Docker

Docker is the recommended way to run Outline – updated Docker images based on Alpine Linux are available on a monthly release cadence and are tested by the maintaining team.

Configuration

Using this sample file as a reference create a docker.env file to contain the environment variables for your installation.

Be sure to include all required environment variables for your chosen setup, a URL, DATABASE_URL, REDIS_URL , and SECRET_KEY are considered the minimum. Any missing variables depending on your setup will be displayed at startup.

Docker Compose

It is recommended to use Docker Compose to manage the various docker containers, if your Postgres, Redis, and storage are running in the cloud then you may skip this step and run the single Outline docker container directly.

Install Docker Compose
Create a docker-compose.yml file, an example configuration with all dependencies dockerized and environment variables kept in docker.env is as follows. If you are installing the enterprise edition the image name should be replaced with outlinewiki/outline-enterprise.

Note: It is recommended to pin the version of all images rather than relying on the latest tag so that you can remain in control of upgrades, e.g. image: outlinewiki/outline:1.2.0 , image: postgres:18.

services:
  outline:
    image: docker.getoutline.com/outlinewiki/outline:latest
    env_file: ./docker.env
    expose:
      - "3000"
    volumes:
      - storage-data:/var/lib/outline/data
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis

  redis:
    image: redis
    env_file: ./docker.env
    expose:
      - "6379"
    volumes:
      - ./redis.conf:/redis.conf
    command: ["redis-server", "/redis.conf"]
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 30s
      retries: 3

  postgres:
    image: postgres:18
    env_file: ./docker.env
    expose:
      - "5432"
    volumes:
      - database-data:/var/lib/postgresql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-d", "outline", "-U", "user"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 20s
      retries: 3
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: 'user'
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: 'pass'
      POSTGRES_DB: 'outline'

  https-portal:
    image: steveltn/https-portal
    env_file: ./docker.env
    ports:
      - '80:80'
      - '443:443'
    links:
      - outline
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - https-portal-data:/var/lib/https-portal
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "service", "nginx", "status"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 20s
      retries: 3
    environment:
      DOMAINS: 'docs.mycompany.com -> http://outline:3000'
      STAGE: 'production'
      WEBSOCKET: 'true'
      CLIENT_MAX_BODY_SIZE: '0'

volumes:
  https-portal-data:
  storage-data:
  database-data:

If you setup your Redis or Postgres outside the docker container you could use additional flag --net="host" for docker. In this case you will be able to use localhost as host in your docker.env file for Redis and Postgres.

Running

Make sure you are in the same directory as docker-compose.yml and start Outline:

docker compose up -d

Check the output carefully for errors such as connecting to your database or redis instance. To make your installation accessible to the outside world look at the SSL configuration documentation.

Updating

To update Outline, follow these steps:

Backup the database
Update to the latest image
1. Use docker pull docker.getoutline.com/outlinewiki/outline:latest to download the image or
2. If you are using docker-compose with a fixed version number then you will need to update the docker-compose.yml file to point to the latest version.
Run the container

Migrations

Migrations are ran automatically when the container starts up. If you want to prevent this behavior and run migrations manually pass the --no-migrate flag.

Résumé

Outline is best run via Docker, with Alpine-based images tested monthly. A docker.env file is necessary for required environment variables like URL, DATABASE_URL, REDIS_URL, and SECRET_KEY. Use Docker Compose for managing containers, with a sample docker-compose.yml provided. Ensure version pinning for images. Health checks for services like Redis and Postgres are included. Setup and run Outline with appropriate commands, and remember to back up your database before updates.