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Getting started with Simplewala

Simplewala is a cloud hosting platform that turns a raw cloud VM into a managed server with one-click application installs, Git-based deployments, automatic SSL, daily backups, and a web portal. This guide walks you through creating your first server and deploying your first application.

Prerequisites

  • A Simplewala account — sign up free
  • A domain name (optional for initial setup, required for SSL and email)

Step 1: Create a server

  1. Log in to the Simplewala portal.
  2. Click New Server and place an order.
  3. Choose what the server is for — web, application, database, file, game, email or general. This sizes the rest: machines are labelled Recommended, Workable or Undersized with the reason, the block volume is preset, and only the software that workload needs is installed during priming.
  4. Choose a region close to your users, on DigitalOcean or Microsoft Azure. The price is the same in every region, so pick for latency and data residency.
  5. Review the preselected machine — the cheapest one that meets the recommendation. For WordPress or Node.js apps, 2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM is a comfortable starting point.
  6. Give your server a name and submit the order.

Simplewala provisions the VM, installs the OS, hardens SSH, configures the firewall, and enables automatic security updates. This typically takes 60–90 seconds.

Step 2: Connect via SSH (optional)

Once your server is active, copy its IP address from the server detail page. Add an SSH key under Settings → SSH Keys in the portal, then connect: 

ssh root@<server-ip>

Most tasks can be done entirely from the portal — SSH access is available but not required.

Step 3: Install an application or deploy from Git

Option A — One-click installs (Apps, Databases, Email)

From your server page, use the sidebar to navigate to the relevant section:

  • Apps — install WordPress, Node.js, Docker-based apps, or bare services (Nginx, PHP)
  • Databases — install MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB, Kafka, or Memcached
  • Email — install a full Postfix + Dovecot mail server with DKIM, SPF, and webmail

Each installer runs unattended and streams live output in the portal.

Option B — Deploy from Git

Go to Git Apps in the portal sidebar. Create a new Git App, connect your GitHub or GitLab repository, configure a build command and output port, and optionally assign a domain. Simplewala deploys on every push to your selected branch and streams build logs live.

Step 4: Add your domain and SSL

  1. Go to Front Door on your server page.
  2. Click Add route, enter your domain and the backend port (e.g. 80 for WordPress, or the port your app listens on).
  3. Simplewala provisions a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate automatically.
  4. Point your domain's DNS A record to the server IP. Changes propagate within minutes to hours depending on your TTL.

For Git Apps, you can set a domain directly on the app — Simplewala wires up the Front Door route automatically.

Step 5: Set up secrets (recommended)

Go to Secrets in the portal sidebar to store environment variables in Simplewala's built-in vault. Every secret is encrypted with its own data key, and each one keeps a full version history you can roll back to, plus a tamper-evident audit log of every read, write and rotation. Secrets are injected into your Git Apps and deployed containers at runtime — they are never stored in your repository.

Bind a secret to a database, mailbox or app environment variable and Simplewala can rotate it on a schedule, pushing the new value everywhere it is used. If you would rather hold the encryption key yourself, deploy OpenBao from the same page — it runs on your own server and takes custody of your account key, so the platform can no longer decrypt your secrets without it.

What's next?