A records will point to this IP, and it must not change.

3. Point Your Domain to the VPS#

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In your DNS provider, create an A record for each subdomain you'll use:

Tip: Most cloud providers include a built-in DNS management service. You can use it to create your A records without needing a third-party DNS provider.

Verify DNS is propagating:

ping dotcms.info
# Should resolve to YOUR_STATIC_IP

4. Log In to Your VPS#

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ssh root@YOUR_STATIC_IP
# Or using your domain once DNS propagates:
ssh root@dotcms.info