What is CapRover?

App deployment is a challenging task and can take much more time than expected. Deploying an app is not as straightforward as installing it on a web server.

It requires managing activities like several scans for vulnerabilities, adding security controls, testing, etc. The process sometimes becomes convoluted, making it challenging for developers. Thanks to CapRover, app deployment is not a challenge anymore. 

The article explores all the features of CapRover, its benefits, and pricing. 

What is CapRover?

CapRover is an open-source PaaS that lets you deploy apps/databases and manage web servers for your Python, NodeJS, PHP, ASP.Net, MySQL, Ruby, Postgres, WordPress, and other applications. 

The web server manager is designed especially for developers who spend hours setting up servers, building tools, getting SSL certificates, and updating NGINX over and over again and don’t want to use expensive services like Heroku and Microsoft Azure. 

CapRover Features

CapRover offers several robust features and provides you with a platform to quickly install, configure, and set up Docker containers and the applications provided all from a WebUI. 

Let’s explore the amazing CapRover Features.

• Multiple Language Support: CapRover supports multiple languages, including NodeJS, PHP, and Java. No matter which language you choose, CapRover is there to support any language of your choice. 

• SSL Certification: Since CapRover has the ability to secure your services over HTTPS and can automatically redirect HTTP to HTTPS, the web server manager ensures your services are secure using SSL certificates. 

• One-Click Apps: Deploying one-click apps, such as Parse, MySQL, WordPress, etc., is easy using CapRover. You can deploy such apps in a matter of seconds. 

• CLI Support: You can use the CLI tool to undergo the initial CapRover server setup and app deployment. CapRover uses CLI to enable scripting and automation.

• Web GUI: The web server manager uses a web GUI for users to access the software easily and conveniently. 

• No Lock-in: If you don’t want to run CapRover with your apps once they are deployed, simply remove it while not affecting the apps’ working. 

• Docker Swarm, Nginx, LetsEncrypt: Since the web server manager uses Docker, LetsEncrypt, Nginx, and NetData, containerization and clustering, free HTTPS encryption, and a fully-customizable template for load-balancing are present behind CapRover’s easy-to-use UI. 

Benefits of CapRover

If you have ever worked with a development team where you need to download the dependencies and ensure you run the right commands to run the project successfully.

App deployment can take hours. CapRover is a solution that does all this work for you. Thanks to its robust features and the ability for automatic app deployment, users can save tons of time using CapRover.

Some of the benefits of CapRover include:

• Ease of Deployment: CapRover enables you to deploy apps with ease. No matter which language you choose, you can do your work. Also, it lets you install dependencies easily, such as MySQL, etc. You just have to click the drop-down menu, select your required dependency and click install. 

• Simple Interface: CapRover has a very simple and easy-to-use user interface that lets users navigate easily and provides drop-down menus to enable users to select their required languages and dependencies. 

• Fully Customizable & Scalable: Since CapRover is an open-source solution, it is highly customizable and scales as your business grows. No matter how many apps you want to deploy, customize the solution the way you want. 

• Enhanced Productivity: CapRover increases staff productivity by allowing developers to spend less time on deployment and more on other productive tasks. Developers spend hours setting up servers, building tools, and deploying apps. With CapRover, this time is managed, and productivity is increased since developers can rapidly deploy apps without spending much time. 

• Free to Use: You heard it right. CapRover is completely free with no external fee. Also, it is available as a One-Click app in the DigitalOcean marketplace. We will discuss the setup in the next section. 

How to Set Up CapRover?

You can simply set up the CapRover via DigitalOcean one-click app. This is the recommended method, and CapRover installation is easy with DigitalOcean. Also, a new DigitalOcean user will get a $100 free credit after signing up for the first two months. 

Go through the following steps to set up CapRover via DigitalOcean one-click app. 

• CapRover Installation

Run the line to install CapRover in your browser.

docker run -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -p 3000:3000 -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock -v /captain:/captain caprover/caprover

Multiple outputs will appear on your window. Visit http://[IP_OF_YOUR_SERVER]:3000 after initializing CapRover and logging in using the CapRover Password captain42, which can be changed later from the settings. 

• Connecting the Root Domain

Set your domain (say mydomain.com) *.somthing.mydomain.com in your DNS settings as an A-record to head to the server’s IP address where you have installed CapRover. 

Visit https://mxtoolbox.com/DNSLookup.aspx to confirm and enter randomthing123.something.mydomain.com to check whether or not the IP address gets resolved with the IP set in the DNS. 

• Installing CapRover CLI

Run the following (add sudo if needed) code.

npm install -g caprover

Now, run.

caprover serversetup

Sign in to your CapRover instance by following the steps. Assuming you have set *.something.mydomain.com  for pointing to your IP address, now CapRover can be accessed from captain.something.mydomain.com

• Deploying a Test App

Open the CapRover in your default browser and create an app by selecting Apps from the menu. Name it, let’s say my_new_app. 

Now download any test apps, unzip the content, and run:

/home/Desktop/captain-examples/captain-node$  caprover deploy

Follow the given instructions and provide your App name (my_new_app) where needed. You can visit my_new_app.something.mydomain.com once completed. The app will get live. 

Conclusion

CapRover is an amazing solution that enables you to deploy apps easily and conveniently. The thing which makes this software more interesting is that it’s completely free and open-source.

Also, CapRover supports multiple languages, so you don’t have to worry whether or not it supports your language. Whether you use MySQL, Java, WordPress, or any other language, CapRover has got you covered. 

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