Deploy Peon on a DigitalOcean Droplet (self-hosted Docker PaaS)

#selfhosted #docker #devops #opensource

Peon is an open-source, self-hostable deployment platform. Think Vercel or Heroku workflows on a server you control: Git deploys, Docker Compose, databases, workspaces, and RBAC.

This guide walks through a clean DigitalOcean droplet setup. Same pattern works on Hetzner, Vultr, and Contabo.

What you will build

A DigitalOcean Ubuntu droplet running Peon so you can connect the server over SSH and deploy apps from Git.

Prerequisites

DigitalOcean account
SSH key added to DigitalOcean
Domain name (optional, recommended for TLS)
Basic SSH comfort

1. Create the droplet

Create an Ubuntu 24.04 LTS droplet (2 GB RAM minimum; 4 GB preferred).
Choose your SSH key.
Note the public IPv4 address.

2. Point DNS (optional)

Create an A record for peon.example.com to the droplet IP.

3. Harden basics

ssh root@YOUR_DROPLET_IP
apt update && apt upgrade -y
ufw allow OpenSSH
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw enable

4. Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
docker --version

5. Install Peon

Follow current official docs:

README: https://github.com/Peon-sh/Peon
Docs: https://peon.sh/docs

Typical flow: clone repo, configure .env secrets, start Postgres/queue, migrate, run app + worker.

6. Open Peon and add the droplet

Add the server over SSH, create a workspace/project, deploy a sample Git repo.

7. Verify

App URL responds, deploy logs clean, optional second project for RBAC.

Why Peon vs Coolify / Dokploy

All three are strong self-hosted PaaS options. Peon focuses on workspace/project tenancy, audit logs, and MCP hooks for AI agents, while staying MIT and self-host free.

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