We highly recommend Vultr for hosting Funnel Flux as all the benchmarks show that they have the fastest servers at the lowest prices.
If you use our referral link HERE, you'll get $100 in testing credits too.
The only problem is that it is 100% unmanaged, meaning that you have to install everything yourself.
However, with the scripts we have prepared for you and the step by step instructions below, the installation process is now extremely straightforward.
If you have issues with it, we can always do it for you -- a routine process that only takes us 15-30 minutes. Just reach out to our support.
Step 1: Deploy a server
After having created an account at Vultr, click the blue "Deploy" icon:
Then select your instance type and location. We'd recommend the following:
The location is up to you, but for global traffic we'd recommend Western EU.
Step 2: Pick your distribution
Select "Ubuntu 22.04 x64" for the operating system as in the screenshot below:
Step 3: Pick server size
Select a server size.
We recommend a strict minimum of 2048 MB of memory and 2 vCPU (regardless of how low your traffic volume might be).
We recommend the $24/mo plan with 2 vCPU and 4 GB Memory
For 100,000+ visitors per day, you should select at least 4 vCPU + 4GB (4096MB) of memory or more.
For 200,000 to 1 million visitors per day, select a server between 8-16 vCPU and a minimum of 16 GB of memory.
If you plan to send more than 1 million visitors per day through your FunnelFlux, then select a server with at least 8 vCPU, as a bare minimum.
FunnelFlux will certainly work fine at server specs below this, but we're operating on the assumption that you need decent headroom for things like API requests, Optimizer integration, etc.
We also STRONGLY recommend that you enable auto-backups:
In a worst case scenario these can turn an utter catastrophe into just a few days of data loss.
Once you're done, click deploy and wait ~5 minutes for the server to complete deployment.
After clicking the button, you will see a screen like this one:
Step 4: Dealing with DNS configuration
While your server is being created, you will point your domain name to it.
Wait for the IP to become available, then copy it to the clipboard:
Note: we recommend using CloudFlare for DNS -- it is not wise to use DNS based on your specific server (i.e. using your server as the nameserver).
You can see our Cloudflare tutorial here - best to look at this article for full DNS instructions, especially if you are not familiar with DNS configuration for domains.
Step 5: Starting FunnelFlux automated installation
Go back to your servers list and click the manage link next to your server IP.
You will see some information about your server and have access to several actions.
At this stage we highly recommend you grab a local SSH client, e.g.
Whatever software you use, create a new connection to your server IP, use SSH (version 2 if available), username root and copy/paste in the password provided on the Vultr dashboard for your server.
If you don't want to use such software, use the "View Console" button:
This will open a Shell Window and you will see where your server initial installation process is at.
If lines are appearing, it may indicate the server is still setting up. You should wait for it to not be doing anything -- don't want to interrupt this setup.
If nothing moves and looks like the screen below, then press ENTER:
You will then have the opportunity to login.
Use the root username and password to login. Unfortunately this virtual console does not support copy/paste, so you will have to write it manually (hence why we would recommend using proper software). It's also slow to use.
Note that in Linux terminals, password entry won't show keystrokes - so its normal to not see anything as you type.
If you use an external SSH client like Putty you can put the username/password into the interface before connecting, so you'd skip this step. Otherwise, you'd be able to use the command line:
ssh root@YOUR-SERVER-IP-ADDRESS
After having logged in, type the following command in the Shell Window, then press Enter:
wget https://licensing.funnelflux.com/downloads/installers/scripts/ff1.sh
If you entered it correctly, you will see a message like the one below:
"ff1.sh" saved [5304/5304]
Now, type the following command:
sh ff1.sh
Continuing on...
A few other commands will have to be typed, and these commands will be displayed in the shell window.
Make sure you follow all of them.
For example, once the above script installs, you will be asked to do the same but with ff2.sh, i.e.
wget https://licensing.funnelflux.com/downloads/installers/scripts/ff2.sh
followed by:
sh ff2.sh
Note that you can press the up arrow key to cycle through previous commands, thus can easily go back to the ff1.sh command and edit it to ff2.sh (much easier!).
You will then get asked to execute ff3.sh, after which you need to go to the live domain and run install.php.
I.e. https://DOMAIN/install.php
Here you will go through initial setup and most things will be pre-filled.
DO NOT run ff4.sh until you have completed all of this.
Instructions are shown in console but its easy to miss if you're just blindly copy/pasting things and hitting enter.
ff4.sh is the cleanup script that deletes the installer files -- so you will cut yourself off mid-way if you run it before going to https://DOMAIN/install.php.
Final notes
Overall, our scripts will optimize your server, download FunnelFlux and install it for you. Please note that this is configured for a basic 2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM server.
If you install on a bigger server, you may need to optimise various parameters like cache sizes accordingly -- this is outside the scope of this tutorial or our scripts and is up to you and your sysadmin.