🚀 Poor Man's exe.dev

Deploy Docker containers like a boss. No Kubernetes required.

🎯 What Even Is This?

Remember exe.dev? That magical place where you spin up VMs with SSH and it just works?

This is that. But you host it. On your own VPS. For free. With Docker. Because why pay for something you can self-host?

It's like having your own personal app store, but for your servers. Deploy anything, anywhere, whenever you want.

The Vibe

🤔 "I need to deploy this API quickly"
💭 "Hmm, should I use Kubernetes? Terraform? ArgoCD?"
🧠 [brain explodes]
🎉 "Nah, just use poor man's exe.dev"

✨ Features

Feature	Description
🚀 Blazing Fast	Deploy apps in seconds, not hours
🔒 Auto-HTTPS	Caddy handles TLS like magic ✨
🔄 Auto-Updates	Watchtower keeps everything fresh
📦 Resource Guardrails	No container can eat all your RAM
🛡️ Security Hardened	Firewall + Fail2ban pre-configured
📝 Batteries Included	Templates for Node, Python, Static, Fullstack
🤖 CI/CD Ready	GitHub Actions workflows that actually work
🎮 Demo App	A cool AI chat to show off to your friends
🔑 SSH Gateway CLI	exe.dev-style CLI to manage apps via SSH

🎮 The "It Just Works" Experience

# SSH into your server
ssh root@yourserver.com

# Run one command
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat up

# Boom 💥
→ App is live at https://chat.yourdomain.com

That's it. No kubectl. No helm. No crying.

🚀 Get Started in 5 Minutes

Step 1: Bootstrap Your Server

# SSH into your fresh Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 VPS as root
ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

# Download and run the magic script
curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rnzor/poor_man_exe/main/bootstrap/setup.sh
chmod +x setup.sh
./setup.sh

What this does:

🐳 Installs Docker + Docker Compose
🌐 Installs Caddy (auto-HTTPS wizard)
🔥 Sets up UFW firewall
🚫 Installs Fail2ban (SSH bodyguard)
📡 Installs Watchtower (auto-updates)
📁 Creates /apps/ folder structure

Step 2: Clone & Deploy

cd /apps
git clone https://github.com/rnzor/poor_man_exe.git
cd poor_man_exe/apps/demo-ai-chat
docker compose up -d

Visit http://localhost:8080 and say hello to your new AI chat buddy! 🤖

Step 3: (Optional) Add a Custom Domain

cat >> /etc/caddy/Caddyfile << 'EOF'

chat.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:8080
}
EOF

caddy reload

Caddy will:

Detect the domain
Provision an SSL certificate (free!)
Redirect HTTP → HTTPS automatically
Handle all the TLS nonsense

Chef's kiss 👨‍🍳✨

🎨 Demo App: AI Chat

A real-time, streaming AI chat application that screams "I know what I'm doing."

✨ Features

⚡ WebSocket Streaming - Character-by-character responses like ChatGPT
🎨 Beautiful Dark Theme - Cyberpunk vibes, smooth animations
📱 Fully Responsive - Works on your phone, laptop, and toaster
🐳 Docker Native - Backend + Frontend + Nginx, all containerized
💪 Production Ready - Health checks, resource limits, restart policies

🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   Caddy                      │
│         (Auto-HTTPS Reverse Proxy)           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                    │
         ┌──────────┴──────────┐
         │                     │
         ▼                     ▼
┌──────────────┐      ┌──────────────┐
│   Frontend   │      │   Backend    │
│   :8080      │      │   :8000      │
│  (React +    │      │ (FastAPI +   │
│   Nginx)     │      │  WebSocket)  │
└──────────────┘      └──────────────┘

