The Tool Desk
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What you are self-hosting
Campfire is ONCE/Basecamp’s installable, self-hosted group-chat application. It provides rooms, direct messages, mentions, search, file attachments, mobile web and PWA support, and an HTTP API for bots. The software is free and open source under the MIT License. Because it runs on a server you control, a VPS can host the application while you retain control of the instance, its data, and its domain.
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The HTTP API is useful when you need bots or integrations, while the mobile web and PWA support means users do not need a separate native client to participate. Search and file attachments are part of the same installation, so your storage planning needs to account for both database activity and uploaded files.
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Choose a VPS size from concurrent users
ONCE publishes the following sizing guidance. These figures describe concurrent users, not the total number of accounts ever created.
| Concurrent users | RAM | CPU | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 | 2 GB | 1 CPU | Published baseline for a small installation |
| 1,000 | 8 GB | 4 CPUs | Published guidance for a busier team or community |
| 5,000 | 32 GB | 16 CPUs | Published guidance for a large installation |
| 10,000 | 64 GB | 32 CPUs | Published guidance for a very large installation |
Treat those numbers as starting guidance rather than a capacity guarantee. Reserve additional memory and CPU for the VPS operating system, monitoring, backup creation, file-transfer activity, and short traffic spikes. Storage requirements depend on the number and size of uploaded attachments, because the application stores those files alongside its SQLite database.
ONCE explicitly identifies AWS, DigitalOcean, and Hetzner as cloud locations where Campfire can run. Any VPS that meets the resource, networking, DNS, and Docker requirements can follow the same deployment patterns.
What the VPS budget includes
Campfire itself is free and open source, but self-hosting still has operating costs. Plan for the VPS provider’s monthly compute charge, a domain or subdomain if you do not already own one, and enough disk capacity for the SQLite database, uploaded attachments, backup archives, and temporary headroom. Off-server backup storage can add another charge, depending on where you keep the archives.
There is no single Campfire VPS price because the appropriate plan depends on concurrent users, attachment volume, retention, and how much spare capacity you want. AWS, DigitalOcean, and Hetzner are explicitly named places to run it, so compare their current plans by RAM, CPU, disk, transfer limits, and backup options rather than choosing on headline price alone. A cheaper instance that repeatedly fills its disk or runs out of memory is not cheaper operationally.
Prepare the VPS and domain
Before installing anything, have these pieces ready:
- A VPS with enough RAM and CPU for the expected concurrent-user count, plus headroom.
- A domain name or subdomain such as
chat.example.com. - A DNS record pointing that hostname to the VPS’s public IP address.
- Administrative access to the machine. You need to be able to connect before starting the installer.
- For the Docker route, a working Docker installation and a plan for persistent storage and off-server backups.
- For automatic HTTPS from the container, the ability to receive traffic on TCP ports 80 and 443.
Wait for the DNS record to resolve to the VPS before requesting a certificate. If another service already occupies ports 80 or 443, decide in advance whether that service will terminate TLS or whether Campfire will do it itself.
Option A: deploy with the ONCE CLI
ONCE is the lowest-effort route. Its setup flow installs Campfire, guides initial configuration, and integrates updates and backups. The ONCE product documentation describes this as the easiest way to self-host because routine operations are handled for you.
1. Connect to the VPS and install ONCE
- Provision the machine, create the DNS record, and connect to the VPS with your normal administrative account.
- Run the official installer command:
curl https://get.once.com | sh
The installer starts the ONCE setup flow. Select Campfire when prompted and provide the hostname you will use.
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2. Deploy Campfire for your hostname
If you prefer to invoke deployment directly from the command line, use:
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsonce deploy ghcr.io/basecamp/once-campfire --host chat.example.comReplace chat.example.com with the DNS name that points to your VPS. The setup flow then completes the application configuration.
3. Complete the first-run wizard
On the first launch, Campfire presents an administrator-account wizard. Create the initial admin account and enter an email address you can maintain. That address is shown on the login page as the contact for password-help requests, so it should not be a disposable address.
4. Decide how updates should work
Each ONCE installation checks for updates daily. You can disable that behavior if you require manual approval and scheduling. Automatic updates reduce routine maintenance; manual control is useful when you need to coordinate a change with internal testing, a maintenance window, or a pinned release policy.
Option B: run the official Docker image yourself
Manual Docker deployment gives you more direct control, but you become responsible for the documented storage, secrets, TLS behavior, upgrades, and backups. The official image is ghcr.io/basecamp/once-campfire:latest. It bundles the web application, background jobs, caching, file serving, and SSL support.
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1. Generate the instance secrets
Generate secrets before starting the container:
docker run --rm ghcr.io/basecamp/once-campfire:latest script/admin/generate-secretsSave the resulting values securely. Keep SECRET_KEY_BASE, VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY, and VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY unchanged across restarts and upgrades. Replacing them can invalidate encrypted data or browser push credentials.
