Skip to content

Standalone deployment

Run FluxSend directly on a Linux host without containerization.

Build the binary

git clone https://github.com/tscrond/fluxsend-backend
cd fluxsend-backend
CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o fluxsend ./cmd

Prepare the environment

The backend reads environment variables and a config file, with config file values coming before environment variables. See Configuration loading for details.

Create /opt/fluxsend/.env with a self-hosted MinIO + password-auth example:

export APP_ENV=production
export FLUXSEND_LISTEN_PORT=3000
export DB_HOST=localhost
export POSTGRES_USER=fluxsend
export POSTGRES_PASSWORD=change-me
export POSTGRES_DB=fluxsend

export BACKEND_ENDPOINT=https://api.example.com
export FRONTEND_ENDPOINT=https://files.example.com
export TOKEN_ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
export MAIL_FROM=noreply@example.com

export ENABLE_PASSWORD_AUTH=true
export ENABLE_GOOGLE_AUTH=false
export ENABLE_GITHUB_AUTH=false

export STORAGE_PROVIDER=minio
export MINIO_BUCKET_NAME=fluxsend
export MINIO_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:9000
export MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=fluxsend
export MINIO_SECRET_KEY=change-me
export MINIO_USE_SSL=false

export SMTP_HOST=smtp.example.com
export SMTP_PORT=587
export SMTP_USERNAME=noreply@example.com
export SMTP_PASSWORD=smtp-secret

You can also use a YAML config file instead of exporting variables individually. The app reads --config and defaults to ~/.fluxsend-backend.yaml when no file is passed.

Install and run

mkdir -p /opt/fluxsend
cp fluxsend /opt/fluxsend/
cp -r internal/repo/migrations /opt/fluxsend/internal/repo/migrations/

Start the service directly:

cd /opt/fluxsend
./fluxsend --config /etc/fluxsend/config.yaml

Systemd service

Create /etc/systemd/system/fluxsend.service:

[Unit]
Description=FluxSend backend
After=network.target postgresql.service

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/opt/fluxsend
EnvironmentFile=/opt/fluxsend/.env
ExecStart=/opt/fluxsend/fluxsend --password-auth
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
User=fluxsend
Group=fluxsend

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now fluxsend

Frontend

The frontend is a React SPA served by Nginx. Clone and build from github.com/tscrond/fluxsend-frontend:

git clone https://github.com/tscrond/fluxsend-frontend
cd fluxsend-frontend
npm ci
npm run build

Serve the dist/ directory with any static file server. The Nginx config in the repo proxies API routes to the backend — use it as a reference for your own reverse proxy setup.

Reverse proxy

Place a reverse proxy (Nginx, Caddy, Traefik) in front of both the backend (port 3000) and frontend (port 8000) to handle TLS termination and domain routing. See production setup for recommendations.

Database

The application requires a PostgreSQL 13+ database. Connect it via DB_HOST. Migrations run automatically on startup.

For the most self-hosted-friendly setup, pair PostgreSQL with MinIO and password auth as shown above.