DigitalOcean is a cloud provider that offers scalable and easy-to-use infrastructure for developers. You can create and manage Kubernetes clusters, storage, and networking resources all through their platform. With DigitalOcean’s managed Kubernetes service and Helm charts, deploying Hoppscotch on your infrastructure becomes a plain sailing process.

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Pre-requisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following tools and services set up:

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Digital Ocean Account

To deploy Hoppscotch on DigitalOcean, you will need a DigitalOcean account. If you don’t have an account already, sign up for one here.

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Kubernetes Cluster Access

You need an active Kubernetes cluster on DigitalOcean. If you don’t have one already, you can easily create a cluster through the DigitalOcean Dashboard.

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Administrative Permissions

Ensure that your user account has administrative access to manage the Kubernetes cluster. This is important for performing actions like deploying applications, managing configurations, and troubleshooting issues.

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Command Line Tools

You’ll need a few essential command-line tools installed and configured on your local machine to interact with your Kubernetes cluster and deploy applications.

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kubectl CLI

kubectl is the Kubernetes command-line tool that allows you to interact with your Kubernetes cluster. If you don’t have kubectl installed, follow the instructions in the official Kubernetes documentation to get started.

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Helm version 3.x

Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes, which simplifies the deployment and management of applications like Hoppscotch. Helm uses charts, which are pre-configured application definitions, to deploy applications to Kubernetes clusters. To install Helm, follow the Helm installation guide.

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Installation and Deployment

Follow the steps below to deploy Hoppscotch on your DigitalOcean Kubernetes cluster:
1

Digital Ocean Cluster Connection

To authenticate your cluster, you’ll need the kubeconfig file from DigitalOcean.
  1. Go to your DigitalOcean Dashboard.
  2. Navigate to Kubernetes > Clusters.
  3. Select the Kubernetes cluster that you want to deploy Hoppscotch on.
  4. Click Download Config File. The file will be named [cluster-name]-kubeconfig.yaml and will typically be saved in your Downloads folder.
2

Configure access to the Cluster

Once you have the kubeconfig file, set it up to enable communication between kubectl and your DigitalOcean Kubernetes cluster:
# Set KUBECONFIG environment variable to use the downloaded config file
export KUBECONFIG=~/Downloads/[cluster-name]-kubeconfig.yaml

# Verify the connection by listing the nodes in the cluster
kubectl get nodes
To avoid reconfiguring the KUBECONFIG variable every time you interact with the cluster, move the kubeconfig file to a more permanent location (e.g., ~/.kube/config) and add the export command to your shell’s configuration file (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.) for persistent access.
3

Install NGINX Ingress Controller (Optional)

If you need to expose Hoppscotch to external traffic via an HTTP/S interface, you will need an Ingress Controller. NGINX is a popular choice for this.To install the NGINX Ingress Controller on your Kubernetes cluster, execute:
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/ingress-nginx/controller-v1.8.2/deploy/static/provider/do/deploy.yaml
This will create the necessary resources (e.g., deployments, services) to enable ingress routing for your cluster.
4

Configure and Prepare the 'values.yaml' File

Helm charts use a values.yaml file to customize the deployment. You’ll need to modify the values.yaml file to suit your environment:
replicaCount: 1  

image:
  repository: hoppscotch/hoppscotch  
  tag: latest  
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent  

urls:
  base: "http://frontend.yourdomain.com"
  shortcode: "http://frontend.yourdomain.com"
  admin: "http://admin.yourdomain.com"
  backend:
    gql: "http://backend.yourdomain.com/graphql"
    ws: "ws://backend.yourdomain.com/graphql"
    api: "http://backend.yourdomain.com/v1"
  redirect: "http://frontend.yourdomain.com"
  whitelistedOrigins: "http://backend.yourdomain.com,http://frontend.yourdomain.com,http://admin.yourdomain.com"

service:
  type: LoadBalancer  
  port: 3000  

ingress:
  enabled: true
  mainHost: frontend.yourdomain.com
  adminHost: admin.yourdomain.com
  backendHost: backend.yourdomain.com  

# If using Hoppscotch Enterprise, configure your license key
enterprise:
  licenseKey: "1e8xxxxx-fexx-49xx-8cxx-d57f54fxxxxx"
If you are deploying Hoppscotch Enterprise edition, you’ll need a valid license key. To obtain one, visit the Hoppscotch Enterprise Store and make a purchase. After completing the purchase, you’ll receive an email with the license key. Alternatively, you can find the key in your Hoppscotch Enterprise Dashboard. For more details on managing your license key, refer to this guide.
5

Deploy Hoppscotch on Kubernetes

Now that you’ve configured the values.yaml file, you’re ready to deploy Hoppscotch using Helm.
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hoppscotch/helm-charts.git

# Go to helm charts directory
cd helm-charts

# Install the chart for community edition
helm install community-hoppscotch ./charts/shc

# Install the chart for enterprise edition
helm install enterprise-hoppscotch ./charts/she

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Verification

After deploying the application, verify that everything is running smoothly by checking the status of your Hoppscotch pods and inspecting the service details, including the external IP or LoadBalancer that you’ll use to access the application. 
# List all the pods running in the cluster
kubectl get pods

# View services to ensure that Hoppscotch is exposed properly
kubectl get services

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Setup and Access

After successfully deploying Hoppscotch and verifying the installation, the next step is to set up the Admin Dashboard and then access the Hoppscotch application for API development and testing.

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Create an Administrator account

  1. Open a new browser tab and visit https://admin.yourdomain.com.
  2. Login with your credentials or create a new account.
  3. Upon successful login, the Admin Dashboard will be accessible, letting you manage configurations and perform administrative tasks.
The first user to log in will automatically be granted administrator privileges.

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Access the Hoppscotch app

With the administrator account set up, you can now start using the Hoppscotch app:
  1. Open a new browser tab and visit https://frontend.yourdomain.com.
  2. Begin developing and testing your APIs seamlessly with Hoppscotch.

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Management

Below are some commands to help you with ongoing management tasks for your deployment.

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Update Configuration

To apply changes to the configuration (for example, modifying the values.yaml file), use the following command to upgrade the deployment: 
# Upgrade the chart for community edition
helm upgrade community-hoppscotch ./charts/shc -f ./charts/values.yaml

# Upgrade the chart for enterprise edition
helm upgrade enterprise-hoppscotch ./charts/she -f ./charts/values.yaml

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Remove Installation

To uninstall Hoppscotch and clean up the resources, you can remove both community and enterprise editions: 
# Uninstall the community edition
helm uninstall community-hoppscotch

# Uninstall the enterprise edition
helm uninstall enterprise-hoppscotch

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Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during or after the installation, the following commands can help diagnose the problem:
IssueCommand to Check
Pod Issueskubectl logs [POD_NAME]
Service Statuskubectl describe service community-hoppscotch
kubectl describe service enterprise-hoppscotch
Configuration Issueskubectl describe configmap community-hoppscotch
kubectl describe configmap enterprise-hoppscotch