Systemd Deployment¶

Deploy GoForge as a systemd service on a bare metal server or VM.

Prerequisites¶

Go 1.25+ (for building)
Docker Engine
PostgreSQL (external or local)
Traefik (installed separately)

Setup¶

1. Build the Binary¶

git clone https://github.com/raythurman2386/goforge.git
cd goforge
make build

2. Create Application Directory¶

sudo mkdir -p /opt/goforge
sudo cp bin/goforge /opt/goforge/
sudo cp -r static /opt/goforge/
sudo cp -r templates /opt/goforge/
sudo cp .env.example /opt/goforge/.env

3. Configure Environment¶

Edit /opt/goforge/.env with your production settings. See Environment Variables for all options.

4. Install Systemd Service¶

sudo cp deploy/goforge.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable goforge
sudo systemctl start goforge

5. Verify¶

sudo systemctl status goforge
sudo journalctl -u goforge -f

Service File¶

The systemd service file (deploy/goforge.service):

[Unit]
Description=GoForge PaaS
After=network.target postgresql.service docker.service
Requires=postgresql.service docker.service

[Service]
Type=simple
# User=goforge
# Group=docker
# Run as root by default for Docker access, or use a user in the docker group.
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/opt/goforge
ExecStart=/opt/goforge/goforge
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
EnvironmentFile=/opt/goforge/.env
# Increase open file limit if necessary
LimitNOFILE=65536

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Runs as root

The default service file runs as User=root. See the Running as Non-Root section below for a more secure setup.

Managing the Service¶

# Start
sudo systemctl start goforge

# Stop
sudo systemctl stop goforge

# Restart
sudo systemctl restart goforge

# Status
sudo systemctl status goforge

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u goforge -f
sudo journalctl -u goforge --since "1 hour ago"

Running Migrations Manually¶

cd /opt/goforge
./goforge migrate up
./goforge migrate status

Updating¶

# Build new binary
cd /path/to/goforge-source
git pull origin main
make build

# Deploy
sudo systemctl stop goforge
sudo cp bin/goforge /opt/goforge/
sudo cp -r static /opt/goforge/
sudo cp -r templates /opt/goforge/
sudo systemctl start goforge

Running as Non-Root¶

For improved security, create a dedicated user:

# Create user
sudo useradd -r -s /bin/false goforge
sudo usermod -aG docker goforge

# Set ownership
sudo chown -R goforge:goforge /opt/goforge

# Update service file
sudo systemctl edit goforge

Add:

[Service]
User=goforge
Group=docker

Then reload and restart:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart goforge