Managello ships as a Docker Compose stack, so it runs on any standard Linux VPS that can run Docker. Here's how to choose the right size — and the VPS-specific details that actually matter.
Sizing by team size
Minimum
2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM on Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 — the practical floor for evaluation and small teams. Bump to 4 GB if you plan to turn on attachment virus scanning (ClamAV holds its signature database in memory).
Recommended (production)
4 vCPU / 8 GB RAM — comfortable for teams up to 100+ with dozens of clients and active projects, and headroom for virus scanning. This is our sweet spot, and what we run.
Growing (100+ users)
8+ vCPU / 16+ GB RAM — for very large teams, heavy proofing/file activity, or busy email intake.
Use a KVM VPS, not OpenVZ
Managello needs its own Docker engine, so pick a virtualization type that supports it:
- KVM, Xen, VMware, or a dedicated/bare-metal box — all good. This is what most reputable providers sell.
- Avoid OpenVZ / Virtuozzo containers. They share the host kernel, often can't run Docker cleanly, and cap swap and memory in ways that cause hard-to-diagnose failures.
Providers our customers run happily on include Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Linode/Akamai, Vultr, Contabo, OVH, and AWS Lightsail/EC2. Any of these with a KVM plan is fine.
Give it swap
A VPS with 4 GB RAM and no swap can have the Linux OOM killer terminate the database or a queue worker under a load spike — which looks like a random crash. Add a swap file sized to roughly your RAM:
sudo fallocate -l 4G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile && sudo swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab
(Skip this if your provider already gives you swap — check with free -h.)
Storage
Allocate 50+ GB for the OS, images, the Postgres database, and on-box backup snapshots. Add 100+ GB if clients upload lots of large files or proofing assets. Prefer SSD/NVMe — the database is the main bottleneck on spinning disks.
Open the right ports
Managello only needs three inbound ports on your firewall / security group:
- 22 — SSH (lock this down to your IP if you can)
- 80 — HTTP, used for the automatic Let's Encrypt certificate challenge
- 443 — HTTPS, the app itself
If port 80 is blocked, HTTPS certificate issuance will silently fail — so don't close it even though the app runs on 443.
The two ports your host may block outbound
Many budget VPS providers block outbound SMTP (ports 25, 465, 587) by default to fight spam. If your notification emails never arrive, this is the usual cause — open a ticket with your provider to unblock them, or use an email relay on port 587/2525. See Set up email sending (SMTP).
Bandwidth
Managello is light on bandwidth; 50 GB/month is plenty for most agencies. Increase it if clients regularly upload or download large files.
Take a snapshot before you go live
Most providers offer one-click VPS snapshots. Take one right after your first successful install and setup — it's the fastest way to get back to a known-good server if anything ever goes sideways. This is separate from Managello's own backups, which cover your data.
Not sure which plan to pick, or don't want to manage the server at all? First-time installation help is included with your license, and the Agency Hosted plan lets us run the VPS for you.