JATOS greatly simplifies setting up a server to run studies online but you still need that server to begin with! If getting your own server (e.g. from your IT department) is not an option, you can set up JATOS on a cloud vendor (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud are the most common ones).

For a newbie, and someone without any knowledge about server admin, setting up a server in the cloud with any of those services is not as straightforward as it sounds. So I put some effort to find the easiest solution.

DigitalOcean seems to be, for now, the best option. So I wrote a step-by-step tutorial on how to set up JATOS on DigitalOcean. It’s aimed at people who know a little about computers but don’t feel comfortable with server administration or the ‘cloud’. If everything works as it should, you won’t even need to use a terminal. It uses the cloud provider DigitalOcean that in itself is easy to use.

The first part describes how to set up a simple JATOS server.

Then, in the second part, it continues with adding HTTPS and using your own domain name through Traefik.

I like to reiterate: always keep in mind that storing your data in the cloud means that you lose some control. A company has the data you stored there and you should really be careful and check what your ethics allow you to do with the data you have.