Installing Papercups chat on a server using Docker involves several steps: 

• Prepare your server: 
	• Ensure your server is updated to the latest version. 
	• Install Docker and Docker Compose on your server. Instructions vary slightly depending on your operating system (e.g., Ubuntu, Debian). 

• Clone the Papercups repository: 

    git clone https://github.com/papercups-io/papercups.git
    cd papercups

• Configure Papercups: 
	• Papercups requires certain environment variables for production deployments. The most crucial are SECRET_KEY_BASE and BACKEND_URL. 
	• Generate a SECRET_KEY_BASE using a command like openssl rand -base64 64 or mix phx.gen.secret (if you have Elixir installed). 
	• Set BACKEND_URL to the domain or IP address where Papercups will be accessible. 
	• You can set these in a .env file or directly within the docker-compose.prod.yml file. Refer to the docker-compose.prod.yml and .env.example files in the repository for more details and other optional variables. 

• Run with Docker Compose: 
	• Navigate to the papercups directory (where you cloned the repository). 
	• Start the Papercups services using the production Docker Compose file: 

        docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

The -d flag runs the containers in detached mode, meaning they will run in the background. 

• Access Papercups: 
	• Once the containers are running, Papercups should be accessible via the BACKEND_URL you configured, typically on port 4000 (unless configured otherwise). 

Optional but Recommended: 

• Nginx as a reverse proxy: Use Nginx to handle SSL certificates (with Certbot/Let's Encrypt) and point a domain name to your Papercups service, allowing access on standard HTTP/HTTPS ports (80/443). 
• Port forwarding: If self-hosting on your own hardware, configure your router to port forward the necessary ports (e.g., 80, 443, 4000) to your server's IP address. 

AI responses may include mistakes.