Base
Hardened build
minimal ports, security patches applied at build time
Chhoto URL on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Azure
Applications
a self hosted URL shortener: turn long links into short, memorable ones you own end to end
Overview
Chhoto URL is a deliberately minimal, self hosted URL shortener. You paste a long link and it hands back a short one, either an auto generated readable slug or a custom word you choose yourself. Links can carry a note, count their hits, and expire automatically after a period you set. A small responsive web interface covers everyday use, and a straightforward JSON API with key based authentication covers the rest, so shortening can be scripted or wired into other tools. There is no tracking, no analytics pipeline and no third party in the path: every link and every click stays in your own account. Because it is one compact service with an embedded datastore, it runs comfortably on the smallest machines and starts in an instant.
Why the cloudimg image
Upstream has no default password at all, and an unconfigured instance is completely public, so cloudimg closes that before the port is ever reachable. Every instance mints its own site password and its own API key on first boot, and the service is held back by a startup gate that refuses to run until they exist, so an open or shared credential deployment is not possible. Only salted hashes are kept in the runtime configuration; the plaintext is written once to a root only file. The application listens on the loopback interface alone and is published through a reverse proxy, so there is a single entry point rather than an exposed backend. The public address of the instance is detected at first boot so the short links it returns are immediately usable. Paired with a deploy guide proven against the running instance, and backed by 24/7 cloudimg support.
Common uses
- Share short, branded links from a domain you control
- Shorten links programmatically from scripts and internal tools
- Keep click data private instead of handing it to a public shortener
See it running
Real screenshots taken while testing this image against its deployment guide.
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