Installation Guide#

MultiFlexi is designed for easy installation on Debian-based systems. It supports multiple database backends (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite) to fit various deployment needs.

Current Version: 1.29.0

Start monitoring your infrastructure immediately with the new MultiFlexi Probe included in this release.

Supported Platforms#

Debian 13 (Trixie) is the recommended platform for new installs. MultiFlexi packages are also published for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, and Debian 12 (Bookworm, build-maintained but no longer promoted for new installs). See Platform Support Matrix for the full support matrix, including end-of-coverage dates and why Debian 11 and 14 are not supported.

Prerequisites#

Before installing, ensure your system meets the following requirements:

  • Operating System: A supported Debian or Ubuntu release.

  • Memory: Minimum 2GB RAM (recommended for smooth database migrations).

  • Database: MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or SQLite.

  • Web Server: Apache2 (recommended), Nginx, or compatible web server.

  • PHP: PHP 8.1 or newer with extensions: intl, mbstring, xml, curl, mysql/pgsql/sqlite3.

Installation Steps#

Follow these steps to install MultiFlexi on your server.

Step 1: Configure Repository#

First, add the MultiFlexi repository to your system’s package sources.

# Update package lists
sudo apt update

# Install dependencies for repository management
sudo apt install -y lsb-release apt-transport-https bzip2 ca-certificates curl

# Add GPG key
sudo curl -fsSL https://repo.multiflexi.eu/KEY.gpg -o /usr/share/keyrings/multiflexi-archive-keyring.gpg

# Add repository source
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/multiflexi-archive-keyring.gpg] https://repo.multiflexi.eu/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/multiflexi.list

# Refresh package lists
sudo apt update

Step 2: Install MultiFlexi#

Choose the package corresponding to your preferred database backend.

Option A: MySQL / MariaDB (Recommended for Production)

sudo apt install multiflexi-mysql

Option B: SQLite (Testing / Development)

sudo apt install multiflexi-sqlite

Note

PostgreSQL support is currently experimental (multiflexi-postgresql).

Step 3: Database Configuration#

During installation, the dbconfig-common tools will prompt you to configure the database.

  1. Configure database for multiflexi? -> Select Yes.

  2. Password for the new user: You can leave this blank to let the system generate a secure random password.

Tip

Configuration settings are automatically saved to /etc/multiflexi/multiflexi.env.

Note

After the database backend package (multiflexi-sqlite, multiflexi-mysql, or multiflexi-pgsql) is configured, its post-install script automatically creates /etc/multiflexi/multiflexi.env from database.env if that file does not yet exist. This applies to all database backends and ensures multiflexi-cli can locate its configuration immediately without any manual copy step.

Step 3b: Credential Encryption Key#

multiflexi-common (pulled in as a dependency of multiflexi-mysql / multiflexi-sqlite) asks, via debconf, how to set up the master key used to encrypt stored credential secrets (passwords, API keys, tokens) at rest:

Choice

Effect

Generate a random key automatically (default)

A secure key is generated with openssl rand and written to ENCRYPTION_MASTER_KEY in /etc/multiflexi/multiflexi.env. Recommended for production.

Enter my own key

Prompts (password-style input, not echoed) for a key to use instead — for example to match an existing deployment or a key managed externally. Leaving this blank falls back to generating one.

Do not encrypt credentials (development only)

Sets DATA_ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=false. Credential secrets are then stored as plaintext in the database. Only appropriate for local development — never for a deployment holding real credentials.

Warning

Back up ENCRYPTION_MASTER_KEY somewhere safe. If it is ever lost, credentials already encrypted with it become permanently unrecoverable. See Backup and Recovery.

This prompt only runs once — on upgrade, or on any subsequent dpkg-reconfigure multiflexi-common, it is skipped automatically if either ENCRYPTION_MASTER_KEY or DATA_ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=false is already present in /etc/multiflexi/multiflexi.env, so an existing choice (and any already-encrypted data) is never overwritten. To change your choice later, run:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure multiflexi-common

The web interface itself does not require ENCRYPTION_MASTER_KEY to be set — it works whether encryption is configured or not. See Configuration for the full list of encryption-related environment variables and Credential Management for how redaction and encryption interact.

Step 4: Install Applications#

MultiFlexi is a modular platform. Core functionality is enhanced by installing applications.

To list available MultiFlexi applications:

apt search multiflexi

To install the full suite of standard applications:

sudo apt install multiflexi-all

Post-Installation Verification#

After installation, verify that MultiFlexi is running correctly.

  1. Web Interface: Open your browser and navigate to http://<your-server-ip>/multiflexi. You should see the login screen.

  2. Service Status: Check system logs to ensure no errors occurred during startup.

    journalctl -u apache2  # Or your web server service

Next Steps#