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Docker is a technology that allows you to run applications in isolated environments called containers.

Containers are lightweight, portable, and scalable, making them ideal for cloud-native development and deployment.

Did you know that containerization saw a massive leap in adoption in 2022, with over 31% of developers worldwide stating that they are running container technologies?

RunCloud Docker is a server that leverages the popular Docker technology to isolate most of your application dependencies such as Redis, MariaDB, NGINX, PHP, and beyond from the operating system level.

This makes your applications more secure and easier to manage.

But beyond that, this is a big under-the-hood improvement that stands to allow us to continue leveling up on how you manage your servers with RunCloud.

RunCloud provides a simple interface to start and stop these predefined containers. Your web applications are further protected by facl, a UNIX interface to manage access, which prevents them from accessing each other’s files and folders.

Containerized Core is now out of beta and in early access.

This means it’s safe to use in production (while there may still be rare edge-case scenarios as it rolls out across the board).

It’s no longer necessary to be a Linux expert anymore to be able to enjoy the flexibility and security of containerized applications.

Before we proceed, it is important to note that Docker server runs on a containerized environment without a built-in firewall. To secure your server, you need to configure the firewall provided by your cloud provider. If you use DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, or AWS Lightsail, RunCloud makes it easy for you to do that from the dashboard itself.

How To Use Docker On RunCloud

RunCloud allows you to easily manage and deploy your web applications on any cloud provider that provides a network firewall using Docker.

To use Docker on RunCloud, you need to create a new server and select the Docker option during the setup installation.

You cannot use Docker on existing servers that are already managed by RunCloud. This is because RunCloud needs to install some packages and configurations that are specific to Docker and may conflict with your existing setup.

Here are the steps needed to create a new server with Docker on RunCloud:

1. Log in to your RunCloud account and click on the “Connect a Server” button.
   
2. Choose your cloud provider and select the provision method. We recommend using RunCloud’s automatic provisioning feature for a painless installation.
   
3. In the “Installation Type” section, select the Docker option. Currently, this method only supports Nginx servers.

4. The next steps will differ slightly depending on your installation method. If you picked the automatic installation, you can select your server configuration and deploy it directly from within the RunCloud dashboard.
   
   If you selected the manual installation, you’ll need to log in to your virtual machine via SSH and run the installation script.
   
   Either way, it’s a straightforward process; refer to our blog post about the installation process for more information.
   
5. Once your server is ready, you can access it from the RunCloud dashboard and start using Docker.

How Docker Enhances Security

Docker provides better security for your application by isolating it from the host operating system and other applications on the same server. Docker containers have their own file system, network stack, and process space, which limits the access and impact of a potential attacker.

Docker also supports various security features that can restrict the capabilities and resources of a container.

For example, if you run a WordPress site in a Docker container and it gets hacked by a malicious actor, the hacker will not be able to interact with the host operating system or other containers on the same server. The hacker will be trapped in the container, and will only have access to the files and processes within it.

In this way, you can protect your server and other applications from being compromised or damaged by a security breach.

How to Upgrade to RunCloud Docker

As we mentioned earlier, if you are using the native variant of RunCloud and want to upgrade to RunCloud Docker, you’ll need to create a new server with Docker, and clone your existing applications from your old server to your new server.

If you don’t have a server with Docker installed, go back to the How To Use Docker On RunCloud section.   

Here are the steps to upgrade from the native servers to RunCloud Docker:

1. Once your new server is ready, you can clone your existing applications from your old server to your new server. To do this, go to the Applications tab on your old server and click on the “Cloning” button. You need to do this individually for each application that you want to clone.

In the above example, the server using Nginx was named “nginx” and the server using Docker was named “docker” for demonstration purposes. These names will vary depending upon your setup.

2. Choose your new server as the destination, and enter a name for the cloned application. You can also choose whether to clone the database and the files of the application. If you are cloning a web application that relies on a database (e.g. WordPress), you must select this option.

Select the database that you want to clone from the drop down menu. The name of the database is generally similar to the name of the application. After this, provide a new name for your database and web application – this will be displayed in the RunCloud dashboard under your new server.

3. After this, you need to select the user account on your server that will be the owner of your web application. You can either pick one of the existing users, or create a new user.

