Deploying Matomo Analytics - An Open-Source Google Analytics Alternative

Matomo is an open-source web analytics platform that keeps full ownership of visitor data on infrastructure you control, a privacy-first alternative to Google Analytics. This guide deploys Matomo using Docker Compose with a MariaDB backend, Nginx as the entry point, and Certbot issuing the TLS certificate before the stack goes live. By the end, you'll have Matomo tracking a website with a signed HTTPS certificate at your domain.

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Prepare Docker

$ sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
$ newgrp docker

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Set Up the Project

1. Create the project directory:

$ mkdir matomo && cd matomo

2. Open the firewall:

$ sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
$ sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

3. Create the environment file:

$ nano .env

MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_strong_mysql_root_password
MYSQL_PASSWORD=your_strong_mysql_matomo_password

Use passwords of at least 16 characters.

4. Create the Nginx config:

$ mkdir nginx
$ nano nginx/matomo.conf

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name matomo.example.com;

    location /.well-known/acme-challenge/ {
        root /var/www/certbot;
    }

    location / {
        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
    }
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name matomo.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/matomo.example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/matomo.example.com/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://app:80;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

Replace every matomo.example.com occurrence with your domain — it appears in both server blocks and the certificate paths.

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Deploy with Docker Compose

$ nano docker-compose.yaml

services:
  db:
    image: mariadb:11.4
    command: --max-allowed-packet=64MB
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - matomo-db-data:/var/lib/mysql
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=matomo
      - MYSQL_USER=matomo
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_PASSWORD}
    networks:
      - matomo-net

  app:
    image: matomo
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      - db
    volumes:
      - matomo-app-data:/var/www/html
    environment:
      - MATOMO_DATABASE_HOST=db
      - MATOMO_DATABASE_USERNAME=matomo
      - MATOMO_DATABASE_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_PASSWORD}
      - MATOMO_DATABASE_DBNAME=matomo
    networks:
      - matomo-net

  nginx:
    image: nginx:alpine
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./nginx/matomo.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
      - certbot-etc:/etc/letsencrypt
      - certbot-www:/var/www/certbot
    depends_on:
      - app
    networks:
      - matomo-net

  certbot:
    image: certbot/certbot
    volumes:
      - certbot-etc:/etc/letsencrypt
      - certbot-www:/var/www/certbot

volumes:
  matomo-db-data:
  matomo-app-data:
  certbot-etc:
  certbot-www:

networks:
  matomo-net:

1. Start the database and app first:

$ docker compose up -d db app

2. Issue the certificate before starting Nginx (Certbot needs port 80 free):

$ docker compose run --rm -p "80:80" certbot certonly --standalone -d matomo.example.com --email [e-mail] --agree-tos --no-eff-email

3. Start Nginx:

$ docker compose up -d nginx

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Complete the Web Setup

1. Open https://matomo.example.com and click Next on the welcome screen.
2. Let Matomo run its system checks (PHP version, memory, extensions), then Next.
3. On the database step, set Database Server to db, and enter the matomo user and the password from .env.
4. Matomo creates its tables — click Next to create the Superuser account (username, password, email).
5. Add your first website: name, URL, timezone, and whether it's ecommerce.
6. Copy the generated tracking snippet and paste it before </head> on your site's pages.
7. Finish the wizard and sign in with the Superuser credentials.
8. The dashboard loads, ready to track traffic.

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Next Steps

Matomo is running with HTTPS and a working database backend. From here you can:

• Add more websites and grant scoped access to additional user accounts
• Enable Heatmaps, Session Recording, or the Marketing Campaigns Reporting plugin
• Set up scheduled email reports under Administration → Personal → Email Reports

For the full guide with additional tips, visit the original article on Vultr Docs.