AWS Marketplace - Setup Guide

Bookstack supports two authentication methods: standard and Google.

The following table compares the two methods. Choose the one that best fits your needs and click the “Go to AWS Marketplace” button.

Feature	Standard Authentication	Google Authentication (OIDC)
Login Method	Local username & password	Google Single Sign-On (SSO)
User Management	Managed within BookStack	Users managed via Google Workspace
Security Level	Standard password-based security	OAuth 2.0 authentication with Google
Ease of Use	Requires manual user management	Seamless login with Google account
Setup Complexity	No additional configuration required	🚨 Requires a one-time modification of .env on the EC2 instance to switch from standard to oidc
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)	Not built-in, but can be configured	Supports Google MFA
Best For	Small teams, personal use	Enterprises using Google services

⚠ Important Notice! At this time, BookStack does not support simultaneous use of both Standard Authentication and Google Authentication (OIDC).

To switch authentication methods, you must manually update the .env file and restart the BookStack service.

📌 Deploying BookStack via AWS CloudFormation

Follow these steps to deploy BookStack in your AWS infrastructure:

1️⃣ Go to AWS Marketplace

1. Open the BookStack page on AWS Marketplace.

2. Click Continue to Subscribe, review the terms, and accept the agreement.

2️⃣ Deployment via CloudFormation

📌 Choosing Parameters

1. Go to CloudFormation Stack Launch and select the AWS region where you want to deploy BookStack.

2. Click Continue to Launch → select Launch CloudFormation.

3. Click Launch to proceed to AWS CloudFormation.

📌 Configuring Parameters

1. Enter the Deployment Environment (e.g., dev, prod).

2. Specify the AppURL – the URL where BookStack will be accessible.

3. If using Cognito for authentication, provide your Google OAuth Client ID / Secret.

4. Choose:

• EC2 instance type (t4g.small is recommended for small environments).

• RDS instance type (db.t4g.small is the default).

• RDS storage size (20 GB by default).

• Multi-AZ deployment (set to false for cost efficiency).

• Enable/Disable RDS backups.

3️⃣ Launching the CloudFormation Stack

1. Click Next and review your configuration.

2. On the next page, check the box for I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources with custom names.

3. Click Create stack.

4️⃣ Retrieving the Access URL

1. After successful deployment, navigate to the Outputs tab in CloudFormation.

2. Locate AppURL → this is your final BookStack access URL.

3. If using a custom domain, create a CNAME record in your DNS registrar, pointing AppURL to LoadBalancerDNSName.

5️⃣ Accessing BookStack

1. Open AppURL in your browser.

2. Log in using the default credentials:

• Username: admin@admin.com

• Password: password

3. Change your password immediately! You can do this under Profile → Settings.

Additional Information

✅ Application logs are available in CloudWatch Logs.

✅ Data is stored in RDS, while Bookstack files are stored on Amazon EFS.

✅ Deletion: If needed, delete the main CloudFormation Stack to remove all associated resources automatically. ⚠ Important Notice! Before proceeding, navigate to AWS Backup → Vaults → your-backup-vault-name → Recovery Points. Select all recovery points, click the Action button, and choose Delete. This will remove EFS backups.
Otherwise, deleting the CloudFormation stack will result in an error.