🚀 Deploy the Demo

cd /apps/demo-ai-chat

# Start it up
docker compose up -d

# Check if it's healthy
curl http://localhost:8000/health
# → {"status":"healthy"}

# Watch the magic
docker compose logs -f

📁 Repository Structure

poor_man_exe/
├── 📄 README.md                    # You are here
├── 📄 AGENTS.md                    # For AI assistants 🤖
│
├── 📂 bootstrap/
│   └── setup.sh                    # ⭐ The magic bootstrap script
│
├── 📂 templates/
│   ├── Caddyfile                   # Caddy configuration templates
│   ├── nginx.conf                  # Nginx config for static sites
│   └── docker-compose/
│       ├── nodejs.yml              # Node.js/Express API template
│       ├── python.yml              # Python/FastAPI template
│       ├── static.yml              # Static site template
│       └── fullstack.yml           # Backend + Frontend template
│
├── 📂 apps/
│   └── demo-ai-chat/               # ⭐ The cool demo app
│       ├── backend/                # FastAPI + WebSocket
│       │   ├── Dockerfile
│       │   ├── main.py             # The brains
│       │   └── requirements.txt
│       ├── frontend/               # React + TypeScript
│       │   ├── Dockerfile
│       │   ├── src/
│       │   │   ├── App.tsx         # The beauty
│       │   │   └── App.css         # The style
│       │   └── vite.config.ts
│       ├── docker-compose.yml      # Orchestrates everything
│       └── Caddyfile               # Domain config
│
├── 📂 scripts/
│   ├── deploy.sh                   # ⭐ Deployment Swiss Army knife
│   └── logs.sh                     # Quick log viewer
│
├── 📂 .github/workflows/
│   ├── build-push.yml              # Build & push to GHCR
│   └── deploy.yml                  # Auto-deploy on release
│
└── 📂 docs/
    ├── QUICKSTART.md               # Get running fast
    ├── DEPLOYMENT.md               # How to add apps
    ├── DOMAINS.md                  # Domain + HTTPS config
    └── TROUBLESHOOTING.md          # When things go sideways

🛠️ Deploy Your Own App

1. Copy a Template

cd /apps
mkdir my-awesome-app
cd my-awesome-app

# Pick your poison:
cp ../poor_man_exe/templates/docker-compose/nodejs.yml docker-compose.yml
# or
cp ../poor_man_exe/templates/docker-compose/python.yml docker-compose.yml
# or
cp ../poor_man_exe/templates/docker-compose/static.yml docker-compose.yml

2. Customize It

Edit docker-compose.yml:

services:
  app:
    image: ghcr.io/rnzor/my-awesome-app:latest  # <- your image
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"                              # <- your port
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production

3. Deploy

docker compose up -d

4. Configure Domain

cat >> /etc/caddy/Caddyfile << 'EOF'

myapp.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:3000
}
EOF

caddy reload

Done! 🎉 Your app is now live with HTTPS.

🔑 SSH Gateway CLI

The SSH gateway provides an exe.dev-style CLI experience. Connect via SSH and manage your apps directly:

# Connect to the gateway
ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@yourserver.com

# Or run commands directly
ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@yourserver.com ls

Available Commands

Command	Description
`ls`	List your apps with Docker status
`new --name=X [--image=Y]`	Create a new app container
`rm <app>`	Delete an app and its container
`share <cmd> <vm>`	Manage sharing (public/private/port)
`keys [add\|rm]`	Manage SSH keys
`whoami`	Show current user info
`help`	Show available commands
`exit`	Disconnect

Examples

# Create a new app with custom image
ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@server.com new --name=myapi --image=node:20-alpine

# List all your apps
ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@server.com ls

# Get JSON output (for scripting)
ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@server.com ls --json

# Attach to an app's shell
ssh -p 2222 myapi@server.com

# Set an app to public
ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@server.com share set-public myapi

# Change the HTTP port
ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@server.com share port myapi 3000

# Add a new SSH key
ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@server.com keys add "ssh-ed25519 AAAA... user@host"

# Remove an app
ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@server.com rm myapi

JSON Output

All commands support --json flag for automation:

ssh -p 2222 poor-exe@server.com ls --json

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "vms": [
      {"vm_name": "myapi", "image": "node:20-alpine", "status": "running", "created_at": "2026-01-17"}
    ]
  }
}

🎣 Using the Deployment Script

Our Swiss Army knife for deployments:

./deploy.sh <app-name> <command> [options]

Commands

Command	Description
`up`	Start the app (default)
`down`	Stop the app
`restart`	Restart the app
`logs -f`	View logs (follow mode)
`status`	Check app status
`update`	Pull latest + rebuild
`pull`	Pull images only
`build`	Build images
`ps`	List containers
`stop`	Stop containers
`start`	Start containers
`clean`	Remove everything

Examples

# Deploy
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat up

# Watch logs
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat logs -f

# Update to latest
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat update

# Check if it's alive
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat status --port 8080

# Restart everything
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat restart

# Nuclear option
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat clean

🔄 Auto-Updates (Watchtower)

Watchtower is pre-installed and runs in the background. It:

⏰ Polls every 5 minutes
📦 Checks for new images
🔄 Restarts containers automatically
🧹 Cleans up old images

Manual trigger:

docker restart watchtower

🤖 CI/CD (GitHub Actions)

Workflow 1: Build & Push

Trigger: Push to main

What it does:

Builds both backend and frontend images
Pushes to GitHub Container Registry (GHCR)
Tags with latest and semantic versions

