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🚀 OpenSign Deployment Guide on Azure VM (Frontend + Backend + MongoDB + Caddy)

🧱 Prerequisites​

  • Azure CLI installed
  • A domain you control (e.g., yourdomain.com)
  • Subdomain pointing to your VM (e.g., opensign.yourdomain.com)
  • SSH access

🔧 Step 1: Create an Azure VM​

1.1 Create Resource Group​

az group create --name OpenSignRG --location eastus

1.2 Create Ubuntu VM​

az vm create \
  --resource-group OpenSignRG \
  --name opensign-vm \
  --image Ubuntu2404 \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys \
  --size Standard_B1ms

1.3 Get VM IP​

az vm list-ip-addresses --name opensign-vm --resource-group OpenSignRG --output table

🔐 Step 2: Open Required Ports​

Azure’s default port-opening approach conflicts if you use the same priorities. So instead, add rules with increasing priorities manually:

2.1 Get NSG name​

az network nsg list --resource-group OpenSignRG --query "[].name"

Assume it’s opensign-vmNSG. Then:

2.2 Add inbound port rules​

az network nsg rule create \
  --resource-group OpenSignRG \
  --nsg-name opensign-vmNSG \
  --name Allow-HTTP \
  --priority 1001 \
  --direction Inbound \
  --protocol Tcp \
  --access Allow \
  --destination-port-ranges 80

az network nsg rule create \
  --resource-group OpenSignRG \
  --nsg-name opensign-vmNSG \
  --name Allow-HTTPS \
  --priority 1002 \
  --direction Inbound \
  --protocol Tcp \
  --access Allow \
  --destination-port-ranges 443

az network nsg rule create \
  --resource-group OpenSignRG \
  --nsg-name opensign-vmNSG \
  --name Allow-Caddy-Internal \
  --priority 1003 \
  --direction Inbound \
  --protocol Tcp \
  --access Allow \
  --destination-port-ranges 3001

🌍 Step 3: Point Domain to VM​

In your DNS provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Cloudflare):

  • Add an A record:
    • Name: opensign
    • Value: <your VM public IP>
    • TTL: 1 min or Auto

Let it propagate (~5–10 mins).

📦 Step 4: SSH into the VM​

ssh azureuser@<your-vm-ip>

🐳 Step 5: Install Docker + Compose V2​

sudo apt update && sudo apt install docker.io -y

# Install Compose V2 (CLI plugin)
mkdir -p ~/.docker/cli-plugins/
curl -SL https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/v2.24.5/docker-compose-linux-x86_64 -o ~/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
chmod +x ~/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose

# Enable Docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Verify:

docker compose version

📁 Step 6: Set Up Project and Volumes​

6.1 Create a working directory​

mkdir opensign && cd opensign

6.2 Download files​

export HOST_URL=https://opensign.yourdomain.com

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenSignLabs/OpenSign/main/docker-compose.yml
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenSignLabs/OpenSign/main/Caddyfile
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenSignLabs/OpenSign/main/.env.local_dev
mv .env.local_dev .env.prod

Make sure that you update the SMTP settings by editing the .env.prod file in order to receive emails.​

⚙️ Step 7: Start the Stack​

Now boot the containers using Compose V2:

docker compose up -d --force-recreate

✅ Step 8: Verify Everything​

  • https://opensign.yourdomain.com loads the app with HTTPS
  • Caddy fetched SSL certs automatically
  • Backend routes work at /api/*
  • MongoDB persists data
  • Uploaded files persist via opensign-files volume

Test:

docker exec -it OpenSignServer-container ls /usr/src/app/files
docker volume inspect opensign-files

📦 Step 9: Auto-start on Reboot (optional)​

crontab -e

Add:

@reboot cd /home/azureuser/opensign && docker compose up -d

🔄 Backups (optional)​

# Backup MongoDB volume
docker run --rm -v opensign_data-volume:/data -v $(pwd):/backup ubuntu tar czvf /backup/mongo-backup.tar.gz /data

# Backup OpenSign files
docker run --rm -v opensign_opensign-files:/data -v $(pwd):/backup ubuntu tar czvf /backup/files-backup.tar.gz /data