Deploy Strapi on Clever Cloud

This project is a Strapi application already configured to be deployed on Clever Cloud and to use object storage with Cellar. It complements the walkthrough from Pierre Guézennec: https://www.camino.dev/blog/deployer-cms-strapi-clever-cloud

This README contains two sections:

1. Initial/manual deployment (quickstart and Clever Cloud-specific setup)
2. Terraform automation (infrastructure + app provisioning)

---

Part 1 — Initial / Manual Deployment

🚀 Getting started with Strapi

Strapi comes with a full featured Command Line Interface (CLI) which lets you scaffold and manage your project in seconds.

develop

Start Strapi with auto-reload enabled:

npm run develop
# or
yarn develop

start

Start Strapi with auto-reload disabled (production-like):

npm run start
# or
yarn start

build

Build the admin panel:

npm run build
# or
yarn build

⚙️ Deploy on Clever Cloud (manual)

Strapi gives you many possible deployment options for your project including Strapi Cloud. Browse the deployment section of the documentation to find the best solution for your use case.

💡 Deploy on Clever Cloud ☁️

Deploy this app with the following tools:

A Node.js application

Inject the following environment variables:

ADMIN_JWT_SECRET="<your-token>"
API_TOKEN_SALT="<your-token>"
APP_KEYS="<your-token>,<your-token>,<your-token>,<your-token>"
CC_NODE_BUILD_TOOL="yarn"
CELLAR_ADDON_REGION="fr-par"
CELLAR_BUCKET="<your-bucket-name>"
DATABASE_CLIENT="postgres"
HOST="0.0.0.0"
JWT_SECRET="<your-token>"
NODE_ENV="production"
TRANSFER_TOKEN_SALT="<your-token>"

Run openssl rand -hex 32 for each value and replace <your-token> with the result.

Custom domain

If you use custom domain, change origin: on middlewares.js

A PostgreSQL add-on

Environment variables have already been set in the code.

A Cellar add-on

This project uses @strapi/provider-upload-aws-s3 to store assets and has already been set up.

Don't forget to connect your add-ons to the application (Service dependencies option from your app menu in Clever Cloud Console).

Cellar policies need to be public. Follow this documentation.

Dedicated build instance

Strapi can run on a small instance like the XS plan, but the build process can take more RAM and CPU. Enable a dedicated build instance from your app menu Information option in Clever Cloud Console.

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Part 2 — Deploy with Terraform (automated)

This repository includes Terraform configuration to provision the Clever Cloud application, add-ons, and related resources.

Prerequisites

1. Install Terraform: https://www.terraform.io/downloads
2. A Clever Cloud account: https://console.clever-cloud.com
3. Clever Cloud credentials (create a token in the Clever Cloud console or with clever login). Get tokens from: https://console.clever-cloud.com/users/me/tokens

Deployment Steps

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/CleverCloud/strapi-example.git
cd strapi-example

2. Generate secrets

cd terraform
./generate-secrets.sh > secrets.txt

3. Configure Terraform variables

cp terraform.tfvars.example terraform.tfvars
# Edit terraform/terraform.tfvars with your values, Clever Cloud tokens and the generated secrets

4. Initialize Terraform

terraform init

5. Review the plan

terraform plan

6. Deploy

terraform apply

7. Retrieve the application URL

terraform output app_url

A Cellar add-on

This project uses @strapi/provider-upload-aws-s3 to store assets and has already been set up.

Don't forget to connect your add-ons to the application (Service dependencies option from your app menu in Clever Cloud Console).

Cellar policies need to be public. Follow this documentation.

Customization

• Change instance sizes in terraform/terraform.tfvars:

instance_type = "S"      # Options: XS, S, M, L, XL
build_instance_type = "L" # Larger build instance for faster builds

• Add a custom domain in terraform/terraform.tfvars:

custom_domain = "strapi.yourdomain.com"

• Scale the number of instances:

instance_count = 2

Security

• Never commit terraform/terraform.tfvars containing secrets.
• Add the following (recommended) entries to your repository .gitignore.

Recommended .gitignore entries

############################
# Terraform
############################
terraform/.terraform/
terraform/*.tfstate
terraform/*.tfstate.backup
terraform/*.tfstate.*.backup
terraform/.terraform.lock.hcl
terraform/terraform.tfvars
terraform/secrets.txt
terraform.tfstate

############################
# Strapi
############################
.env
.cache
license.txt
exports
.strapi
dist
build
.strapi-updater.json

Useful Terraform Commands

# Destroy infrastructure
terraform destroy

# Show outputs
terraform output

# Inspect state
terraform show

Usage Summary

1. cd terraform
2. ./generate-secrets.sh > secrets.txt
3. cp terraform.tfvars.example terraform.tfvars and edit with your values and secrets
4. terraform init
5. terraform plan && terraform apply

Resources

• Terraform Provider — Clever Cloud
• Clever Cloud Documentation

📚 Learn more

• Resource center - Strapi resource center.
• Strapi documentation - Official Strapi documentation.
• Strapi tutorials - List of tutorials made by the core team and the community.
• Strapi blog - Official Strapi blog containing articles made by the Strapi team and the community.
• Changelog - Find out about the Strapi product updates, new features and general improvements.

Feel free to check out the Strapi GitHub repository. Your feedback and contributions are welcome!

✨ Community

• Discord - Come chat with the Strapi community including the core team.
• Forum - Place to discuss, ask questions and find answers, show your Strapi project and get feedback or just talk with other Community members.
• Awesome Strapi - A curated list of awesome things related to Strapi.