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How to Self-Host FileRun for File Sharing on a VPS

A practical guide to self-hosting FileRun on a VPS: choose Docker or manual PHP, configure persistent storage and MariaDB, meet current runtime requirements, secure the web paths, and keep sharing and synchronization reliable.

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The most repeatable way to self-host FileRun on a new VPS is Docker: keep FileRun, MariaDB, and their data in persistent volumes, finish the browser installer, and place the service behind trusted HTTPS. A manual PHP installation is appropriate when you already operate a web server and want direct control over PHP, NGINX or Apache, permissions, and cron. Whichever route you choose, size storage for more than the files themselves, protect the application paths, and keep the FileRun and database versions within the currently supported range.

What FileRun does on a self-hosted VPS

FileRun is a browser-based file manager that you run on infrastructure you control. Its documented uses include file sharing, comments, metadata, WebDAV, mobile access, and desktop synchronization. A VPS gives you a public server address and persistent disk without requiring a computer at home to remain online.

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Self-hosting also makes you responsible for the operating system, updates, backups, TLS certificates, database, firewall, and recovery plan. FileRun does not remove those responsibilities; it supplies the application and its supported runtime requirements.

Docker or manual PHP: which installation fits?

Decision area Docker deployment Manual PHP deployment
Best fit A fresh VPS where you want a repeatable, isolated stack. An existing PHP server that you already maintain.
Runtime control The container packages the application runtime and makes its data mounts explicit. You control PHP, the web server, extensions, permissions, and database directly.
Data layout Persist /filerun/html, /filerun/user-files, and /filerun/db on the VPS. Keep the application files and database where your existing server policy expects them; keep user data outside the public web directory.
Security boundaries The official image includes packaged web-server protections for sensitive paths. You must create and maintain the equivalent web-server rules yourself.
Updates Pull and recreate the official image while retaining the persistent volumes. Replace application files and test PHP, web-server, permission, and cron changes together.
Optional search and previews Add services such as Tika and Elasticsearch when you need full-text search. Install and integrate those services into your existing stack separately.

For a new VPS, Docker is the practical default because the official installation index labels it as the recommended route and the volume boundaries are visible from the beginning. Choose manual installation when integrating with an established PHP platform is more important than isolation and repeatability.

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Check the VPS requirements before installing

Supported platform components

FileRun requires a 64-bit operating system, an HTTP server, PHP, ionCube Loader, and the PHP extensions pdo_mysql, openssl, and mbstring. It uses MySQL or MariaDB. The current requirements list PHP 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5, with MySQL 8.4 or MariaDB 10.11 as minimum database versions. Compatibility is version-sensitive, so check the requirements and release notes immediately before creating or pinning a VPS image.

The 2026.1 release notes add opcache as a requirement. They also call out an NGINX fastcgi_split_path_info and PATH_INFO configuration for URLs containing a PHP path segment. A PHP version that works for another application on the same server is not automatically a supported FileRun version.

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Storage: budget for the working set, not just uploads

Storage is the first sizing decision. Reserve capacity for:

  • the original user files;
  • thumbnail and preview caches;
  • the trash, if users can recover deleted files;
  • file versions, if version history is enabled;
  • the database and application logs; and
  • temporary space used while creating previews or converting documents and video.

Monitor actual growth and leave free space for database maintenance and upgrades. A VPS disk that exactly matches today’s upload total will eventually fill even when the users’ files have not grown much.

Memory and CPU

PHP needs at least 20 MB per request according to the FileRun requirements. The Docker image supplies 256 MB for PHP, while MariaDB needs additional memory. Thumbnail generation and conversion of video or office documents are the main CPU-intensive operations, so a busy media library needs more CPU headroom than a small collection of documents.

Full-text search is a separate sizing decision. If you enable it, add Tika and Elasticsearch; the Docker guide states that Elasticsearch needs at least 2 GB of RAM. Do not allocate that memory from the PHP limit: it is additional service memory.

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Deploy FileRun with Docker

1. Prepare the VPS and persistent directories

Use a supported 64-bit VPS, apply operating-system updates, create a non-root administration path, and install Docker Engine with the Compose plugin using your distribution’s supported packages. Point a DNS name at the VPS before requesting a certificate. Keep application data on persistent VPS storage rather than an ephemeral container layer.

Create three directories for the official stack:

mkdir -p /srv/filerun/html /srv/filerun/user-files /srv/filerun/db

The intended mounts are:

  • /srv/filerun/html to the container’s /var/www/html;
  • /srv/filerun/user-files to /user-files; and
  • /srv/filerun/db to the database container’s /var/lib/mysql.

