Frappe Ops Cloud

Frappe Cloud & Press

Complete reference for Frappe Cloud managed hosting and Press self-hosted alternative.

Quick Reference: Frappe Cloud Concepts

| Concept | Description |

|---------|-------------|

| Site | A single Frappe instance with its own database, domain, and apps |

| Bench | A shared runtime environment hosting one or more sites with the same app versions |

| Server | The underlying infrastructure (VM) running one or more benches |

| Private Bench | A dedicated bench for a single customer with full control |

| Shared Bench | A Frappe-managed bench shared across multiple sites |

| Press | The open-source platform (AGPL-3.0) that powers Frappe Cloud |

| Agent | Flask application on each server enabling Press-to-site communication |

Decision Tree: Frappe Cloud vs Self-Hosted

Choosing hosting strategy:
├── Small team, want zero ops overhead?
│   └── Frappe Cloud (Shared Bench) — fastest time to production
├── Need custom server configuration?
│   ├── Budget for managed infra? → Frappe Cloud (Private Bench)
│   └── Want full control? → Self-hosted with bench
├── Need to host Frappe for multiple clients?
│   ├── Want managed platform? → Frappe Cloud
│   └── Want own platform? → Self-hosted Press
├── Regulatory/compliance — data must stay on-premises?
│   └── Self-hosted (bench or Press)
└── Development/testing environment?
    ├── Quick prototype → Frappe Cloud (free trial)
    └── Long-term dev → Local bench installation

Frappe Cloud Overview

Frappe Cloud is a fully managed hosting platform for the Frappe stack. It handles server provisioning, backups, updates, monitoring, and scaling.

Core Features

| Feature | Details |

|---------|---------|

| Automated backups | Scheduled daily backups with retention policies |

| Automatic updates | Managed update cycles for Frappe apps |

| Scaling | Horizontal and vertical scaling without downtime |

| Multi-tenancy | Multiple independent sites per bench |

| SSL/TLS | Automatic certificate provisioning and renewal |

| Monitoring | Real-time server and site monitoring |

| Role-based access | Granular permissions for team members |

| Billing | Daily/monthly subscriptions, wallet credits, multiple payment methods |

Infrastructure Options

| Option | Use Case |

|--------|----------|

| Shared Bench | Cost-effective for small sites; Frappe manages the bench |

| Private Bench | Dedicated environment; custom app versions and update schedules |

| Dedicated Server | Full server for high-traffic or compliance requirements |

Frappe Cloud Dashboard

Site Management

The dashboard provides centralized control for all site operations:

• Create sites — Provision new sites on shared or private benches
• Install/remove apps — Add or remove Frappe apps from sites
• Backups — Manual and scheduled backups, restore from backup
• Domain management — Add custom domains with automatic SSL
• Site config — Edit site_config.json via the dashboard
• Monitoring — View CPU, memory, disk usage, and request logs
• Site actions — Migrate, update, suspend, archive, or transfer sites

Bench Management

• Create benches — Set up shared or private benches
• App management — Select apps and their versions/branches
• Update scheduling — Control when benches receive updates
• Environment variables — Set custom environment variables
• SSH access — Connect to bench via SSH for debugging
• Log browser — View application and error logs
• Database access — Query the database via the dashboard

Server Management

• Provision servers — Create servers across multiple cloud providers
• Scale resources — Upgrade CPU, memory, and storage
• Storage add-ons — Attach additional storage volumes
• Server snapshots — Create and restore server snapshots

Deploying Apps on Frappe Cloud

Adding a Custom App

• Navigate to Apps in the Frappe Cloud dashboard
• Click Add App and provide the GitHub repository URL
• Select the branch to deploy
• Configure build settings if needed
• The app becomes available for installation on sites within compatible benches

App Marketplace

Frappe Cloud includes a marketplace where developers can:

• List apps with descriptions and pricing
• Set compatibility requirements (Frappe version, dependencies)
• Configure pricing models (free, one-time, subscription)
• Manage payouts for commercial apps
• Track installations and usage analytics

Deployment Workflow

Developer pushes code → Frappe Cloud detects update →
  Bench rebuild triggered → Assets compiled →
    Sites migrated → New version live

For Private Benches: Updates are controlled by the bench owner — NEVER auto-deployed without approval.

For Shared Benches: Frappe manages the update schedule.

Site Provisioning Workflow

Creating a New Site

• Select bench — Choose shared or private bench
• Choose plan — Select resource allocation (CPU, memory, storage)
• Configure apps — Select which apps to install
• Set domain — Use *.frappe.cloud subdomain or custom domain
• Create — Frappe Cloud provisions the site (typically under 5 minutes)

Custom Domain Setup

• Navigate to site Domains in the dashboard
• Add your custom domain (e.g., erp.example.com)
• Configure DNS: Add a CNAME record pointing to the Frappe Cloud proxy
• Frappe Cloud verifies DNS and provisions SSL certificate automatically
• ALWAYS wait for DNS propagation before expecting SSL to work (up to 48 hours)

