Getting Started with Hylius

Hylius is a self-hosted deployment platform that lets you deploy any application to your own VPS with the same ease as Vercel or Render — without giving up control of your infrastructure.

How It Works

Hylius gives you two ways to deploy:

Hylius Dashboard — a web UI where you connect servers, deploy 1-click starter templates, import GitHub repos, trigger deploys, and install Marketplace addons like Traffic Analytics and Error Tracking. The dashboard installs a lightweight Hylius Agent on your VPS to securely orchestrate deployments over WebSockets without requiring ongoing SSH access.

Hylius CLI — a command-line tool for provisioning, deploying, and generating CI/CD pipelines. The CLI connects to your VPS directly over SSH.

Regardless of the method, Hylius handles the heavy lifting: it provisions managed databases, clones your repo, builds a Docker image (or uses Railpack if you have no Dockerfile), and runs it — with zero-downtime atomic deploys. Every deployment is versioned and symlink-swapped, so rollbacks are instant.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you'll need:

A Linux VPS (Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian, or Alpine recommended)

Node.js 18+ installed on your local machine

Your VPS's IP address and SSH credentials (only required for the initial Dashboard setup or CLI usage)

A Git repository containing your project (GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, etc.)

Installation

Install the Hylius CLI globally via npm:

bashnpm install -g hylius

Verify the installation:

bashhylius --version

Quick Start (3 steps)

Step 1 — Provision your VPS

Run hylius setup once to install Docker, Railpack, and configure your server's firewall:

bashhylius setup

The CLI will prompt you for your VPS credentials. See Server Provisioning for full details.

Step 2 — Deploy your app

Navigate to your project directory and run:

bashhylius deploy

The CLI will ask for your VPS connection details and Git repo URL, then deploy atomically with zero downtime.

Step 3 — (Optional) Automate with CI/CD

To deploy automatically on every git push, generate a GitHub Actions workflow:

bashhylius ci-generate

See the CI/CD Guide for the full workflow.

Command Reference

Command	Description
`hylius setup`	Provision a fresh VPS with Docker + security hardening
`hylius deploy`	Deploy your app to your VPS (interactive or headless)
`hylius ci-generate`	Generate GitHub Actions workflow files
`hylius ci-generate --dagger`	Generate a Dagger-powered pipeline (GHCR builds + preview deploys)
`hylius ci-generate --full`	Generate setup + deploy pipeline

Supported Frameworks

Hylius auto-detects your project type using Railpack and generates the optimal Docker config:

Framework	Detection Signal
Next.js	`next.config.*` file
Vite	`vite.config.ts/js` file
Node.js	`package.json`
Python / FastAPI	`requirements.txt`, `pyproject.toml`
Laravel	`composer.json` + `artisan`
Go	`go.mod`
Java	`pom.xml`
Generic PHP	`composer.json`

You can also bypass detection entirely by deploying one of our 1-click Templates directly from the Dashboard. We offer pre-configured starter kits for Laravel + Postgres, Next.js + Redis, and more.

If Hylius detects no framework, it will prompt Docker's built-in docker init command to guide configuration.

📘 Note

You can bypass auto-detection and use your own Dockerfile or compose.yaml. Hylius will always prefer existing Docker files over auto-generated ones.

Next Steps

Using the Dashboard →

Provisioning a VPS →

Deploying Your App →

Automating with CI/CD →

Common Issues & Fixes →