How long does it take to install Matomo?

The time required to install, configure, and start using Matomo can be divided into tasks for your deployment, marketing, and data teams.

For Matomo Cloud only: Deployment team tasks

Installing Matomo Cloud is a quick and easy process because we do the hosting for you:

1. Create a Matomo Cloud account by completing a short online form.

2. You will receive an email notification prompting you to activate the account and set up a password. This password and the email used to sign up for the Cloud account will be your Matomo login credentials.

3. Matomo will prompt you to choose an installation type. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.
   Note: If using the JavaScript tracking code, copy the code block under Administration > Measurables > Tracking Code and paste it into the pages of the website you wish to track.

4. Your Matomo Cloud instance will immediately start tracking live data and you can view the analytics on your dashboard and in the Visits Log and Real-time reports under the Visitors menu.

5. If you have any questions, our support team can help – your Cloud subscription includes unlimited email-based support.

Learn more about installing Matomo Cloud and Matomo for WordPress.

For Matomo On-Premise only: Deployment team tasks

Deploying Matomo On-Premise requires more time than Matomo Cloud and it is a great option for keeping your web analytics data on your own server. Note that due to the high-demand for Matomo-On Premise, we restrict email-based support to clients with a paid subscription. However, peer to peer support is freely available on the Matomo Forum.

Deployment time depends on the team’s experience in configuring and maintaining Matomo’s core dependencies that include a PHP backend, MySQL/MariaDB database, and an Apache/Nginx web server, all on Linux servers.

While Matomo works equally well on Windows, Mac, Linux servers, the conversations in our user community and our official documentation both emphasise the use of Linux. Please share this article and the On-Premise Requirements list with your deployment teams, so they can estimate how long it will take to complete the following tasks.

Simple server deployment

For a low-traffic site (100,000 hits per month), a single server can host both the database and the Matomo instance. In this case, the instance and database (MySQL/MariaDB db) can be installed with the simple 5-minute installation by downloading and deploying the latest Matomo build. Consequently, it will create a server ready to receive tracking requests from your monitored websites and mobile applications. If you are a hobbyist, this may be a sufficient deployment.

Advanced server deployment

Most websites will require additional configurations and the following list is intended to assist with estimating staffing resources for the deployment tasks. Note it is not a technical guide nor an explicit checklist.

1. Setup https
   This step is generally straightforward for experienced teams. The server needs to have SSL capability, therefore budget time to configure a certificate that supports https protocols for Curl. The Matomo System Check in the dashboard will audit for the successful implementation of https.

2. Confirm emails are sending correctly
   Your Matomo server may need to send email for several optional features, however, this step can be skipped if you do not wish to use those features.

3. Optimise the archiving process
   Several times per day, Matomo will process the raw data it receives. Initially, you may need to spend a few hours per week to monitor and optimise the settings for archiving. Moreover, you may need to change settings for PHP, database, or your host’s CPU architecture in your host. It may also require turning on/off Matomo’s default settings. Matomo contains a configuration file with settings to provide medium speed, medium security, and medium privacy. We recommend that you review and optimise these settings so they align with your data goals.

4. Backup and disaster recovery
   Specifically allow time to maintain a backup system of your database.

5. Maintenance
   After your first few weeks of setup, it is recommended to budget staff time for monitoring the server logs and handling any errors that occur. Additionally, you will need to allocate time to perform upgrades of our software version as well as your PHP, database, and server version, which may be required several times a year.

6. Setup an extra server (optional)
   Some security-oriented organisations will want to setup a proxy server in front of their Matomo server. This will require additional time to test that traffic is being correctly transmitted from your private networks and public networks. Test it! If incorrectly configured, you will strip data from the incoming requests.

7. Configure Single Sign On (optional)
   If your team needs to add LDAP or SAML for single sign on, allocate time for configuration and troubleshooting.

8. Deploy more than one machine (optional)
   If your websites have 5M hits per month or more, you will need to spend extra time deploying a scalable multi-server architecture. This includes a load balancer and a pair of databases, a reader db and a writer db.

9. Add a queue for receiving traffic spikes (optional)
   Sites with expected traffic spikes will benefit from using the Matomo Queued Tracking plugin for Redis or MySQL. This is free and easy to setup.

10. Setup a containerised Matomo (optional)
    We offer a recommended setup for Docker, or similar containerised deployments, which will require additional time to optimise for your security policies.

Additional articles may be helpful for advanced server deployments:
Pre-deployment checklist for a successful Matomo setup
How to configure Matomo for security
Post-deployment checklist for your Matomo instance

For all versions of Matomo: Data and Marketing team tasks

Finally, specific configurations will be highly dependent on your goals. Please collaborate with your data and marketing teams after they review the following guides to estimate the time required to complete the setup of Matomo:

Matomo Integrations
Privacy
Event Tracking
Ecommerce
Goals and Conversions
Migrating from Google Tag Manager
Matomo support for Google Analytics Campaign Parameters
Getting started with Matomo Tag Manager

Support and Help

• If you purchase a subscription for On-Premise support, we will assist with questions about most of these topics during daytime office hours in our time zone, five days per week.
• If you choose to use Matomo without support, your team is welcome to reference our online knowledge base.

In either case, it will be a great benefit for you to have one team member become a local Matomo expert. This person can educate your team of Matomo users, as well as handle the challenges inherent in any high traffic web server. A particularly common model in large teams is to have your local expert act as liaison through a paid subscription to our support plan team.