Critical Rules

• ALWAYS use CNAME records for custom domains (not A records)
• NEVER transfer DNS to Frappe Cloud — only add CNAME records
• ALWAYS verify SSL is active before switching production traffic
• Custom domain SSL uses Let's Encrypt — auto-renews before expiry

Frappe Cloud vs Self-Hosted Comparison

| Aspect | Frappe Cloud | Self-Hosted (bench) | Self-Hosted (Press) |

|--------|:------------:|:-------------------:|:-------------------:|

| Setup time | Minutes | Hours | Days |

| Server management | Managed | You manage | You manage |

| Backups | Automatic | Manual/cron | Automatic |

| Updates | Managed schedule | bench update | Managed via Press |

| SSL certificates | Automatic | Manual/certbot | Automatic |

| Scaling | Dashboard button | Manual | Dashboard |

| Multi-tenancy | Built-in | DNS multi-tenant | Built-in |

| Cost | Subscription | Infrastructure only | Infrastructure only |

| Custom server config | Limited | Full control | Full control |

| Data sovereignty | Frappe's infra | Your infra | Your infra |

| SSH access | Private bench only | Full | Full |

| Monitoring | Built-in | Set up yourself | Built-in |

| Support | Included | Community only | Community only |

Press: Self-Hosted Frappe Cloud

What Is Press?

Press is the open-source platform (AGPL-3.0) that powers Frappe Cloud. Organizations can self-host Press to create their own managed hosting platform for Frappe applications.

GitHub: https://github.com/frappe/press

Architecture

| Component | Technology | Role |

|-----------|-----------|------|

| Press | Frappe Framework | Platform management, billing, dashboard |

| Agent | Flask | Server-to-site communication |

| Docker | Container runtime | App packaging and deployment |

| Ansible | Automation | Server provisioning and configuration |

| Frappe UI | Vue.js | Dashboard frontend |

Key Capabilities

• Multi-server management — Provision and manage multiple servers
• Site lifecycle — Create, update, migrate, backup, restore, archive sites
• Bench management — Deploy benches with specific app versions
• Billing system — Subscriptions, invoicing, wallet credits, ERP integration
• Marketplace — App listing, pricing, payouts
• Role-based access — Granular permissions per team and resource
• Monitoring — Real-time metrics and alerting

When to Self-Host Press

• You need to host Frappe for multiple clients/tenants
• You want a managed platform but on your own infrastructure
• You need full data sovereignty and regulatory compliance
• You want to offer Frappe hosting as a service

When NOT to Self-Host Press

• NEVER self-host Press for a single site — use bench directly
• NEVER self-host Press without dedicated DevOps capacity
• NEVER underestimate the operational overhead — Press itself requires maintenance

Self-Hosting Requirements

• Dedicated servers (bare metal or VMs) with Ubuntu
• DNS management for wildcard domains
• Object storage for backups (S3-compatible)
• SMTP service for transactional email
• Familiarity with Ansible, Docker, and Frappe Framework

Frappe Cloud Limitations

What You CANNOT Do on Frappe Cloud

• Install system-level packages (no root access on shared benches)
• Modify Nginx/Supervisor configuration directly
• Access raw database files (only SQL access via dashboard)
• Run long-running background processes outside Frappe's job queue
• Use non-standard ports or protocols

Shared Bench Limitations

• No SSH access
• No custom environment variables (use site_config.json instead)
• Shared resources with other sites — performance may vary
• Update schedule controlled by Frappe (not the site owner)

Private Bench Advantages Over Shared

• SSH access for debugging
• Custom environment variables
• Controlled update schedule
• Dedicated resources
• Custom app versions and branches

Frappe Cloud Best Practices

Site Configuration

• ALWAYS set maintenance_mode before large data imports
• ALWAYS use the dashboard for site config changes (not direct file edits)
• NEVER disable scheduler on Frappe Cloud — use pause_scheduler instead
• ALWAYS test app updates on a staging site before production

Backup Strategy

• Frappe Cloud creates automatic daily backups
• ALWAYS create a manual backup before major changes
• ALWAYS download and store backups off-platform periodically
• NEVER rely solely on Frappe Cloud backups — maintain your own copies

Performance

• Monitor site usage via the dashboard — upgrade plan before hitting limits
• Use background jobs for heavy operations (not synchronous API calls)
• Enable Redis caching for frequently accessed data
• Review slow query logs via the database analyzer tool

Frappe Cloud DevOps Tools

| Tool | Purpose |

|------|---------|

| Log Browser | View application logs, error logs, scheduler logs |

| Database Analyzer | Run SQL queries, view slow queries, analyze indexes |

| Binlog Browser | View database change logs (binary log events) |

| SSH Access | Terminal access to private benches for debugging |

| Process Status | View running workers, scheduler status, job queue |

Analytics Integrations

Frappe Cloud sites can connect to external analytics tools:

• Frappe Insights (native)
• Power BI (via API)
• Metabase (via database connection)
• Custom dashboards (via Frappe API)

Reference Files

| File | Contents |

|------|----------|

| examples.md | Cloud deployment workflow examples |

| anti-patterns.md | Common Frappe Cloud mistakes and fixes |