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Dokku (stack)

Paas

Dokku setup as a compose file

Image details

Pulls: 420k
Architecture: amd64, arm64, arm/v7
Image size: 568 MB
Latest: 0.38.27
User: dokku
Created: Aug 07, 2019
Updated: 3 days ago
Status: active

Source details

Repo: dokku/dokku
Stars: 32.1k
Forks: 2k
Language: Shell
License: MIT
Latest: v0.38.27 · 3 days ago
Updated: 2 days ago
Website: dokku.com/

Configuration

Type
Compose
Platform
linux
Image
dokku/dokku:${VERSION}
Ports
${SSH_PORT:-22}:22${HTTP_PORT:-80}:80${HTTPS_PORT:-443}:443
Volumes
/var/run/docker.sock : /var/run/docker.sock-/var/lib/dokku} : ${VOLUME_PATH
Env vars
DOKKU_HOSTNAME=${DOKKU_HOSTNAME}DOKKU_HOST_ROOT=${DOKKU_HOST_ROOT}VERSION=latestVOLUME_PATH=/var/lib/dokkuSSH_PORT=22HTTP_PORT=80HTTPS_PORT=443
Source
Repo

Template by portainer·Source

Standalone Install

Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying Dokku (stack)

Installation method

Install on Portainer

Import all app templates into your Portainer instance, for easy 1-click deploys

  1. Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
  2. Log into your Portainer web UI
  3. Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
  4. Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
  5. Select Dokku (stack), fill in any config options, and hit Deploy

Template Import URL

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json
Show Me demo
Original stackfile

The compose file this template deploys, straight from its repo:

# version: '3.2'
services:
  agent:
    image: dokku/dokku:${VERSION}
    environment:
      DOKKU_HOSTNAME: ${DOKKU_HOSTNAME}
      DOKKU_HOST_ROOT: ${DOKKU_HOST_ROOT}
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - ${VOLUME_PATH:-/var/lib/dokku}:/mnt/dokku
    ports:
      - "${SSH_PORT:-22}:22"
      - "${HTTP_PORT:-80}:80"
      - "${HTTPS_PORT:-443}:443"

Or deploy it directly from the source:

git clone https://github.com/portainer/templates
cd templates
docker compose -f stacks/dokku/docker-compose.yml up -d

More install options in our documentation, or see dokku/dokku for app-specific guidance.

Docker Installation Notes

Pull the dokku/dokku image:
docker pull dokku/dokku:latest

Next, run the image.
docker run \
  --env DOKKU_HOSTNAME=dokku.me \
  --name dokku \
  --publish 3022:22 \
  --publish 8080:80 \
  --publish 8443:443 \
  --volume /var/lib/dokku:/mnt/dokku \
  --volume /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  dokku/dokku:latest

Dokku is run with the following options:
  • The global hostname is set to dokku.me on boot.
  • The container name is dokku.
  • Container SSH port 22 is exposed on the host as 3022.
  • Container HTTP port 80 is exposed on the host as 8080.
  • Container HTTPS port 443 is exposed on the host as 8443.
  • Data within the container is stored on the host within the /var/lib/dokku directory.
  • The docker socket is mounted into container

Application repositories, plugin config, and plugin data is persisted to disk within the specified host directory for /var/lib/dokku.
To install custom plugins, create a plugin-list file in the host's /var/lib/dokku directory. The plugins listed herein will be automatically installed by Dokku on container boot. This file should be the following format:
plugin_name: repository_url

An example for installing the postgres and redis plugins follows:
postgres: https://github.com/dokku/dokku-postgres.git
redis: https://github.com/dokku/dokku-redis.git

To initialize ssh-keys within the container, use docker exec to enter the container and run the appropriate ssh-keys commands.
docker exec -it dokku bash

Please see the user management documentation for more information.

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: 137 means killed, usually out of memory. 126 or 127 means the command inside the image is broken.

Can't reach the Docker socket

agent talks to Docker through /var/run/docker.sock. If the logs show "permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket", the app's user can't access it.

  • Check the socket exists on the host: ls -l /var/run/docker.sock
  • Run the container as root, or add the docker group's id to the container with group_add.

Image won't pull

Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull dokku/dokku:${VERSION}

  • "manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists.
  • "toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with docker login to 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.

  • This image supports: amd64, arm64, arm/v7
  • Check yours with uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.

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.

A Compose stack

Dokku (stack) is a Compose stack, a set of containers defined in one file and brought up together by Portainer, then started and stopped as a single app.

The app image

An image is the app packed up ready to go, everything Dokku (stack) needs bundled into one download. This template pulls dokku/dokku:VERSION, which Docker fetches once (about 568 MB) and then starts your own copy from.

Where the image comes from

Docker pulls its images from registries, public libraries of ready-built apps. Dokku (stack)'s comes from Docker Hub, published by dokku.

Version tags

The bit after the colon in the image name is the version tag. This one pins VERSION, so every redeploy gives you that exact build until you bump it yourself.

Which machines it runs on

Every image is built for particular CPU types. This one ships for amd64, arm64, arm/v7, so it runs on both regular x86 servers and ARM boards like a Raspberry Pi.

Volumes

A volume is where Dokku (stack) 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/run/docker.sock from /var/run/docker.sock on the host (a socket it talks to, not storage)
  • -/var/lib/dokku} kept in the ${VOLUME_PATH volume Docker manages

Environment variables

Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. Dokku (stack) takes 7 of them, all with defaults you can leave alone or tweak:

  • DOKKU_HOSTNAME, pulled from your own environment. Global hostname to be registered by Dokku
  • DOKKU_HOST_ROOT, pulled from your own environment. Image build cache path. Generally set to <data dir> + '/home/dokku'
  • VERSION, defaults to latest. Version of Dokku to use ('latest' if empty)
  • VOLUME_PATH, defaults to /var/lib/dokku. Host path to be bound to /mnt/dokku (/var/lib/dokku if empty)
  • SSH_PORT, defaults to 22. Host port to expose SSH port of Dokku (22 if empty)
  • HTTP_PORT, defaults to 80. Host port to expose HTTP port of Dokku (80 if empty)
  • HTTPS_PORT, defaults to 443. Host port to expose HTTPS port of Dokku (443 if empty)

Networking

Nothing custom is set, so Dokku (stack) sits on Docker's default bridge network: its own private space that reaches the outside world only through the ports it publishes.

Container name

Once it's deployed, Portainer names the container agent. That's what you'll spot in the containers list and use in commands like docker logs agent.

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.

Open source license

Dokku (stack) is open source, released under the MIT license. In plain terms the code is out in the open, so you're free to run it and change it to fit what you need.

Portainer app templates

Zooming out, this whole page comes from a Portainer app template: a short recipe telling Portainer how to set Dokku (stack) up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying Dokku (stack) is a click rather than a wall of config.