The-Y CRM · Guide

The-Y CRM on your own server

One command, no config files. The installer generates all passwords itself, detects your server environment and sets everything up. You enter the license key afterwards, conveniently in the app.

What you need

A Linux server (root/SSH access). Even ~2 CPU / 4 GB RAM / 40 GB SSD is enough to start.
Docker & Docker Compose (step 1 shows how to install them if missing).
A domain (e.g. crm.your-company.com) whose DNS points to the server.
Your license key from the Founder welcome email (or from the-y.at).

→ Which server do I need? — size recommendation (small/medium/large), ports & architecture in detail.

Install Docker (if not present yet)

Check with docker version. If Docker is missing, install it with the official script:
```
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
```
On servers with a panel (Plesk/cPanel/Virtualmin) Docker is often already present or one-click installable.
Point the domain at the server

At your domain provider, set an A record for your domain (e.g. crm.your-company.com) to your server's IP address. It can take a few minutes to propagate everywhere.
Run the installer

A single command on the server (as root, or with a user in the docker group):
```
curl -fsSL https://the-y.at/install.sh -o install.sh && bash install.sh
```
The installer only asks for domain, admin email, (optional) password and company name — then does the rest: generates all passwords, sets up the database + first admin and automatically detects whether a web server is already running on your server. Depending on that, you continue in one of the three cases below.

Depending on your server — one of these three cases

Case A

🟢 Fresh server

Nothing runs on port 80/443. The installer brings its own HTTPS (fetches a Let's Encrypt certificate automatically).

You don't need to do anything else — just open your domain in the browser. If the page briefly doesn't load: check DNS/ports 80+443.

Case B

🧩 Server with a panel

Virtualmin, Plesk or cPanel already occupy 80/443. The installer automatically switches to proxy mode (the app listens locally on 127.0.0.1:8090).

In the panel, add a reverse proxy / proxy pass for your domain, target:

http://127.0.0.1:8090

and enable HTTPS/Let's Encrypt for the domain in the panel. Done.

Case C

⚙️ Apache/Nginx only

You have your own web server without a panel. Here too the app runs on 127.0.0.1:8090 — add a reverse-proxy vhost (snippets below) and get a certificate with certbot.

Nginx vhost (Case C)

server {
    server_name crm.your-company.com;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8090;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}
# then:  sudo certbot --nginx -d crm.your-company.com

Apache vhost (Case C)

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName crm.your-company.com
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    ProxyPass        / http://127.0.0.1:8090/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:8090/
    RequestHeader set X-Forwarded-Proto "https"
    # SSLEngine + certificate via certbot --apache
</VirtualHost>

Important: your domain must be served over HTTPS — the login cookies are "secure" for safety. Login won't work over plain HTTP. Panels and certbot handle the certificate automatically.

Final step — sign in & enter the license

Open in the browser & sign in

Go to https://your-domain and sign in with the admin email and the password the installer showed at the end.
Enter the license key — in the app

The setup wizard asks for it on first launch, or you go to Settings → 🔑 License and enter your key. No config file needed. Without a license the instance runs in Free mode with limits.

✅ Updates & backups
Updates arrive automatically (nightly via Watchtower); a banner in the app reports new versions. You can also update manually at any time:

cd ~/the-y-crm && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

For backups, regularly back up the Postgres and the MinIO volume — a simple database dump:

cd ~/the-y-crm && docker compose exec -T postgres \
  pg_dump -U crm crm | gzip > crm-backup-$(date +%F).sql.gz

Stuck somewhere?

Just write to us — reply to your Founder welcome email or reach out via the-y.at. We'll help you set it up.

The-Y CRM on your own server

Install Docker (if not present yet)

Point the domain at the server

Run the installer