2. Provide persistent storage
Mount a persistent volume at /rails/storage. This directory contains the SQLite database and uploaded attachments. A container recreation without that volume leaves the new container without the existing database and files, so the storage mapping is a data-protection requirement, not an optional optimization.
3. Choose who terminates HTTPS
For Campfire to obtain and manage a Let’s Encrypt certificate itself, publish ports 80 and 443 and set TLS_DOMAIN to the real hostname. If a separate reverse proxy already terminates TLS, set DISABLE_SSL=true and publish port 80 to the Campfire container. Do not configure both layers to compete for certificate management.
4. Start the container
This is the documented pattern; substitute your generated secrets and real hostname:
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docker run
--name campfire
--publish 80:80 --publish 443:443
--restart unless-stopped
--volume campfire:/rails/storage
--env SECRET_KEY_BASE=$YOUR_SECRET_KEY_BASE
--env VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY=$YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY
--env VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY=$YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY
--env TLS_DOMAIN=chat.example.com
ghcr.io/basecamp/once-campfire:latestWhen using an external reverse proxy instead, remove the HTTPS publication and domain setting, publish the HTTP port, and add --env DISABLE_SSL=true:
docker run
--name campfire
--publish 80:80
--restart unless-stopped
--volume campfire:/rails/storage
--env SECRET_KEY_BASE=$YOUR_SECRET_KEY_BASE
--env VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY=$YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY
--env VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY=$YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY
--env DISABLE_SSL=true
ghcr.io/basecamp/once-campfire:latestThe examples assume that the shell variables contain the exact generated values. Store secrets in a protected environment or secret-management system rather than committing them to a script or source repository.
Finish first-run configuration
Open the hostname in a browser after the container or ONCE deployment has started. The first-run wizard creates the administrator account. Confirm that you can sign in, open a room, send a direct message, upload a small attachment, and receive the login-help address shown on the sign-in page.
Because an installation is single-tenant, define your room structure with that visibility rule in mind. Public rooms are visible to all users of the instance. Use separate instances when a hard boundary between customer or organizational groups is required.
Operate and upgrade a Docker installation
Pull and recreate for an upgrade
To upgrade a manually managed deployment, pull a newer image and recreate the container with the same persistent volume and the same secret values. Pending database migrations run automatically at boot. A recreation that changes the volume name or omits one of the generated secrets is not an upgrade; it is a different or incomplete instance.
Choose a release policy
The latest tag follows the most recent tagged release and is convenient when you want current releases with minimal version bookkeeping. Pin a specific version tag when you need predictable changes and an explicit approval step. Whichever policy you choose, preserve the storage volume and secrets during every recreation.
Monitor the resources that matter
Watch RAM, CPU, disk space, and the growth of the storage volume. Attachments increase disk use in addition to the SQLite database. A VPS that matched the initial user estimate can still run out of capacity if attachment volume or concurrent activity grows faster than expected.
Keep an operations runbook
Record the hostname, provider, VPS plan, volume name, image tag policy, generated secret locations, TLS design, and backup destination. This turns a one-person deployment into an instance another administrator can operate. Document whether ONCE daily update checks are enabled or disabled, and note who receives password-help requests for the initial administrator account.
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Back up Campfire correctly
Campfire uses SQLite inside /rails/storage. Do not copy live database files directly while the application is running; that can produce an inconsistent backup. Instead, create the documented consistent snapshot first.
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- Run
script/admin/prepare-backupinside the running container. - Confirm that the snapshot appears in
storage/backups/. - Archive the complete storage volume, including the snapshot and uploaded attachments.
- Copy the archive off the VPS to storage that is independent of the machine.
- Protect the archive and periodically verify that it can be read; a backup that has never been checked is only an assumption.
The same principle applies if ONCE is managing the deployment: understand where its backups are kept and ensure that an independent copy exists for the recovery scenarios you care about.
Keep the backup archive separate from the live VPS. A provider outage, accidental deletion, full disk, or failed upgrade can affect both the application and any backup left beside it. The official procedure specifically calls for copying the resulting archive somewhere safe, so make that off-server transfer part of the normal schedule rather than an emergency task.
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ONCE or manual Docker?
| Decision point | ONCE | Manual Docker |
|---|---|---|
| Initial setup | Guided installer and Campfire selection | You create the container, volume, secrets, and environment configuration |
| Updates | Daily update checks, with an option to disable them | You pull an image and recreate the container |
| Backups | Integrated into the ONCE operating model | You run the preparation command, archive storage, and move the archive off-server |
| Image and configuration control | Higher-level defaults and automation | Direct control of image tags, environment variables, and container flags |
| HTTPS | Handled by the ONCE deployment flow | Campfire can manage Let’s Encrypt, or an external proxy can terminate TLS |
| Operational burden | Lower; ONCE handles more routine work | Higher; you own lifecycle, secrets, storage, TLS, and recovery procedures |
Choose ONCE when your priority is a guided, maintainable installation. Choose Docker when you already operate containers or need explicit control over versions, environment variables, proxy topology, and backup execution.
