Install on a VPS or VM

Install Docker on the server, copy Apathia onto it, and open the UI through an SSH tunnel. The same steps work on 64-bit Intel/AMD (uname -m prints x86_64) and 64-bit ARM (aarch64).

1. Open a terminal on the server

From your computer:

ssh USER@SERVER_ADDRESS

Use the username and address from your host.

2. Install Docker Engine

Install Docker Engine and the Compose plugin from Docker's instructions for your distribution. Follow Install using the apt repository, and include the docker-compose-plugin package in that install:

• Ubuntu
• Debian
• Other Linux distributions

When docker version says permission denied, follow Linux post-install so your user can run Docker, then disconnect and SSH in again.

Both commands should print a version:

docker version
docker compose version

3. Copy Apathia onto the server

On your computer, download the package from the Download page. Copy that file to the server. Run this on your computer, in the folder that contains the download:

scp DOWNLOAD.zip USER@SERVER_ADDRESS:~/

Use the file name you downloaded. Put quotes around it if the name contains spaces.

On the server, unzip it. If unzip is not found:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y unzip

Then:

unzip DOWNLOAD.zip
ls

Use the file name you copied. If ls lists docker-compose.yml, stay in this folder. If it lists a new folder, cd into that folder and run ls again. You are in the right place when ls shows docker-compose.yml.

A VM with a desktop browser can download the package there instead. Unzip it the same way.

4. Keep the UI on the server

Warning

Leave port 8000 closed on the public internet. Reach the UI through the SSH tunnel below.

In the Apathia folder, before the first start:

echo 'APATHIA_PUBLISH=127.0.0.1:8000' > .env

The UI then listens only on the server itself.

5. Start Apathia

docker compose up --build -d

-d runs Apathia in the background, so it keeps going after you close SSH. The first build takes a few minutes. Wait until docker compose ps shows healthy.

The first start creates secret keys in data/ next to the app.

6. Open the UI

On your computer, open a second terminal and leave it open:

ssh -N -L 8000:127.0.0.1:8000 USER@SERVER_ADDRESS

In your browser, open http://localhost:8000. Close that SSH window when you are done looking. Apathia keeps running on the server.

Next

Create your account, then an exchange, a pair, and a strategy. Continue in Getting started.