Documenso
Stack
Documenso - the open-source DocuSign alternative: signing workflows, templates, teams, and an API, with real PKCS#12 document sealing. One app container + a managed Postgres; no volumes (the signing cert rides env as base64).
Configuration
TypeComposelinuxNEXTAUTH_SECRET=''NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_KEY=''NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_SECONDARY_KEY=''NEXT_PUBLIC_WEBAPP_URL=http://localhost:5000SIGNING_CERT_B64=''SIGNING_PASSPHRASE=''[email protected]SMTP_FROM_NAME=DocumensoSMTP_HOST=''SMTP_PASSWORD=''SMTP_PORT=587SMTP_USERNAME=''Template by deployable-sh·Source
Report issueServices
documenso
Configuration
Imagedocumenso/documenso:v2.15.05000:5000PORT=5000NEXTAUTH_SECRET=${NEXTAUTH_SECRET}NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_KEY=${NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_KEY}NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_SECONDARY_KEY=${NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_SECONDARY_KEY}NEXT_PUBLIC_WEBAPP_URL=${NEXT_PUBLIC_WEBAPP_URL:-http://localhost:5000}NEXT_PRIVATE_INTERNAL_WEBAPP_URL=http://localhost:5000NEXT_PRIVATE_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://documenso:documenso-local-only@db:5432/documensoNEXT_PRIVATE_DIRECT_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://documenso:documenso-local-only@db:5432/documensoNEXT_PRIVATE_SIGNING_LOCAL_FILE_CONTENTS=${SIGNING_CERT_B64}NEXT_PRIVATE_SIGNING_PASSPHRASE=${SIGNING_PASSPHRASE:-}NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_TRANSPORT=smtp-authNEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_HOST=${SMTP_HOST:?SMTP server hostname; signing requests are sent by email and will not work without one}NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_PORT=${SMTP_PORT:-587}NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_USERNAME=${SMTP_USERNAME:-}NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_PASSWORD=${SMTP_PASSWORD:-}NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_FROM_NAME=${SMTP_FROM_NAME:-Documenso}NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS=${SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS:?Address signing emails are sent from}unless-stoppedImage details
db
Configuration
Imagepostgres:17/var/lib/postgresql/data : dbdataPOSTGRES_USER=documensoPOSTGRES_PASSWORD=documenso-local-onlyPOSTGRES_DB=documensounless-stoppedImage details
Standalone Install
Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying Documenso
Install on Portainer
Import all app templates into your Portainer instance, for easy 1-click deploys
- Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
- Log into your Portainer web UI
- Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
- Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
- Select Documenso, fill in any config options, and hit Deploy
Template Import URL
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json
Show Me
Original stackfile
The compose file this template deploys, straight from its repo:
name: documenso
services:
documenso:
image: documenso/documenso:v2.15.0
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
PORT: "5000"
NEXTAUTH_SECRET: ${NEXTAUTH_SECRET}
NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_KEY: ${NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_KEY}
NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_SECONDARY_KEY: ${NEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_SECONDARY_KEY}
NEXT_PUBLIC_WEBAPP_URL: ${NEXT_PUBLIC_WEBAPP_URL:-http://localhost:5000}
NEXT_PRIVATE_INTERNAL_WEBAPP_URL: http://localhost:5000
NEXT_PRIVATE_DATABASE_URL: postgresql://documenso:documenso-local-only@db:5432/documenso
NEXT_PRIVATE_DIRECT_DATABASE_URL: postgresql://documenso:documenso-local-only@db:5432/documenso
NEXT_PRIVATE_SIGNING_LOCAL_FILE_CONTENTS: ${SIGNING_CERT_B64}
NEXT_PRIVATE_SIGNING_PASSPHRASE: ${SIGNING_PASSPHRASE:-}
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_TRANSPORT: smtp-auth
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_HOST: ${SMTP_HOST:?SMTP server hostname; signing requests are sent by email and will not work without one}
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_PORT: ${SMTP_PORT:-587}
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_USERNAME: ${SMTP_USERNAME:-}
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_PASSWORD: ${SMTP_PASSWORD:-}
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_FROM_NAME: ${SMTP_FROM_NAME:-Documenso}
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS: ${SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS:?Address signing emails are sent from}
ports:
- "5000:5000"
depends_on:
db:
condition: service_healthy
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "wget -qO- http://127.0.0.1:5000/api/health || exit 1"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
start_period: 90s
db:
image: postgres:17
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: documenso
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: documenso-local-only
POSTGRES_DB: documenso
volumes:
- dbdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-h", "127.0.0.1"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
volumes:
dbdata:
Or deploy it directly from the source:
git clone https://github.com/deployable-sh/stacks
cd stacks
docker compose -f documenso/compose.yaml up -dMore install options in our documentation.
Container Documentation
documenso Documentation
The docker image for the Documenso application.
db Documentation
The PostgreSQL object-relational database system provides reliability and data integrity.
Serve Documenso on your own domain behind Caddy, Nginx or Traefik. Fill in your domain and copy the result. It's a starting point, some apps need their own base URL or extra headers set too.