Troubleshoot the common deployment failures
The hostname does not open
- Check that the DNS record resolves to the VPS’s current public IP.
- Verify that the VPS firewall and provider-level networking allow the ports you selected.
- If Campfire is managing HTTPS, confirm that ports 80 and 443 reach the container and that
TLS_DOMAINexactly matches the hostname in the browser. - If a reverse proxy is in front, confirm that it forwards HTTP traffic to the container and that
DISABLE_SSL=trueis set for that topology.
The container starts without previous rooms or files
Check the volume mapping first. Existing data is stored at /rails/storage; recreating a container with a new or missing volume produces an empty data directory. Restore the original storage volume and keep the original generated secrets.
Users lose push notifications after a restart
Verify that VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY and VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY are unchanged from the values generated for the instance. These keys are intended to persist across restarts and upgrades.
An upgrade does not complete
Allow the recreated container to finish booting because pending migrations run automatically at startup. Check that the new container is using the existing storage volume, that all required environment variables are present, and that the VPS has enough disk space for the migration and backup operations.
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Archive the entire storage volume, not only the SQLite database. Uploaded files live in the same persistent storage area, and the prepared database snapshot does not replace those attachments.
Certificates are not issued
Confirm that the public DNS name points to this VPS, that port 80 is reachable for certificate validation, and that TLS_DOMAIN exactly matches the requested hostname. If another proxy already owns ports 80 or 443, use the external-proxy configuration instead of asking the Campfire container to manage TLS.
Production checklist
- Use a hostname dedicated to Campfire and keep its DNS record under change control.
- Size the VPS for concurrent users, then add capacity for the operating system, monitoring, backups, and bursts.
- Keep
/rails/storageon persistent storage. - Keep
SECRET_KEY_BASE,VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY, andVAPID_PUBLIC_KEYstable. - Choose one TLS termination design and configure the ports and environment variables to match it.
- Decide whether ONCE’s daily update checks fit your release policy, or disable them for manual control.
- For Docker, choose whether to track
latestor pin a version tag. - Run
script/admin/prepare-backupbefore archiving SQLite data. - Copy archives off the VPS and periodically test that they are usable.
- Remember that one installation is one tenant; use separate instances for separate visibility boundaries.
Bottom line
For most teams, deploy Campfire through ONCE after pointing a subdomain at a properly sized VPS. It is the shortest path to a working instance and reduces the routine work of updates and backups. Use manual Docker when you need lower-level control: mount /rails/storage, preserve the generated secrets, choose the correct TLS mode, and make the backup and upgrade procedures part of your own operations runbook.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I run Campfire on DigitalOcean or Hetzner?
Yes. ONCE explicitly names AWS, DigitalOcean, and Hetzner as cloud locations where Campfire can run. Provision a VPS, point a DNS record at it, and use either the ONCE installer or the official Docker image.
What size VPS do I need for Campfire?
ONCE publishes 2 GB RAM and 1 CPU for 250 concurrent users; 8 GB and 4 CPUs for 1,000; 32 GB and 16 CPUs for 5,000; and 64 GB and 32 CPUs for 10,000. Add headroom for the operating system, monitoring, backups, attachments, and traffic spikes.
Is Campfire free to self-host?
Campfire is free and open source under the MIT License. You still pay for the VPS, domain or DNS services you use, disk capacity, and any off-server backup storage.
Should I use ONCE or Docker?
Use ONCE for the guided installer and integrated update and backup workflow. Use manual Docker when you need direct control over image tags, environment variables, storage, TLS termination, and the timing of upgrades and backups.
Where does Campfire store its data?
The Docker deployment stores the SQLite database and uploaded attachments in /rails/storage. Mount that path on persistent storage and archive the complete volume for backups.
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How do I enable HTTPS?
Let the container manage Let’s Encrypt by publishing ports 80 and 443 and setting TLS_DOMAIN to the real hostname. If an external reverse proxy terminates TLS, set DISABLE_SSL=true and publish the HTTP port instead.
Can one Campfire installation serve separate customers?
No. Campfire is single-tenant, and public rooms are visible to all users of that installation. Use separate instances when customer or organizational groups require a hard visibility boundary.
How do I back up a Docker installation safely?
Run script/admin/prepare-backup inside the container, confirm the snapshot in storage/backups/, archive the complete /rails/storage volume, and copy the archive off the VPS. Do not copy live SQLite database files directly while the application is running.
What must remain unchanged during upgrades?
Reuse the same persistent storage volume and keep SECRET_KEY_BASE, VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY, and VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY unchanged. Pull the newer image and recreate the container; pending migrations run automatically at boot.
The Bottom Line
Campfire is straightforward to self-host when you choose the operating model that matches your skills. ONCE minimizes routine administration, while Docker gives you granular control. In either case, size for concurrent users, point a real DNS name at the VPS, preserve /rails/storage and the generated secrets, select one TLS design, and keep tested backups off the server.
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