Workflow 2: Deploy

Trigger: Release published OR manual trigger

What it does:

SSHs into your server
Pulls latest code/images
Rebuilds and restarts containers
Verifies deployment

Required Secrets

Add these in GitHub Settings → Secrets:

Secret	Value
`SERVER_HOST`	Your server IP
`SERVER_USER`	`root` (or your SSH user)
`SERVER_SSH_KEY`	Your private SSH key

📊 Resource Limits

All templates include sane defaults to prevent container chaos:

deploy:
  resources:
    limits:
      cpus: '0.5'        # Half a CPU
      memory: 512M      # 512MB RAM
    reservations:
      cpus: '0.1'
      memory: 128M

Adjust based on your app's needs. Some apps are hungry. We don't judge.

🔐 Security Features

Feature	What It Does
UFW Firewall	Blocks everything except 22, 80, 443
Fail2ban	Bans bots that brute-force your SSH
Non-root Containers	No container runs as root
Auto-HTTPS	TLS 1.3 with modern cipher suites
Resource Limits	Containers can't eat all your RAM
Ed25519 Host Keys	Modern, high-security SSH host keys
SHA256 Fingerprints	Proper SSH key fingerprint calculation
Rate Limiting	Token bucket rate limiting per IP
Session Limits	Max 10 concurrent sessions per key
Audit Logging	All operations logged with IP + timestamp

🎯 Comparison Table

Feature	exe.dev	Poor Man's exe.dev
💸 Free	❌	✅
🏠 Self-hosted	❌	✅
🔒 Auto-HTTPS	✅	✅
🐳 Docker	✅	✅
🔌 WebSockets	✅	✅
📊 Resource limits	✅	✅
🚀 Fast deploy	✅	✅
🤖 Custom infrastructure	❌	✅

We're basically the open-source, free, self-hosted version. You're welcome.

📚 Documentation

📖 Quick Start - Get running in 5 minutes
🚀 Deployment Guide - Add new applications
🌐 Domain Config - HTTPS + custom domains
🐛 Troubleshooting - Fix stuff

🧰 Useful Commands

# Deployment script
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat up
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat logs -f
./deploy.sh demo-ai-chat update

# Docker directly
docker compose up -d              # Start
docker compose down               # Stop
docker compose logs -f            # Logs
docker compose pull               # Update images
docker compose up -d --build      # Rebuild
docker stats                      # Check resources

# Caddy
caddy reload                      # Reload config
caddy validate                    # Check config
journalctl -u caddy -f            # Caddy logs

🤝 Contributing

🍴 Fork the repo
🌿 Create a feature branch
✨ Make it awesome
📝 Commit with a fun message
📤 Push to your fork
🔀 Open a PR

All contributions welcome! Especially ones that make this even more "exe-like."

📝 License

MIT License - Fork it, break it, fix it, deploy it.

🐛 Support

📖 Docs
🐛 Issues
💬 Discussions

Made with ❤️, ☕, and too much Docker

⭐ Star us on GitHub!

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 3 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
apps/demo-ai-chat		apps/demo-ai-chat
bootstrap		bootstrap
cmd/ssh-gateway		cmd/ssh-gateway
deploy		deploy
docs		docs
internal		internal
scripts		scripts
templates		templates
.gitignore		.gitignore
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
README.md		README.md
go.mod		go.mod
go.sum		go.sum
setup-github.sh		setup-github.sh

Folders and files

Latest commit

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Repository files navigation

🚀 Poor Man's exe.dev

Deploy Docker containers like a boss. No Kubernetes required.

🎯 What Even Is This?

The Vibe

✨ Features

🎮 The "It Just Works" Experience

🚀 Get Started in 5 Minutes

Step 1: Bootstrap Your Server

Step 2: Clone & Deploy

Step 3: (Optional) Add a Custom Domain

🎨 Demo App: AI Chat

✨ Features

🏗️ Architecture

🚀 Deploy the Demo

📁 Repository Structure

🛠️ Deploy Your Own App

1. Copy a Template

2. Customize It

3. Deploy

4. Configure Domain

🔑 SSH Gateway CLI

Available Commands

Examples

JSON Output

🎣 Using the Deployment Script

Commands

Examples

🔄 Auto-Updates (Watchtower)

🤖 CI/CD (GitHub Actions)

Workflow 1: Build & Push

Workflow 2: Deploy

Required Secrets

📊 Resource Limits

🔐 Security Features

🎯 Comparison Table

📚 Documentation

🧰 Useful Commands

🤝 Contributing

📝 License

🐛 Support

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