Files
AdventureLog/documentation/docs/install/docker.md
Sean Morley d22c55e182 Refactor deployment configurations and update documentation
- Replaced the All-in-One (AIO) deployment setup with a Standard Deployment configuration, introducing .env.advanced.example for advanced settings.
- Updated .dockerignore to reflect the new environment file structure.
- Removed .env.aio.example and associated references from documentation and workflows.
- Enhanced installation instructions to clarify the new Standard Deployment process.
- Updated GitHub Actions workflows to align with the new deployment structure, including smoke tests and image builds.
- Improved documentation for environment variable references and deployment options.
2026-06-12 21:49:01 -04:00

7.7 KiB

Advanced Deployment

Run AdventureLog as three containers: SvelteKit frontend, Django backend, and PostGIS database. This layout gives full control over environment variables and is the best fit for reverse proxies and custom integrations.

Looking for the simplest setup? See Standard Deployment — one container, one port, two required env vars.

Full env reference: Environment Variables

Prerequisites

  • Docker installed on your machine/server. You can learn how to download it here.
  • Memory: allocate at least 2 GB RAM for the first boot (world geography data import). Steady-state use typically needs about 1 GB.

Getting Started

Get the docker-compose.advanced.yml and .env.advanced.example files from the AdventureLog repository. You can download them here:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seanmorley15/AdventureLog/main/docker/docker-compose.advanced.yml
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seanmorley15/AdventureLog/main/.env.advanced.example
cp .env.advanced.example .env.advanced

::: tip

If running on an ARM based machine, you will need to use a different PostGIS image. It is recommended to use the imresamu/postgis:16-3.5-alpine image or a custom version found here. The AdventureLog containers are ARM compatible.

:::

URL mental model

AdventureLog uses several URL-related environment variables. Most installs only need to set the public-facing URLs; keep PUBLIC_SERVER_URL at its default.

Variable Who uses it Typical value
PUBLIC_SERVER_URL SvelteKit SSR (container-to-container) http://server:8000do not change for Advanced Deployment installs
ORIGIN SvelteKit origin when not using HTTPS Your frontend URL, e.g. http://localhost:8015
PUBLIC_URL Django image and OAuth URLs Your backend URL, e.g. http://localhost:8016 (or your single domain if using a reverse proxy)
FRONTEND_URL Django emails and redirects Your frontend URL, e.g. http://localhost:8015
CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS Django CORS and CSRF Comma-separated list of every browser origin, e.g. http://localhost:8015,http://localhost:8016

When frontend and backend share one domain behind a reverse proxy, you can set SITE_URL instead of configuring ORIGIN, FRONTEND_URL, PUBLIC_URL, and CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS individually. See .env.advanced.example for details.

To validate your configuration, run:

bash scripts/validate-env.sh

Configuration

The .env file contains all configuration for your instance. Below are the most important variables — see Environment Variables for the complete reference.

🌐 Frontend (web)

Name Required Description Default Value
PUBLIC_SERVER_URL Yes Used by the frontend SSR server to connect to the backend. Almost every user user will never have to change this from default! http://server:8000
ORIGIN Sometimes Needed only if not using HTTPS. Set it to the domain or IP you'll use to access the frontend. http://localhost:8015
BODY_SIZE_LIMIT Yes Maximum upload size in bytes. Infinity
FRONTEND_PORT Yes Port that the frontend will run on inside Docker. 8015

🐘 PostgreSQL Database

Name Required Description Default Value
PGHOST Yes Internal DB hostname. db
POSTGRES_DB Yes DB name. database
POSTGRES_USER Yes DB user. adventure
POSTGRES_PASSWORD Yes DB password. changeme123

🔒 Backend (server)

Name Required Description Default Value
SECRET_KEY Yes Django secret key. Change this in production! changeme123
DJANGO_ADMIN_USERNAME Yes Default Django admin username. admin
DJANGO_ADMIN_PASSWORD Yes Default Django admin password. admin
DJANGO_ADMIN_EMAIL Yes Default admin email. admin@example.com
PUBLIC_URL Yes Publicly accessible URL of the backend. Used for generating image URLs. http://localhost:8016
CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS Yes Comma-separated list of frontend/backend URLs that are allowed to submit requests. http://localhost:8016,http://localhost:8015
FRONTEND_URL Yes URL to the frontend, used for email generation. http://localhost:8015
BACKEND_PORT Yes Port that the backend will run on inside Docker. 8016
DEBUG No Should be False in production. False
ENABLE_RATE_LIMITS No Enable rate limits on the backend. Should be True in production. False

Optional Configuration

Running the containers

Validate and start:

bash scripts/validate-env.sh
docker compose --env-file .env.advanced -f docker/docker-compose.advanced.yml up -d --wait

Open http://localhost:8015 (or your configured ORIGIN / SITE_URL).

Default admin login: admin / admin — change this after first login.

Next steps