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Prerequisites

  • A DigitalOcean account
  • A Personal Access Token with write scope

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1. Generate an API token

  1. Log into your DigitalOcean account
  2. Go to API → Tokens
  3. Click Generate New Token
  4. Give it a name (e.g. StartMyVPN)
  5. Select Read and Write scopes
  6. Copy the token — it will only be shown once

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2. Configure in StartMyVPN

Set the token in .env:
Or navigate to Admin → Settings and enter it in the DigitalOcean section.

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3. Deploy a VPN server

  1. Navigate to Admin → Deployments → DigitalOcean
  2. Select a region (e.g. nyc3, lon1, sgp1)
  3. Choose a droplet size — see sizing guide below
  4. Select the VPN protocol (OpenVPN or WireGuard)
  5. Click Deploy — the droplet is created and provisioning begins automatically
The deployment job runs in the background. You can monitor progress in the server details page.

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Regions

DigitalOcean regions are automatically synced when you visit the deployment page. To force a refresh:

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Rate limiting

StartMyVPN respects DigitalOcean’s API rate limits (5,000 requests/hour). Rate limit state is tracked internally and the app will back off automatically if the limit is approached.

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Billing

DigitalOcean droplets are billed to your DigitalOcean account independently of StartMyVPN subscriptions. Monitor your DigitalOcean billing dashboard for infrastructure costs.