Setting up an Outline server is the first step in being able to use Outline. Either you or someone you trust has to set up a server for you in order for you to connect the open internet through Outline.
Before you begin
Before you start setting up your Outline server, you'll need a few things:
- Access to your own servers or a Cloud services provider, like DigitalOcean, Amazon Web Services (AWS), or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
If you don’t immediately have access to a cloud server, you can easily set up an account with any provider, including those listed above. You will likely need a credit card to sign up. - A desktop computer running macOS 10.9+, Windows 7.0+ or Linux.
- The Outline Manager application.
Set up with DigitalOcean
We made it easy for anyone to install Outline on DigitalOcean in a few clicks. After downloading and installing Outline Manager on your computer, you can select the DigitalOcean setup option which will guide you through a few simple screens to configure and install your Outline Server.
Set up with another cloud provider
After downloading and installing Outline Manager, you can select to install an Outline server on a virtual machine with AWS, GCP, DigitalOcean, or another provider. Every environment is different, so we've included instructions within the Outline Manager setup flow for the most common cloud providers, including how to configure the settings on your virtual machine before you run the installation script to install Outline on a server.
Need more help?
Check out our outline server setup FAQs.