Matomo - Getting Started Guide

Step 1 - Verify Matomo Works

Your server's IP address and root password are shown on the Server Details page in your client panel. Open your browser and go to:

http://your.server.ip

You should see the Matomo setup wizard welcome page. If the page loads, Matomo is working correctly - continue to Step 2 to collect database credentials before completing the wizard.

If you placed the server behind a VyOS router on a private network, set up port forwarding for ports 22 (SSH), 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS). Matomo must be reachable from the internet to receive tracking data from your websites.

Step 2 - Get Database Credentials

The database for Matomo is already created on your server. Connect via SSH to see the credentials:

ssh root@your.server.ip

Upon login, you will see a welcome message with the database credentials:

=== Matomo Web Analytics ===

Open http://your.server.ip to complete setup wizard

Database credentials for setup wizard:
  Server:   localhost
  Login:    matomo
  Password: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Database: matomo
  Prefix:   matomo_

Save these credentials - you will need them in the next step.

Step 3 - Complete the Setup Wizard

Return to the Matomo setup wizard in your browser. The wizard will guide you through the initial configuration:

System Check

Matomo verifies that all requirements are met. You may see an SSL warning - this is normal, SSL can be configured later. Click Next.

Database Setup

Enter the following connection details:

Database Server	localhost
Login	matomo
Password	the password from the welcome message (Step 2)
Database Name	matomo
Table Prefix	matomo_

Creating the Tables

Matomo will create the necessary database tables automatically. Click Next.

Super User

Create your administrator account - enter a login, password and email. These are your credentials for logging in to Matomo.

Set Up a Website

Add your first website to track - enter the site name and URL. You can add more websites later.

Tracking Code

Matomo will show you a JavaScript tracking code snippet. Copy it and paste it before the closing </head> tag on every page of the website you want to track. You can also do this later from the Matomo dashboard.

Congratulations

Setup is complete. Click Continue to Matomo and log in with the super user credentials you just created.

Step 4 - Configure Domain and SSL (Optional)

To use Matomo with your own domain and HTTPS:

1. Create an A record in your DNS settings pointing your domain to the server IP
2. Wait for DNS propagation (usually a few minutes to a few hours)
3. Connect via SSH and run Certbot to obtain a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate:

certbot --apache -d your-domain.com

Certbot will automatically configure Apache for HTTPS and set up certificate auto-renewal.

After obtaining the certificate, add your domain to the Matomo trusted hosts list: go to Administration → System → General Settings → Trusted Matomo hostname.

Fail2Ban - Brute-Force Protection

Your server comes with Fail2Ban pre-configured to protect SSH from brute-force attacks.

Rule	Max Attempts	Ban Duration
SSH	5 failed logins	10 minutes

Useful commands:

# Check banned IPs
fail2ban-client status sshd

# Unban an IP
fail2ban-client set sshd unbanip 1.2.3.4

If you accidentally lock yourself out, connect via VNC console in your client panel and unban your IP.

Service Management

# Check service status
systemctl status apache2
systemctl status mysql

# Restart services
systemctl restart apache2
systemctl restart mysql

# Apache error log
tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

Adding More Websites

You can track multiple websites from a single Matomo instance. Go to Administration → Measurables → Manage → Add a new measurable to add additional sites. Each website gets its own tracking code and separate analytics data.

Managing Users

To add team members with different access levels:

1. Go to Administration → System → Users
2. Click Add a new user
3. Set username, email and password
4. Assign permissions: View, Write, Admin or Super User per website

Updates

Matomo shows update notifications in the admin dashboard. To update:

1. Go to Administration → Platform → Marketplace
2. If a core update is available, follow the on-screen instructions

To update system packages via SSH:

apt update && apt upgrade -y

Backups

To create a manual backup of your Matomo database:

mysqldump -u root matomo > /root/matomo-backup-$(date +%F).sql

The Matomo configuration file is located at /var/www/html/config/config.ini.php. Include it in your backups.

Software Included

Component	Version
Ubuntu	24.04 LTS
Matomo	Latest
Apache	2.4
MySQL	8.0
PHP	8.3
Certbot	Latest
Fail2Ban	1.0.2

• Matomo Documentation: matomo.org/docs
• Matomo FAQ: matomo.org/faq
• Matomo Developer Docs: developer.matomo.org