The host paths may differ, but the container destinations must match the official Docker definition. Back up all three persistent areas, with a transactionally consistent database backup in addition to file copies.

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2. Use the official FileRun Compose definition

Start from the current Docker Compose file in FileRun’s official Docker guide and use only the official FileRun image. Keep the MariaDB companion service defined there. Set the database host, database name, database user, and database password values required by that definition; use a dedicated database account rather than a root account, and choose a long random password.

Do not substitute an unofficial image or an arbitrary tag copied from a third-party tutorial. Image names, environment-variable names, and supported tags can change; the official definition is the authoritative source for those values.

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3. Start the services

From the directory containing the Compose file, run:

docker compose up -d

Check that both the FileRun and MariaDB containers are running:

docker compose ps

If a container exits, inspect its log before changing settings:

docker compose logs --tail=200 filerun
docker compose logs --tail=200 mariadb

A database connection error usually means the host, credentials, database name, or startup state does not match the official Compose definition. A permission error usually means a mounted host directory is not writable by the container’s service account.

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4. Complete the browser installer

Open the VPS hostname in a browser and complete the FileRun installer. Create a strong superuser password; this account is the only sign-in account not protected against brute-force login attempts, according to the security guidance.

When the installer asks for the superuser’s home folder, set it to /user-files. This is the container path mounted to the persistent user-data directory, not the host path such as /srv/filerun/user-files.

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5. Put a trusted HTTPS reverse proxy in front

Terminate TLS at your reverse proxy or web server and redirect HTTP to HTTPS. Trusted HTTPS is required for passkeys and for mobile and desktop synchronization. Confirm that the certificate covers the exact hostname users will enter and that WebDAV and synchronization requests are forwarded without restrictive proxy limits.

After enabling HTTPS, test a normal browser sign-in, a shared link, WebDAV, and one desktop or mobile synchronization before inviting users. Keep the database and user-files mounts on the private side of the VPS; expose only the web endpoint.

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Install FileRun manually on an existing PHP stack

1. Verify the runtime first

Confirm the web server, PHP version, ionCube Loader, pdo_mysql, openssl, mbstring, and opcache. Confirm that the MySQL or MariaDB version meets the current minimum. Resolve missing extensions before uploading FileRun; otherwise the web installer may fail partway through.

2. Upload the application and set permissions

Upload or extract FileRun into the site’s application directory. Make system/data writable by the web-server account, while keeping ownership and permissions as narrow as your operating system allows. Do not make the entire document root globally writable.

3. Create a dedicated database account

Create a database and a FileRun-specific MySQL or MariaDB user with the privileges required by the installer. Do not use the database root account in the application configuration. Store the credentials in the protected configuration mechanism provided by the installation and restrict access to that file.

4. Run the web installer and choose a private home folder

Open the site in a browser, enter the database details, and create the superuser. Set the home folder outside the public web directory so a file cannot be fetched directly by guessing a URL. The web server should serve FileRun’s application endpoint, not the user-data directory.

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5. Schedule FileRun’s cron scripts

Set up the documented scheduled tasks under the same PHP environment used by the web application:

  • the email-notification script, when notifications are enabled;
  • every5minutes.php;
  • everyMinute.php; and
  • daily.php.

Use absolute paths and the correct PHP binary in the system crontab. Run each command manually once as the service account, then inspect the cron log and FileRun logs for permission or path errors.

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Secure the installation before sharing files

Protect the superuser

Use a unique, long password and do not reuse it elsewhere. Because the superuser is not protected against brute-force sign-in attempts in the same way as other accounts, protect the login endpoint with the VPS firewall, a carefully configured reverse proxy, and monitoring for repeated failures.

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Keep user data outside the public web directory

User folders must not be directly reachable by the web server. In Docker, the /user-files mount is separate from /var/www/html. In a manual installation, choose a home directory outside the document root and verify that requesting a guessed file path returns a denial rather than the file.

Block PHP execution in /apps

Prevent uploaded or installed app content under /apps from being executed as PHP. For NGINX, apply the suggested /apps/security.nginx configuration from FileRun’s security documentation. Equivalent Apache rules must deny PHP execution in that directory without blocking normal static assets that FileRun needs.

Restrict sensitive endpoints

Restrict access to /system and /cron. The official Docker image applies these protections in its packaged web-server configuration; a manual installation requires you to reproduce the protections in your own server configuration.