4. Finally, you need to configure the domain name of your application. We recommend using a test domain during migration. This will allow you to access your containerized application and, in the meantime, all the existing traffic will continue to go to your old servers. Once you are satisfied, you can update your test domain. 
5. Click on the Clone Application button and wait for RunCloud to clone your application to your new server. Repeat the above steps for each application you want to clone from your old server to your new server.
6. Once you have cloned all your applications, you’ll need to update the DNS records of your domains to point to your new server. To do this, you can either use RunCloud’s Cloudflare integration, or go to your domain registrar or DNS provider and change the A records or CNAME records of your domains to point to the IP address of your new server.
7. Wait for the DNS changes to propagate, and verify that your applications are working properly on your new server. If you are planning this ahead of time, you should also read our guide on How To Speed Up DNS Propagation.

You have successfully upgraded from the native variant to Containerized Core.

You can now enjoy the benefits of using Docker containers on your new server. You can also log in to your server via SSH to access your new server, and manage your containers via Docker CLI.

Conclusion

Docker is an incredibly powerful tool for creating and running applications in containers. With this improvement to RunCloud’s core powered by containerization – we’re beyond excited for you all to take advantage of the benefits of containerization as well as what this means for the future of managing your infrastructure on RunCloud.

The RunCloud team is committed to delivering the best possible experience to our users across the board. We welcome your feedback and suggestions on how to make it better for you. Please feel free to reach out to us, or join our community forum to share your thoughts and experiences.

You don’t need to be a Linux expert anymore to enjoy the benefits of Docker. With RunCloud, you can create and run isolated web applications with just a few clicks.

Sign up today and see for yourself how easy and convenient it is to use Docker on RunCloud.

Amazon Lightsail is an easy-to-use cloud service from Amazon Web Services (AWS) that offers you everything needed to build an application or website, and comes with predictable pricing.

It’s one of the top choices to host your website. If you want to host your site using the AWS infrastructure without having to deal with the complexity of Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (Adobe EC2), then Amazon Lightsail is the answer for you.

Amazon Lightsail has a very simple pricing plan, which makes it a direct competitor to Digital Ocean, Linode, Vultr, and UpCloud – with a similar pricing range and included resources.

Amazon has many data centers spread across different regions, including:

1. Ohio
2. Virginia
3. Montreal
4. Oregon
5. Ireland
6. London
7. Paris
8. Frankfurt
9. Tokyo
10. Sydney
11. Seoul
12. Mumbai
13. Singapore.

This gives you the flexibility to either choose a server location that is geographically close to your customers, or a server that’s in a remote location and which is cheaper to run.

In this post, we will discuss how to set up an Amazon Lightsail server to host your websites with the help of RunCloud.

Let’s get started!

Why Use RunCloud?

You don’t need to be a Linux expert to build and manage a website with RunCloud. Here are some of major reasons people use RunCloud:

• RunCloud simplifies the server management experience. Whether you are using Amazon Lightsail or any other cloud provider, you only need to master RunCloud once for all cloud server providers.
• You can easily clone your web application in the same server or to other servers in your RunCloud dashboard.
• For WordPress users, you can use RunCloud Hub to optimize your website with server-side page caching and Redis object cache.

If you don’t have a RunCloud account, You can register for a 7-day free trial – no credit required.

Connecting Amazon Lightsail Server via RunCloud Integration

With our server provisioning feature, you can set up a server in Amazon Lightsail directly from the RunCloud dashboard by providing an API key from Amazon Lightsail to RunCloud.

You’ll only need to leave the RunCloud dashboard once to get this key and add it to RunCloud 3rd Party API Key Settings.

Within the RunCloud dashboard, for any future server creations, you’ll be able to add new servers without having to leave your dashboard.

Creating an Amazon Lightsail API Key

To use RunCloud with Amazon, you’ll need to integrate AWS by adding the necessary API keys to your account. You can generate these keys from your AWS dashboard.

We strongly recommend you don’t use the root account to create your API keys. It’s a good idea to create a separate user account just for RunCloud, and limit its access to your infrastructure.

Log into your AWS Console with a user account and open the security credentials page. You can either search for it in the search bar on the top, or use this link which will redirect you to the necessary page. Once there, scroll down to the “Access Keys” section.

Click on the “Create access key” button to generate your keys. On the next screen, select “Application running outside AWS” and proceed.

Give your API key a descriptive name so that it is easy to identify later on and click “Create”.

Once you create your keys, they will only be displayed once – do not close this tab. Open the RunCloud dashboard in a new browser window to continue the integration process.

To ensure RunCloud can fully connect to and manage your AWS Lightsail server, the AWS IAM user associated with the credentials you provide must have the necessary permissions. A missing permission can prevent specific RunCloud features from working correctly. To manage your server via the RunCloud dashboard, please make sure the IAM policy grants the following permissions on all Lightsail resources (*).

