ZTNet
Stack
ZeroTier network controller with a web UI. Source: https://github.com/sinamics/ztnet
Source details
Configuration
TypeComposelinuxNEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000NEXTAUTH_SECRET=changeme-generate-a-long-random-secretServices
postgres
Configuration
Imagepostgres:15.2-alpine/var/lib/postgresql/data : postgres-dataPOSTGRES_USER=postgresPOSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgresPOSTGRES_DB=ztnetunless-stoppedImage details
zerotier
Configuration
Imagezyclonite/zerotier:1.14.29993:9993/udp/var/lib/zerotier-one : zerotierZT_OVERRIDE_LOCAL_CONF=trueZT_ALLOW_MANAGEMENT_FROM=172.31.255.0/29unless-stoppedImage details
ztnet
Configuration
Imagesinamics/ztnet:latest3000:3000/var/lib/zerotier-one : zerotierPOSTGRES_HOST=postgresPOSTGRES_PORT=5432POSTGRES_USER=postgresPOSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgresPOSTGRES_DB=ztnetNEXTAUTH_URL=${NEXTAUTH_URL:-http://localhost:3000}NEXTAUTH_SECRET=${NEXTAUTH_SECRET:-changeme-generate-a-long-random-secret}NEXTAUTH_URL_INTERNAL=http://ztnet:3000unless-stoppedImage details
Standalone Install
Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying ZTNet
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 ZTNet, 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:
---
volumes:
zerotier:
postgres-data:
networks:
app-network:
driver: bridge
ipam:
driver: default
config:
- subnet: 172.31.255.0/29
services:
postgres:
image: postgres:15.2-alpine
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
POSTGRES_DB: ztnet
volumes:
- postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
networks:
- app-network
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres -d ztnet"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
zerotier:
image: zyclonite/zerotier:1.14.2
hostname: zerotier
restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
- zerotier:/var/lib/zerotier-one
cap_add:
- NET_ADMIN
- SYS_ADMIN
devices:
- /dev/net/tun:/dev/net/tun
networks:
- app-network
ports:
- "9993:9993/udp"
environment:
- ZT_OVERRIDE_LOCAL_CONF=true
- ZT_ALLOW_MANAGEMENT_FROM=172.31.255.0/29
ztnet:
image: sinamics/ztnet:latest
working_dir: /app
volumes:
- zerotier:/var/lib/zerotier-one
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "3000:3000"
environment:
POSTGRES_HOST: postgres
POSTGRES_PORT: 5432
POSTGRES_USER: postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
POSTGRES_DB: ztnet
# Public URL you reach the web UI on. Set to http://<your-host-ip>:3000
NEXTAUTH_URL: ${NEXTAUTH_URL:-http://localhost:3000}
# Strong random string — used to sign session tokens
NEXTAUTH_SECRET: ${NEXTAUTH_SECRET:-changeme-generate-a-long-random-secret}
# Internal URL for the 'ztnet' service. Do not change unless renaming the service.
NEXTAUTH_URL_INTERNAL: "http://ztnet:3000"
networks:
- app-network
depends_on:
postgres:
condition: service_healthy
zerotier:
condition: service_started
Or deploy it directly from the source:
git clone https://github.com/lissy93/portainer-templates
cd portainer-templates
docker compose -f sources/stacks/ztnet/docker-compose.yml up -dMore install options in our documentation, or see sinamics/ztnet for app-specific guidance.
Container Documentation
postgres Documentation
The PostgreSQL object-relational database system provides reliability and data integrity.
zerotier Documentation
ZeroTier One for container-oriented distributions like CoreOS (multi-arch support)
ztnet Documentation
ZTNET - Zerotier Controller Web UI
Serve ZTNet 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 ztnet.example.com to http://ztnet:3000
Add this to your Caddyfile
ztnet.example.com {
reverse_proxy http://ztnet:3000
}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 0.0.0.0:9993 failed: port is already allocated", something else on your server is using that port.
- Find what's using it:
sudo ss -tlnp | grep :9993 - Stop the other service, or pick a different host port. In
9993:9993only 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:3000. The 0.0.0.0 link Portainer shows isn't a real address. - Give it a minute after first deploy, ztnet can take a while to initialise.
- Make sure your firewall allows the port, e.g.
sudo ufw allow 3000
Image won't pull
Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull postgres:15.2-alpine
- "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 on sinamics/ztnet
- Template not working: Open an issue within the template's repo
- This website not working: Open an issue on lissy93/portainer-templates
A Compose stack
ZTNet is a Compose stack, a set of containers (3 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 3 containers that run side by side. Here's each one, with the image it runs and anything it waits for first:
postgresrunspostgres:15.2-alpinezerotierrunszyclonite/zerotier:1.14.2ztnetrunssinamics/ztnet:latest, starts after postgres, zerotier
Ports
A port is the door the app answers on. A mapping like 9993:9993 means it's reachable on port 9993 of your server, where the left number is yours to change and the right one belongs to the app. Once it's running, open http://your-server-ip:3000 in a browser. It opens:
9993:9993over UDP3000:3000, likely the web interface
Volumes
A volume is where ZTNet 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 thepostgres-datavolume Docker manages/var/lib/zerotier-onekept in thezerotiervolume Docker manages
Environment variables
Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. ZTNet takes 10 of them, all with defaults you can leave alone or tweak:
POSTGRES_USER, defaults topostgresPOSTGRES_PASSWORD, defaults topostgresPOSTGRES_DB, defaults toztnetZT_OVERRIDE_LOCAL_CONF, defaults totrueZT_ALLOW_MANAGEMENT_FROM, defaults to172.31.255.0/29POSTGRES_HOST, defaults topostgresPOSTGRES_PORT, defaults to5432NEXTAUTH_URL, defaults tohttp://localhost:3000NEXTAUTH_SECRET, defaults tochangeme-generate-a-long-random-secretNEXTAUTH_URL_INTERNAL, defaults tohttp://ztnet:3000
Restart policy
The restart policy here is unless-stopped, so Docker restarts ZTNet 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 postgres) 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.
Open source license
ZTNet is open source, released under the GPL-3.0 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 ZTNet up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying ZTNet is a click rather than a wall of config.