Install on xcloud.host

Deploy Maillayer to xcloud.host as a Docker Compose site. Roughly five minutes end-to-end.

xcloud.host runs Docker workloads on managed VPS infrastructure. Maillayer ships as a single image, so the flow is: spin up a server, drop in a Compose file, set two env vars, and deploy.

Deploy

Sign in to xcloud.host and create a new server (or pick an existing one). The free plan is enough to evaluate Maillayer; resize later when you outgrow it.
Step 1 — Create or pick a server.
Open the server, go to Sites → Add Site, then choose Custom Docker → Docker Compose.
Step 2 — Pick Docker Compose under Custom Docker.
Fill in Site Title (e.g. Maillayer App) and pick a domain. You can use the free *.xc1.app demo domain to start — you can move to a custom domain later — then click Next.
Step 3 — Site title and domain.

Under Docker Compose Source, choose Paste docker-compose.yml content and paste:

services:
  maillayer:
    image: ghcr.io/mddanishyusuf/maillayer-pro:1
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - maillayer-data:/app/data
    environment:
      AUTH_SECRET: ${AUTH_SECRET}
      APP_URL: ${APP_URL}

volumes:
  maillayer-data:

docker-compose.yml pasted into the editor — Step 4 — Paste the Compose file.

In Port & Domain Configuration, set the primary port to 3000 (the domain auto-fills from step 3).
Toggle Provide Environment File (.env) on and paste:
```
# Required: public URL where this install is reachable.
# Used for tracking-link generation, unsubscribe URLs, and the
# domain reported to the license server during activation.
APP_URL=https://maillayer.example.com

# Required (or generated on first boot — see callout below).
# Decrypts every stored provider credential — back this up.
AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 48)
```
Replace https://maillayer.example.com with the actual primary URL xcloud shows you (the https://<your-subdomain>.xc1.app value, or your custom domain). For AUTH_SECRET, run openssl rand -base64 48 locally and paste the output — the $(...) form in the snippet doesn't expand inside an .env file.
Step 5 — Port 3000 and the .env file.
Click Deploy. Once the container is healthy, open the URL and sign up — the first account becomes the owner.

Why AUTH_SECRET matters

AUTH_SECRET decrypts every stored provider credential (SES keys, SendGrid tokens, Stripe webhooks, Firebase service-account JSON…). If you lose it, those credentials become unreadable and you'll need to re-enter them. Keep a copy in a password manager.

Custom domain

In xcloud, open the site → Domains and add your domain. Point a CNAME at the target xcloud provides; HTTPS is provisioned automatically via Let's Encrypt.

Once the domain resolves, update APP_URL=https://your-domain.com in the env file and redeploy so tracking links and unsubscribe URLs use the right host.

Replicas

Stay at 1 replica

SQLite is single-writer and the queue/cron run in-process. Multiple replicas will corrupt the database and run every job N times. Keep Replicas = 1.

Volume management

Resize: grow the server's disk from xcloud's settings. The maillayer-data named volume rides along with the host filesystem.
Inspect: the in-container mount path is /app/data. Use xcloud's shell or SSH and docker exec into the container to peek.
Backup: Maillayer takes nightly VACUUM backups in /app/data/backups. See Backups.