"lightsail:GetOperations",
"lightsail:GetBlueprints",
"lightsail:GetInstances",
"lightsail:GetKeyPair",
"lightsail:DeleteKeyPair",
"lightsail:CreateInstances",
"lightsail:GetInstance",
"lightsail:DeleteInstance",
"lightsail:CreateKeyPair",
"lightsail:ImportKeyPair",
"lightsail:PutInstancePublicPorts",
"lightsail:GetInstancePortStates",
"lightsail:AttachStaticIp",
"lightsail:GetRegions",
"lightsail:GetOperation",
"lightsail:GetBundles",
"lightsail:GetKeyPairs",
"lightsail:AllocateStaticIp"

Adding the Amazon API Key to RunCloud

Once you have created the API keys, you shouldn’t store them anywhere on your computer. You won’t need them again after you have added them to your RunCloud account and the integration is complete.

To add an API key, go to your RunCloud dashboard. Open the Account Settings and switch to the Integrations tab. Once there, click on “AWS Lightsail” and then “Add Integration”.

Now, you will be presented with the following screen. Give a descriptive label to your API key, if you have more than one AWS account, this label will be helpful to distinguish between them.

Once you’ve done that, copy and paste the “Access Key ID” as well as the “Secret Access Key” that we just generated in the creating an API key step.

After adding the key, you can test the integration using the “Test” button. If you get a success message, you can click “Save Integration” to save the changes. Once your key is integrated, you can close the AWS tab as well.

Deploying Amazon Lightsail Server on RunCloud

To get started, click on the “Connect a Server” button to set up your first server.

A screen will pop up showing you a list of available server providers. Select Amazon Lightsail from the list, and then click the “Deploy Server Automatically” provision type to use RunCloud’s automatic integration.

Now, scroll down to the bottom half of the page and select the installation type as well as your desired server infrastructure. Then select the API key from the dropdown, and click “Continue”.

Note: At the time of writing, RunCloud users will not be able to connect servers running Ubuntu 24 using AWS Lightsail to their RunCloud dashboard.

On the next screen, you will need to specify the operating system, datacenter region and the instance type of your server. Just click on the choice you want, and it will be highlighted.

Now scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you will be asked to provide a name for your server. Give it a suitable name, and check the box to acknowledge that you understand you will be billed for this server. Then click “Add Server”.

After adding the server, RunCloud will take a few minutes to install the necessary software and dependencies on your server. You don’t need to do anything at this point, just sit back and wait for the installation to finish.

Once finished, you will be redirected to the following screen:

Tips – Create a Static IP Address For Amazon Lightsail

When creating an Amazon Lightsail instance, you will get a private IP and public IP for each server. You can use the public IP to connect to your instance from the Internet, including setting up your server using RunCloud.

Unfortunately, it’s not a static IP address. This means that this public IP will be changed automatically when you stop and restart your Amazon Lightsail server.

If you use Amazon Lightsail to host your website, it’s highly recommended that you use the static IP address for your server. This static IP is dedicated to you, and will not be changed when you stop and restart your server. However, you will be charged $0.005 USD/hour fee for static IPs not attached to an instance.

To reserve a static IP, go to your AWS console and open the AWS Lightsail dashboard. Once there, locate the server that you just created via RunCloud.

Go to the Networking tab and click on “Attach static IP” to reserve a static IP address. Follow the instructions to create a new IP address, and save it.

After you have added the new IP address to your AWS Lightsail server, it might change from the one you have previously. If your new IP address is different from your current IP address, you will need to configure RunCloud to use this new address.

Go to your RunCloud dashboard and click on your server. It should give you a message saying “Server information is not available”. If not, just wait for a few minutes and refresh the page. Once RunCloud is no longer able to connect your server, it will ask you to troubleshoot the issue.

Click on the “Update IP address” button to add a new IP address. A prompt will appear asking you to enter the new address. Add the new IP address, and click “Save”.

Next, you will need to run a script in your AWS server. Go to your AWS Lightsail dashboard and click on “Connect using SSH”. This will open an SSH connection in a new browser window. Copy and paste the script from RunCloud into this window and press “Enter”.

Please check the video below to learn how to set up a static IP address for your Amazon Lightsail server:

Now that RunCloud should be able to connect to your server again, refresh your dashboard. If everything is still working as expected, then you can close the SSH session.

Managing Firewall Rules for Your Lightsail Server

When you provision a new Amazon Lightsail server directly through the RunCloud dashboard, RunCloud streamlines the setup process by automatically creating the necessary firewall rules. These initial rules are designed to secure your server while allowing essential services to function, such as traffic for SSH (port 22), HTTP (port 80), HTTPS (port 443), and the RunCloud agent communication.