Proxying documenso.example.com to http://documenso:5000
Add this to your Caddyfile
documenso.example.com {
reverse_proxy http://documenso:5000
}Check the logs first
Nine times out of ten the logs tell you exactly what went wrong.
- In Portainer, go to Containers, click the container, then Logs. Or run
docker logs <container> - Exit codes help too:
137means killed, usually out of memory.126or127means the command inside the image is broken.
Port already in use
If deployment fails with "Bind for 0.0.0.0:5000 failed: port is already allocated", something else on your server is using that port.
- Find what's using it:
sudo ss -tlnp | grep :5000 - Stop the other service, or pick a different host port. In
5000:5000only the left number is yours to change, the right one belongs to the app.
Running but the page won't load
The container is up but nothing appears in your browser.
- Use your server's real IP:
http://your-server-ip:5000. The 0.0.0.0 link Portainer shows isn't a real address. - Give it a minute after first deploy, documenso can take a while to initialise.
- Make sure your firewall allows the port, e.g.
sudo ufw allow 5000
Image won't pull
Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull documenso/documenso:v2.15.0
- "manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists.
- "toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with
docker loginto raise it. - "no space left on device" means a full disk. Reclaim space with
docker system prune
"exec format error"
This means the image was built for a different CPU architecture than your server.
- Check yours with
uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.
Container keeps restarting
The unless-stopped restart policy relaunches the app after every crash, so the real error can scroll past.
- Check the logs right after a restart, the last few lines before it died are the useful ones.
- Get the exit code with
docker inspect <container> --format '{{.State.ExitCode}}' - Still stuck? Redeploy once with the restart policy set to
noso the failure stays visible.
Stack won't deploy
Compose stacks fail fast on small mistakes, and Portainer shows the reason just above the editor.
- YAML only accepts spaces for indentation, a single tab breaks the whole file.
Raise an issue
Found something which isn't working as it should? Here's how to report it.
- Bug within the app: Open an issue within documenso's repo
- Template not working: Open an issue on deployable-sh/stacks
- This website not working: Open an issue on lissy93/portainer-templates
A Compose stack
Documenso is a Compose stack, a set of containers (2 of them) defined in one file and brought up together by Portainer, then started and stopped as a single app.
The services
This stack is built from 2 containers that run side by side. Here's each one, with the image it runs and anything it waits for first:
documensorunsdocumenso/documenso:v2.15.0, starts after dbdbrunspostgres:17
Ports
A port is the door the app answers on. A mapping like 5000:5000 means it's reachable on port 5000 of your server, where the left number is yours to change and the right one belongs to the app. It opens:
5000:5000
Volumes
A volume is where Documenso keeps its files so they survive an update or a restart. Without one, anything it saves would sit inside the container and vanish the moment it's recreated. This template mounts:
/var/lib/postgresql/datakept in thedbdatavolume Docker manages
Environment variables
Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. Documenso takes 20 of them, and 2 need a value before it'll start properly:
PORT, defaults to5000NEXTAUTH_SECRET, pulled from your own environmentNEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_KEY, pulled from your own environmentNEXT_PRIVATE_ENCRYPTION_SECONDARY_KEY, pulled from your own environmentNEXT_PUBLIC_WEBAPP_URL, defaults tohttp://localhost:5000NEXT_PRIVATE_INTERNAL_WEBAPP_URL, defaults tohttp://localhost:5000NEXT_PRIVATE_DATABASE_URL, defaults topostgresql://documenso:documenso-local-only@db:5432/documensoNEXT_PRIVATE_DIRECT_DATABASE_URL, defaults topostgresql://documenso:documenso-local-only@db:5432/documensoNEXT_PRIVATE_SIGNING_LOCAL_FILE_CONTENTS, pulled from your own environmentNEXT_PRIVATE_SIGNING_PASSPHRASE, pulled from your own environmentNEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_TRANSPORT, defaults tosmtp-authNEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_HOST, needs a valueNEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_PORT, defaults to587NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_USERNAME, pulled from your own environmentNEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_PASSWORD, pulled from your own environmentNEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_FROM_NAME, defaults toDocumensoNEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS, needs a valuePOSTGRES_USER, defaults todocumensoPOSTGRES_PASSWORD, defaults todocumenso-local-onlyPOSTGRES_DB, defaults todocumenso
Restart policy
The restart policy here is unless-stopped, so Docker restarts Documenso after a crash or reboot, but leaves it off when you stop it on purpose. You can change this on the deploy screen. The choices are no (never restart), on-failure (only after a crash), unless-stopped (restart unless you stop it), and always (bring it back no matter what).
Networking
Portainer puts these services on one shared private network, so they can find each other by name (like documenso) while only the ports above are open to you.
Platform
The platform is linux, the kind of system the container is built to run on. Docker and Portainer handle this on a normal Linux server.
Portainer app templates
Zooming out, this whole page comes from a Portainer app template: a short recipe telling Portainer how to set Documenso up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying Documenso is a click rather than a wall of config.