Set up Quorla on app.quorlasocial.com

1Before you start

Who: you, with Manesh for the items marked ★

• A server: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, at least 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB disk (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Hostinger VPS or similar), with its public IP address and root or sudo SSH access.
• DNS access for quorlasocial.com (wherever the domain is managed).
• Read access to git.metatroncube.in/MetatroncubeSoftwareSolutions/quorlasocial.
• ★ The .env settings file from Manesh's PC. It holds the Meta token and Odoo key: get it through a password manager or an encrypted transfer, never in chat or email.
• ★ An Anthropic API key (console.anthropic.com → API keys) with credit on it. The AI runs (audits, plans, reports) need it on a server.
• ★ A time slot when Manesh can stop the dashboard on his PC (step 6) and no posts are due in the next 30 minutes.

2Point the domain at the server

Where: the DNS settings for quorlasocial.com

Add one record. Do this first, because it can take a few minutes to an hour to spread.

Check it from your own computer. It should print the server's IP:

nslookup app.quorlasocial.com

3Prepare the server

Where: SSH into the server as root

3a. Updates, a working user, and the firewall

ssh root@SERVER_IP

apt update && apt -y upgrade
apt -y install git ufw unattended-upgrades
timedatectl set-timezone UTC

# A normal user to run Quorla (replace YOURNAME)
adduser YOURNAME
usermod -aG sudo YOURNAME

# Firewall: only SSH and web traffic
ufw allow OpenSSH
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw allow 443/udp
ufw --force enable

3b. Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
usermod -aG docker YOURNAME
docker --version
docker compose version

Both version commands should print a version number. Log out, then log back in as your user for the rest of the guide:

ssh YOURNAME@SERVER_IP

4Get the code

Where: server, as your user

sudo mkdir -p /opt/quorla
sudo chown $USER:$USER /opt/quorla
git clone https://git.metatroncube.in/MetatroncubeSoftwareSolutions/quorlasocial.git /opt/quorla
cd /opt/quorla
ls

You should see Dockerfile, docker-compose.yml, deploy/, dashboard/ and connector/. Git asks for your git.metatroncube.in username and password (or an access token) when cloning.

The repository contains only the program. Client files, logins, uploads and secrets are deliberately left out of Git; they come across in steps 5 and 6.

5Add the settings file

Where: server, in /opt/quorla

Put Manesh's .env file in /opt/quorla/.env (for example with scp .env YOURNAME@SERVER_IP:/opt/quorla/ from the computer where you received it). Then lock it down and open it:

cd /opt/quorla
chmod 600 .env
sed -i 's/\r$//' .env        # removes Windows line endings, if any
nano .env

Check or add these lines. Leave everything else as it is.

You don't need to change SCHEDULER_ENABLED, DASHBOARD_HOST or DASHBOARD_COOKIE_SECURE; Docker sets those for the server.

6Move the data from the PC

Who: Manesh on the PC, then you on the server. Downtime starts here.

6a. On Manesh's PC: stop the dashboard and pack the data

Stop the dashboard (close its terminal window, or press Ctrl+C in it), then in PowerShell:

cd D:\MCS_Repos\2026\claude_Metatron_Social_Media_Manager
tar -czf quorla-data.tar.gz data clients team reports branding
scp quorla-data.tar.gz YOURNAME@SERVER_IP:/opt/quorla/

This archive holds client files and everyone's (hashed) logins. Delete it from the PC once step 8 has passed.

6b. On the server: unpack it

cd /opt/quorla
tar -xzf quorla-data.tar.gz
sudo chown -R 1000:1000 data clients team reports branding
rm quorla-data.tar.gz
ls data   # should list: dashboard  library  schedule  publish-log.jsonl ...

The chown matters: the app inside Docker runs as user 1000 and must be able to write to these folders.

7Start Quorla

Where: server, in /opt/quorla

cd /opt/quorla
docker compose up -d --build

The first build takes 3–6 minutes. Then fix the stored file locations (the PC used Windows paths like D:\…). Run it once to preview, then again with --write:

docker compose exec app node connector/scripts/relocate-paths.js
docker compose exec app node connector/scripts/relocate-paths.js --write

The last line should say 0 file(s) not found. Then check both containers are running and watch the log for a moment:

docker compose ps
docker compose logs -f --tail=50

app should show healthy after about 30 seconds, and the Caddy log should mention certificate obtained successfully. Press Ctrl+C to stop watching the log (Quorla keeps running).

8Check everything works

Where: your browser, signed in as an admin

Open https://app.quorlasocial.com. Everyone's existing logins came across with the data, so Manesh signs in with his usual email and password.

• The browser shows a padlock (valid HTTPS) and the sign-in page loads.
• Signing in works, and you stay signed in after refreshing the page.
• Settings → Connections: Meta shows the connected Pages (9 at the time of writing), Odoo shows connected, Claude says it is using the API key, Publishing says Off.
• Settings → Team members lists the same people as before.
• Clients shows every client with numbers; open one and its audit opens.
• Content library thumbnails load, and uploading a small test image works (archive it afterwards).
• Exporting a client's audit to PDF works.
• Inbox loads comments for a client.

You can also check the Meta connection from the server:

docker compose exec app node connector/scripts/test-meta.js

9Switch over

Who: Manesh on the PC, then you on the server

9a. On the PC: make sure nothing there can post

• In the PC's .env, set ALLOW_PUBLISH=false.
• Don't start the dashboard on the PC again (no npm start).
• Check that no Windows scheduled task exists for the queue; this should say the task cannot be found:

schtasks /query /tn "SocialManagerScheduler"
# Only if it exists:
schtasks /delete /tn "SocialManagerScheduler" /f

9b. On the server: turn publishing on

cd /opt/quorla
sed -i 's/^ALLOW_PUBLISH=.*/ALLOW_PUBLISH=true/' .env
docker compose up -d

In Settings → Connections, Publishing now says On. Every post still needs an admin's approval before it goes out. Downtime ends here.

9c. Tell the team

Send everyone the new address, https://app.quorlasocial.com. Their email and password are unchanged. The India team needs nothing extra: no VPN, just the browser.

10Set up daily backups

Where: server, as your user

deploy/backup.sh packs the settings, logins, uploads, queue, client files and reports into /opt/quorla/backups/ and keeps the newest 14. Run it once by hand, then schedule it for 02:30 UTC every night:

cd /opt/quorla
sudo sh deploy/backup.sh
( crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "30 2 * * * cd /opt/quorla && sh deploy/backup.sh >> backups/backup.log 2>&1" ) | sudo crontab -

Restoring a backup

cd /opt/quorla
docker compose down
sudo tar -xzf backups/quorla-YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM.tar.gz
sudo chown -R 1000:1000 data clients team reports branding
docker compose up -d

Updating Quorla

When a new version is pushed to Git:

cd /opt/quorla
sudo sh deploy/backup.sh
git pull
docker compose up -d --build
docker compose ps        # app should be "healthy" again within a minute

To roll back, run git log --oneline, pick the previous version, then git checkout THAT_ID and docker compose up -d --build. Your data isn't touched by updates or rollbacks.

Avoid updating while a post is due in the next few minutes; the queue pauses for about a minute during the restart, and anything due in that time goes out right after.

Everyday commands

Run these from /opt/quorla.

Adding teammates, resetting passwords and changing roles are done in the dashboard under Settings → Team members, not on the server.

Troubleshooting