VPS Setup

Set up Zenflow on a public VPS for browser-based access.

For private desktop access over SSH without exposing Zenflow to the internet, see Remote Hosts.

Public HTTPS VPS (browser access)

To set up a publicly reachable VPS instead, follow the instructions below or watch the DigitalOcean walkthrough.

Public VPS requirements

For this browser-access setup, allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic to the instance. The private SSH setup above does not need either port open.

Digital Ocean

1. Log into DigitalOcean
2. Click Create dropdown and select Droplets
3. Choose the region based on your requirements
4. Choose Ubuntu 24.04 for the OS (the default image)
5. Droplet size depends on your needs - if you expect Zenflow to execute heavy tasks (e.g. compiling code), you might want to create larger droplet. Or you can start with the default
6. Choose and set up your authentication method
7. Optionally rename the droplet to something meaningful, like Zenflow
8. Click Create Droplet button
9. After droplet gets created, connect to it either using terminal or through Digital Ocean’s Access console

Google Cloud

1. Log into Google Cloud console
2. Search for compute engine in a search bar
3. Select Compute Engine from search results and click Create instance button
4. At Machine configuration step set Name, Region, Zone and Machine type based on your needs (if you expect Zenflow to execute heavy tasks (e.g. compiling code), you might want to create larger instance. Or you can start with the default)
5. At OS and storage step set the image to Ubuntu 24.04. Optionally also adjust boot disk type and size or attach extra disks as per your needs
6. At Networking step in Firewall section make sure to check Allow HTTP traffic and Allow HTTPS traffic checkboxes
7. Set the rest of the settings according to your needs. Once all is set, click Create button
8. After instance gets created, connect to it either using terminal or through Google Cloud’s in-browser connection tool

Once you are connected to the VPS:

1. Create non-root user with desired name (for example, zenflow), give it sudo rights and switch to the user:

adduser zenflow
usermod -aG sudo zenflow
su - zenflow

2. Run the following command to download and execute set up script:

curl -fsSL https://download.zencoder.ai/releases/vps_setup.sh | sudo bash

3. After initial setup the script will ask you to create API key at https://auth.zencoder.ai/api-keys
4. On that page click Add, give the API key a name and click Create. You will be shown the API key, store it in a secure place, it is only shown once
5. Go back to your VPS and paste the API key
6. You will then be shown the URL at which you can access Zenflow and credentials (username/password)
7. When you visit the URL, you’ll be prompted for Username/Password from the previous step
8. Once logged in, you’ll see the onboarding screen of Zenflow and now can work with it through browser remotely