Dokploy Usage Guide#

Introduction#

Dokploy is an open-source, all-in-one deployment platform and a solid alternative to Vercel and Netlify. It supports deploying various pre-packaged containers and provides automation features such as automatic deployment, automatic updates, and automatic backups, making it very suitable for individual developers or small teams.

dokploy

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Feature Overview#

Application deployment: Supports multiple languages including Node.js, PHP, Python, Go, and Ruby.
Database management: Supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, Redis, and more.
Docker management: Easily deploy and manage Docker containers.
Traefik integration: Automatically integrates with Traefik to provide routing and load balancing.
Real-time monitoring: Monitor CPU, memory, storage, and network usage.
Database backups: Supports multiple storage targets for automated backups.

Deployment Guide#

Server Requirements#

Memory: at least 2GB
Disk: at least 30GB

This is to ensure Docker doesn’t consume excessive resources when building and running containers, preventing system crashes.

Docker Configuration#

Make sure Docker is installed, then edit /etc/docker/daemon.json to optimize logging and enable experimental features:

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{
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    "log-driver": "json-file",
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    "log-opts": {
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        "max-size": "20m",
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        "max-file": "3"
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    },
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    "experimental": true,
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    "data-root": "/root/docker_data"
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}

Installing Dokploy#

Dokploy provides an official one-liner installation script:

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curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sh

Once finished, visit http://your-vps-ip:3000 for the initial setup.

Initial Setup#

Admin Account#

On the initial screen, create an admin account. This will be the main Dokploy account.

Homepage OG Image

Security Settings#

If you’re not on an internal network and are deploying on a public VPS, it’s recommended to configure a custom domain and then close port 3000 for security. You only need to open ports 80 and 443 and access Dokploy through Traefik.

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docker service update --publish-rm "published=3000,target=3000,mode=host" dokploy

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docker service inspect dokploy --format '{{.Spec.EndpointSpec}}'

Basic Panel Settings#

Enable SSL
Enable automatic Docker cleanup to avoid filling up disk space

Git Integration (CI/CD)#

Configure your Git account to enable automated deployments:

Choose a Git platform (GitHub / GitLab / Bitbucket, etc.)
Authorize Dokploy to access your repositories
Select the repositories you want to deploy, or grant access to all

Git account selection Repository selection

Project Deployment#

Deploying from a GitHub Repository#

Create a project and select the Git repository and branch
Choose the build method (the default is usually fine)
Configure additional parameters as needed
On the Domain page, set up your domain; Traefik will automatically handle reverse proxying

Project creation Repository configuration

After you’re done, your project will be available at the configured domain.

Template Deployment#

The official templates are here: https://templates.dokploy.com/

Choose a suitable template
Review the docker-compose.yml or other configuration files
Click Deploy to complete the deployment

Template selection

Domain configuration is also handled by Traefik’s automatic reverse proxy. All you need to do is point your DNS records to the server.

Summary#

With a simple one-click installation and graphical UI, Dokploy significantly lowers the barrier to container-based deployment. It brings together Git-based CI/CD, database management, automated backups, monitoring, and more, making it an ideal choice for individual developers and small teams to deploy applications.

Dokploy Deployment and Usage Guide