Outline Server

Step 1 – Install Outline Manager

Download Outline Manager on your local machine.

Step 2 – Connect to Your Server

1. Open Outline Manager.
2. Choose “Set up Outline anywhere” (ADVANCED option).
3. Copy and paste the following into Step 2 (the second text box): {"apiUrl":"<YOUR_API_URL>","certSha256":"<YOUR_CERT_SHA256>"}

You can always find this config again by logging into the server via SSH, it will be displayed automatically.

Do NOT click “Install Outline Server” or run the script again from Manager.

Step 3 – Create Access Keys

1. In Outline Manager, click “Add new key”.
2. Share the generated access key with your users (example: ss://....).

Users can then import this key into the Outline Client app.

Step 4 – Install Outline Client

Paste or scan the access key to connect securely.

Troubleshooting

Check if Docker and containers are running:

docker ps

Restart Outline server:

docker restart shadowbox

View logs:

docker logs shadowbox

Key Directories & Files

/opt/outline/ → Default root directory for Outline.

• /opt/outline/persisted-state/ → Holds persistent runtime data.
• shadowbox_server_config.json → Main server config (hostname, ports, etc.).
• shadowbox-selfsigned.crt → TLS certificate.
• shadowbox-selfsigned.key → TLS private key.
• start_container.sh → Script used to restart Shadowbox container.

/opt/outline/access.txt → Access config file.

• Contains apiUrl and certSha256 used in Outline Manager.

Docker Containers

Container Names:

• shadowbox → Main Outline VPN server container.
• watchtower → Auto-update container for keeping Shadowbox up to date.

These aren’t files on disk but live in Docker’s data root:

• /var/lib/docker/ → Docker images, volumes, and containers.
• Don’t delete unless you want to reset Docker completely.