Automated Installation

Automated installation is for first-boot provisioning of a fresh CMS database. It performs the license check, initial seeding, administrator creation, and company setup normally handled by the browser installer.

Use it only when your deployment system can securely supply the initial credentials and retain persistent database and file storage.

Prepare the release

Extract the release, install production dependencies, configure PostgreSQL, and apply core migrations as described in manual installation. The unattended installer is not a substitute for core migrations or correct hosting configuration.

Set the final public URL before booting:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://brad_user:URL_ENCODED_PASSWORD@db.example.com:5432/brad_cms"
NODE_ENV=production
APP_URL=https://app.example.com
INSTALL_AUTO=true
INSTALL_LICENSE_KEY=BRAD-YOUR-PURCHASED-KEY
INSTALL_PUBLIC_URL=https://app.example.com
INSTALL_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
INSTALL_ADMIN_PASSWORD=REPLACE_WITH_A_STRONG_UNIQUE_PASSWORD
INSTALL_ADMIN_NAME="Site Administrator"
INSTALL_COMPANY_NAME="Example Company"

These are placeholders. Supply real values through protected deployment configuration.

Understand the two URL values

INSTALL_PUBLIC_URL supplies the hostname used for a license check when there is no browser request during first boot. It can be provided as a full origin; the installer derives the bare hostname.

APP_URL supplies the running application's public origin for links, callbacks, and WebSocket origins. Set both for unattended production deployment. Supplying only the installer URL does not replace the runtime setting.

Start and inspect the result

Start the normal release entrypoint. The startup preload checks whether automated installation is enabled, checks database connectivity, and attempts installation if the database is not already installed.

Review the startup log for completion or the exact failure. Then open the final domain, sign in with the configured administrator credentials, and check the company, license, and enabled modules.

If installation fails, fix the reported license, database, or configuration problem and review the database state before retrying. Do not blindly erase a database to force the installer to run.

Existing installations

The service checks whether the system is already installed and skips the initial installation when it is. Changing INSTALL_ADMIN_PASSWORD on an existing installation is not a password-reset mechanism, and changing the company environment value does not replace normal settings management.

Secure the first administrator

After successful installation, change the initial password and configure two-factor authentication where appropriate. Remove unneeded first-boot credentials from deployment configuration and disable INSTALL_AUTO when your provisioning process no longer requires it.

For a hosted deployment, the portal may retain the original generated credentials in Your CMS. Manage later password changes in the CMS itself.

Finish the launch checklist before production use.