However, if your application has specific requirements, or you need to open additional ports, you can modify these rules at your own risk.

To do so, you’ll need to leave the RunCloud dashboard and manage the settings directly within your AWS Lightsail account. Navigate to your Lightsail dashboard, select the server instance you wish to configure, and click on the “Networking” tab. Within this section, you will find the firewall configuration area where you can create new rules or edit existing ones.

While editing the rules, you should remember that Lightsail requires you to create separate rules for both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic. For any custom rule you add, you must create an identical version for each protocol if you want the rule to apply universally.

For example, if you want to enable the performance benefits of HTTP/3 on your server, you must create a new firewall rule to allow incoming UDP traffic on port 443 for your server’s IPv4 address. To copy this rule to IPv6, you can just select the checkbox next to “Duplicate rule for IPv6”, and AWS will automatically create another rule for you.

After clicking “Create“, the new firewall rules will be applied to your server immediately.

After Action Report

Amazon Lightsail is the easiest way to get started with the Amazon Web Service infrastructure for developers who need a simple virtual private server (VPS) solution with predictable pricing, starting from $3.50 / month.

RunCloud’s integration for AWS makes it easy to manage servers across multiple AWS accounts. After setting up your server, you can learn How To Install WordPress With RunCloud using our step-by-step guide.

RunCloud is built for developers that want to focus on shipping great work, not on managing their infrastructure. Experience a painless server configuration so you don’t need to spend hours figuring it out.

Get started with RunCloud today & get up and running in minutes.

If you’re still using Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver), it’s time to start thinking about upgrading.

As of May 31, 2023, Ubuntu 18.04 will reach its End of Standard Support (EOSS) date, meaning that it will no longer receive security updates, bug fixes, or technical support from Canonical.

In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of upgrading from Ubuntu 18.04, the risks of staying on an unsupported system, and how to make the transition to a newer, supported version of Ubuntu.

Effective June 1st, 2023: We will be discontinuing support for connections made using TLS 1.0. This decision aligns with industry standards and best practices to maintain a secure environment for all of our users. Learn more.

What Is An EOL Version Of Ubuntu?

EOL stands for end of life and is a tag given to all the releases of Ubuntu that are no longer being supported by Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. This means that it will no longer receive any security updates, bug fixes, or new features.

Running an EOL version of Ubuntu exposes your system to potential vulnerabilities, compatibility issues, and performance degradation.

Using an EOL version poses several risks, such as:

1. Vulnerabilities: An EOL version may have unpatched security flaws that can be exploited by hackers or malware. This can compromise your data, privacy, and system integrity.
2. Compatibility: An EOL version may not be compatible with newer hardware, software, or standards. This can cause errors, crashes, or performance issues.
3. Support: An EOL version will not include any technical support from the developer or vendor. This means that you’re on your own if you encounter any problems, or need help.

You can see the list of all Ubuntu releases and their respective end-of-life dates on Ubuntu Wiki.

What is LTS?

LTS stands for Long-Term Support and is a tag given to Ubuntu releases with an even version number. For example, 18, 20, 22, and so on.

LTS versions receive security updates and bug fixes for five years from their release date. This is much longer than ordinary releases that are typically supported for less than a year.

Is Ubuntu 18.04 reaching EOL?

No, Ubuntu 18.04 is an LTS release and it will reach the end of standard support on May 31, 2023 – it’s different from End of Life.

Although it’s highly recommended to move to a newer version of Ubuntu, it might not be possible for everyone to do this before June 2023. Ubuntu 18.04 servers that are subscribed to Ubuntu Pro or Canonical Embedding Programme will continue to receive essential updates for another 5 years and will reach its End of Life in April of 2028.

How To Identify Your Ubuntu Version

You can check whether you are using the latest version of Ubuntu in the RunCloud dashboard. Open your server page, and at the top, you will see the current version of Ubuntu that’s running.

You can also check the status of your Ubuntu Pro subscription and the current Ubuntu version from the terminal. Log into your server using SSH, and execute the following commands:

uname -r # Check Kernel version
pro status # Check Ubuntu Pro status
lsb_release -a # Check Ubuntu version

How To Upgrade Ubuntu To The Latest Version On RunCloud

RunCloud strongly recommends you avoid upgrading your existing server. Instead, you should create a new server and migrate to it.

There are several advantages of doing this:

• Upgrading existing servers may cause compatibility issues with the software or hardware.
• Upgrading existing servers may overwrite some of the existing configuration, security, or device settings.
• Creating new servers and migrating to them allows us to take advantage of new technology or better services that may not be available on the old servers.