Use trusted software sources and maintain backups

Use only the official FileRun Docker image for a container deployment. Keep the host, image, PHP runtime, database, and web server patched. Back up the database and all persistent user data, and periodically perform a restore test on a separate location. A backup that has never been restored is only an assumption.

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Operations after the first login

Plan upgrades around persistent data

Before upgrading, record the current FileRun version, PHP version, database version, and enabled extensions. Take a database backup and a file backup, then upgrade the application while preserving the data mounts. For Docker, pull the approved official image and recreate the services; for manual PHP, replace application files carefully and rerun permission and configuration checks.

Watch the resources that grow

Track disk usage separately for user files, cache, trash, versions, database files, and logs. Watch memory when previews are generated and when Elasticsearch is enabled. CPU spikes during thumbnail or document conversion are expected, but sustained saturation means you need to reduce concurrent work, move conversion to a larger VPS, or add CPU capacity.

Test the functions users depend on

  • browser upload and download;
  • shared-link access with the intended permissions;
  • comments and metadata;
  • WebDAV;
  • mobile access;
  • desktop synchronization;
  • thumbnail and office-document previews; and
  • trash and version recovery, if enabled.

Run these checks after a PHP, database, reverse-proxy, certificate, or FileRun update rather than assuming a successful container start means every feature still works.

Troubleshooting common failures

The installer cannot connect to MariaDB

Check that the database service name, database name, username, and password exactly match the Compose environment. Confirm that MariaDB has finished initializing and that the persistent database directory is writable. Do not “fix” the problem by switching to the database root account.

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Users see permission denied or empty home folders

In Docker, verify the host-to-container mount and the superuser home path: the installer should use /user-files. In a manual installation, check ownership of the home directory and confirm that the web-server account can traverse every parent directory without making the files publicly readable.

Pretty URLs or some PHP routes return 404 errors on NGINX

Review the 2026.1 NGINX guidance for fastcgi_split_path_info and PATH_INFO. A generic PHP location block can mishandle URLs that contain a PHP path segment. Validate the NGINX configuration, reload it, and retest both the installer and a normal file request.

Mobile or desktop synchronization fails

Verify that the service is using a trusted, valid HTTPS certificate and that the reverse proxy forwards the synchronization endpoint. Test the hostname from the client network, not only from the VPS itself, and check proxy request-size and timeout limits.

Search is unavailable or the VPS runs out of memory

Full-text search requires the additional Tika and Elasticsearch services. Elasticsearch needs at least 2 GB of RAM according to the Docker guide, separate from PHP’s memory allocation. Either provide that memory and monitor it, or leave full-text search disabled and use FileRun’s other indexing and metadata features.

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Previews make the server slow

Preview and thumbnail generation consumes CPU and temporary disk space. Check free disk space, cache growth, and CPU saturation. Schedule heavy maintenance during quieter periods, retain only the versions and previews users need, and increase VPS resources if conversion remains a sustained bottleneck.

A practical go-live checklist

  1. Confirm a 64-bit VPS and supported PHP, database, ionCube, extension, and opcache versions.
  2. Estimate user files plus cache, trash, versions, database, logs, and temporary conversion space.
  3. Choose Docker for a new stack or manual PHP for an existing managed stack.
  4. Use persistent storage for FileRun application data, user files, and MariaDB.
  5. Use a dedicated database account and a strong, unique superuser password.
  6. Set the superuser home to /user-files in Docker, or to a directory outside the public web root manually.
  7. Enable trusted HTTPS before configuring passkeys, mobile access, or desktop synchronization.
  8. Block PHP execution in /apps and restrict /system and /cron.
  9. Configure the documented cron jobs for a manual installation.
  10. Back up the database and files, then prove that a restore works.
  11. Test sharing, WebDAV, synchronization, previews, and recovery before handing the service to users.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much storage should a FileRun VPS have?

Size the disk for the original user files plus thumbnail and preview cache, trash, retained file versions, the database, logs, and temporary conversion space. FileRun’s requirements documentation identifies storage as the item that must be sized properly; there is no universal disk number because retention and file types determine the total.

Is Docker required to run FileRun?

No. FileRun can be installed manually on an existing PHP and HTTP-server stack. Docker is the recommended path for a fresh VPS because it packages the runtime and makes persistent mounts explicit.

Can I enable full-text search on a small VPS?

Full-text search adds Tika and Elasticsearch. The Docker guide specifies at least 2 GB of RAM for Elasticsearch, in addition to PHP and database memory, so verify available RAM before enabling it.

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