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Hosting BookStack

A self-hosted knowledge base for organizing documentation into books, chapters and pages. Its PHP application and database need to be maintained together; uploaded files are another part of recovery.

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Understand the setup

Check runtime, storage and installation requirements before choosing a server.

See requirements

Budget your resources

Allow room for the operating system, database and your actual workload.

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Build your shortlist

See the cheapest plans that meet the starting size, then check each provider's page.

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Must have

Installation requirements

  • PHP 8.2 or newer with the required extensions and command-line access.
  • MySQL 8.0 or newer, or MariaDB 10.6 or newer.
  • Git, Composer 2.2 or newer and a PHP-compatible web server.

Recommended

Planning guidance

Use the resource planner to size a server for your workload.

No official hardware minimum for BookStack

Size the PHP workers, database and file storage around simultaneous readers, editors and attachment use. The runtime prerequisites are installation checks, not a production capacity promise.

Deploy with

Supported paths

  • Manual installation
  • Documented Ubuntu installation scripts
  • Community container options

The host must provide

Runtime

PHP
8.2 or newer
Database
MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+
Composer
2.2 or newer

Storage

Persistent data

Back up the database, uploaded images and attachments, plus the environment configuration. A database-only backup does not include all the material readers may need.

Step by step

Plan a BookStack deployment

  1. Check the host

    Verify PHP extensions and command-line access before selecting a hosting package. The project does not currently support shared PHP hosting.

    Official instructions
  2. Configure the application

    Use the maintained release installation process, configure database and mail settings, and serve the public directory.

    Official instructions
  3. Prepare updates

    Preserve configuration and recovery copies before applying application and database updates.

    Official instructions

Security

Before you go public

  • Keep the environment file outside the public document root.
  • Replace initial administrator credentials and use HTTPS.

Cost

Beyond the server price

  • Include database hosting, uploaded files, mail delivery and backup storage.

Want the full monthly bill? Use the hosting cost calculator. It keeps unknown charges visible.