We recommend you follow the following steps to move to a newer version of Ubuntu.

Note: Before you back up and upgrade your server, you need to make sure that your app is compatible with a higher PHP version. Ubuntu 18.04 supports PHP 7.0 and 7.1, but Ubuntu 20.04 only supports PHP 7.2 and above. Therefore, you need to move your app to at least PHP 7.2 before you proceed with the backup and upgrade process. You can use RunCloud’s dashboard to change the PHP version for your web application. This step is not required for containerized servers, as they use their own container images for PHP.

Backup Your Existing Applications

We have written an extensive blog article outlining how to perform backups. Here’s a quick summary.

Start by opening the web application in the RunCloud dashboard, and then go to the “Backups” tab.

While creating the backup, make sure you select the “Web Application and Database” option. After that, select your desired storage option, and configure other basic settings.

Once your backup is completed, you will see a “Completed” status next to it.

Provision A New Server

While the backup is in process, you can provision a new server. We have an in-depth knowledge base article that explains how to connect a server to RunCloud.

You can read it and follow along, but just make sure that you select the latest version of Ubuntu, 22.04 LTS, while creating the new server.

Migrating Applications

Provisioning a server and creating backups takes just a few minutes. Once both are complete, you can begin migrating your application. We strongly recommend you do this at a time when you don’t get a lot of traffic to your site in order to minimize potential disruptions.

We have an in-depth knowledgebase article that explains How to clone a web application to another server, but here’s a quick summary.

Open the “Web Application” dashboard in RunCloud, and click on “Cloning”.

Select the newly created server, and provide the new names for both the web application and database which will be used on the new server.

After that, if you’re using RunCloud’s Cloudflare integration, your DNS records will be updated automatically.

However, if you wish to update your records manually, you might want to read our guide on How To Speed Up DNS Propagation first.

That’s it!

Your application should be up and running on the new server. If you have multiple applications, you’ll need to perform the above steps for each application.

Testing The Migration

Once you have completed the migration, you can visit the website and check its IP address in the DevTools menu. The remote address field should show you the IP address of the new server. If you’re still seeing the old IP address, clear your browser cache and retry after a few minutes.

Once your new site is up and running, we recommend keeping the old server alive for a few days while you perform tests on the new server. Ideally, you should test every user sign-up form and checkout process to make sure everything is working properly.

TLS 1.0 Support Will Be Discontinued

As of June 1st, 2023, RunCloud will no longer accept connections made using TLS 1.0. This decision aligns with industry standards and best practices to maintain a secure environment for all of our users.

Why Is TLS 1.0 Being Deprecated?

TLS 1.0 is an outdated encryption protocol that has been found to have security vulnerabilities and weaknesses. By discontinuing support for TLS 1.0, we are prioritizing your data security and protecting it from potential threats.

What action do you need to take?
To ensure uninterrupted access to the RunCloud panel, we kindly ask you to take the following actions before the deprecation date:

1. Update your browser: Ensure that you are using a modern web browser that supports TLS 1.1 or higher. Popular browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari have already dropped support for TLS 1.0 and offer more secure versions.
2. Verify server compatibility: Check if your server environment supports TLS 1.1 or higher. Most modern server configurations already have the necessary protocols enabled. If you are unsure or need assistance, please reach out to our support team, and we will be happy to help.
3. Upgrade your application: If you are using any third-party applications or integrations that communicate with the RunCloud panel, ensure they support TLS 1.1 or higher. If necessary, update those applications to ensure compatibility.

We understand that this change may require some adjustments on your end, but it is necessary to maintain a secure environment for all our users. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team. We are here to guide you through this transition and address any concerns you may have. Thank you for being a valued RunCloud customer. We remain committed to providing you with a secure and reliable hosting experience.

After Action Report

It’s clear that upgrading to the latest version has several benefits such as improved security, performance, support, compatibility, and features. In this article, we also highlighted the risks of using unsupported versions of Ubuntu, such as vulnerabilities, compatibility issues, lack of support, and missing out on new features.

If you follow the steps outlined in this article, you’ll be able to migrate to the latest version of Ubuntu with minimal disruptions.

After the upgrade is complete, it’s a good idea to install a monitoring agent, such as New Relic, to check for errors on your server. Read our blog post that explains How To Install New Relic Monitoring on RunCloud.

RunCloud is built for developers that want to focus on shipping great work, not on managing their infrastructure. We provide painless server configuration so you don’t need to spend hours figuring it out – get started with RunCloud today and get up and running in minutes.