How to self-host The Lounge

An IRC chat client in your browser that stays connected while you're away. Cresdock runs it on a server you own, from a catalogue, with no Docker and no reverse proxy to configure.

This is Cresdock's suggested starting point in its category — the one to pick if you have no reason to prefer another.

What Cresdock does for you with The Lounge

• Its configuration is written before the container ever starts, so The Lounge comes up already set up rather than showing you a blank first-run form.

• Given its own web address, with its own login seeded in advance. The Lounge can't live under a shared path, and apps like this are reached by clients that don't carry a browser session — so it gets a real password rather than being left open.

• The Lounge keeps you signed in to chat while you're away, and shares nothing with your other apps.

Why run The Lounge yourself

A connection that stays up while you're away is the entire feature, and that needs a machine that stays up.

What kind of server The Lounge needs

Tiny. The point is that it stays connected while your laptop is shut, which asks for uptime rather than power.

Cresdock itself is undemanding — it runs on a small rented server, an old desktop or a mini PC, on Ubuntu or Debian. Everything it installs shares that machine, so the honest question is not "will this app run" but "how much am I going to put on here in total".

Where to run The Lounge

The Lounge runs wherever Cresdock runs, and the choice is about the machine, not the app:

• At home, on hardware you already own. A mini PC, an old desktop or a NAS that can run Debian. Cresdock works behind a home router with no port forwarding and no domain, so The Lounge is reachable on your own network first and from outside only if you choose.
• On a rented server. A small VPS is enough for most apps and is the usual answer when The Lounge should be reachable from anywhere. The setup guide covers the specs and the one-command install.
• Through a provider that runs Cresdock. Hosting companies deploy Cresdock workspaces for their customers, so The Lounge can come with a server you rent rather than one you set up — ask your provider, or see how providers offer it.

Installing The Lounge

1. Put Cresdock on a server

   One line on any Ubuntu or Debian machine — a rented VPS, a spare PC, a home server. It sets itself up.

2. Pick The Lounge from the catalogue

   Click Install. The panel pulls the image, writes the configuration, gets a certificate and starts it.

3. Open it from your dashboard

   Its address and any login details are on its card. Start, stop, update, roll back or remove it from the same place, any time.

What this replaces

Doing it by hand means writing something like this, then keeping it working:

services:
  thelounge:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/thelounge:v4.5.2-ls228
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "9000:9000"
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Etc/UTC
    volumes:
      - ./thelounge/config:/config

And that is the easy half. Still to do:

• Install a reverse proxy and write a server block for it

• Get a TLS certificate and set up automatic renewal

• Create the folders above with the right ownership, or it will not start

• Point a DNS record at the server, because The Lounge cannot run under a shared path

• Repeat all of it for the next app, and again on every server rebuild

On Cresdock, The Lounge is one click and none of the above exists.

Looking for what The Lounge itself can do? That lives in its own documentation — this page is only about running it.

Pairs well with: Shell  ·  Transmission

Before you start: where to rent a server  ·  what it needs to run  ·  Cresdock vs Cloudron