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Docker Guide ​

Non-Docker Guides

We only publish and maintain self-hosting guides using Docker as this removes many environment-specific configuration problems. If you can't or don't want to use Docker, we also publish an npm package without guides.

Directus is published to Docker Hub under directus/directus. If you're just getting started, check out our Self-Hosting Quickstart.

Installing Specific Versions ​

To stick to a more specific version of Directus you can use one of the following tags:

  • Full version, e.g. 11.3.5
  • Minor releases, e.g. 11.3
  • Major releases, e.g. 11

It is recommended to explicitly specify a Directus version in your docker-compose.yml file. Include the version number in your services.directus.image value:

yaml
services:
  directus:
    image: directus/directus:latest 
    image: directus/directus:11.3.5 
services:
  directus:
    image: directus/directus:latest 
    image: directus/directus:11.3.5

Configure Admin User ​

The ADMIN_EMAIL and ADMIN_PASSWORD variables, while shown in the quickstart, are optional. If omitted, the published Docker image will automatically populate the database and create an admin user, and these will only be shown in the Docker bootstrap logs when starting Directus for the first time. To configure the email/password for this first user, include the following environment variables:

bash
ADMIN_EMAIL="admin@example.com"
ADMIN_PASSWORD="d1r3ctu5"
ADMIN_EMAIL="admin@example.com"
ADMIN_PASSWORD="d1r3ctu5"

Once you've started Directus for the first time, assuming your database is persisted, you can remove these values from your compose file.

Persistence ​

Containers are ephemeral, and this means that whenever you stop a container, all the data associated with it is going to be removed unless you persist them when creating your container.

Directus image by default will use the following locations for data persistence (note that these can be changed through environment variables):

  • /directus/database (only when using SQLite and not configured to a different folder)
  • /directus/uploads for uploads
  • /directus/extensions for loading extensions
  • /directus/templates for overriding and extending email templates

The services.directus.volumes section in your docker-compose.yml is optional. To persist data to your local machine, include a list of persisted directories:

yaml
services:
  directus:
    volumes:
      - ./database:/directus/database
      - ./uploads:/directus/uploads
      - ./extensions:/directus/extensions
      - ./templates:/directus/templates
services:
  directus:
    volumes:
      - ./database:/directus/database
      - ./uploads:/directus/uploads
      - ./extensions:/directus/extensions
      - ./templates:/directus/templates

Example Docker Compose ​

While the Self-Hosting Quickstart aims to show you the minimum-viable docker-compose.yml file, here is a more complete one that spins up a Postgres database, Redis cache, and Directus project:

yaml
version: "3"
services:
  database:
    image: postgis/postgis:13-master
    # Required when running on platform other than amd64, like Apple M1/M2:
    # platform: linux/amd64
    volumes:
      - ./data/database:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: "directus"
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "directus"
      POSTGRES_DB: "directus"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "--host=localhost", "--username=directus"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
      start_interval: 5s
      start_period: 30s

  cache:
    image: redis:6
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "[ $$(redis-cli ping) = 'PONG' ]"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
      start_interval: 5s
      start_period: 30s

  directus:
    image: directus/directus:11.3.5
    ports:
      - 8055:8055
    volumes:
      - ./uploads:/directus/uploads
      - ./extensions:/directus/extensions
    depends_on:
      database:
        condition: service_healthy
      cache:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      SECRET: "replace-with-secure-random-value"

      DB_CLIENT: "pg"
      DB_HOST: "database"
      DB_PORT: "5432"
      DB_DATABASE: "directus"
      DB_USER: "directus"
      DB_PASSWORD: "directus"

      CACHE_ENABLED: "true"
      CACHE_AUTO_PURGE: "true"
      CACHE_STORE: "redis"
      REDIS: "redis://cache:6379"

      ADMIN_EMAIL: "admin@example.com"
      ADMIN_PASSWORD: "d1r3ctu5"

      # Make sure to set this in production
      # (see https://docs.directus.io/self-hosted/config-options#general)
      # PUBLIC_URL: "https://directus.example.com"

    # Environment variables can also be defined in a file (for example `.env`):
    # env_file:
    #	  - .env
version: "3"
services:
  database:
    image: postgis/postgis:13-master
    # Required when running on platform other than amd64, like Apple M1/M2:
    # platform: linux/amd64
    volumes:
      - ./data/database:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: "directus"
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "directus"
      POSTGRES_DB: "directus"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "--host=localhost", "--username=directus"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
      start_interval: 5s
      start_period: 30s

  cache:
    image: redis:6
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "[ $$(redis-cli ping) = 'PONG' ]"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
      start_interval: 5s
      start_period: 30s

  directus:
    image: directus/directus:11.3.5
    ports:
      - 8055:8055
    volumes:
      - ./uploads:/directus/uploads
      - ./extensions:/directus/extensions
    depends_on:
      database:
        condition: service_healthy
      cache:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      SECRET: "replace-with-secure-random-value"

      DB_CLIENT: "pg"
      DB_HOST: "database"
      DB_PORT: "5432"
      DB_DATABASE: "directus"
      DB_USER: "directus"
      DB_PASSWORD: "directus"

      CACHE_ENABLED: "true"
      CACHE_AUTO_PURGE: "true"
      CACHE_STORE: "redis"
      REDIS: "redis://cache:6379"

      ADMIN_EMAIL: "admin@example.com"
      ADMIN_PASSWORD: "d1r3ctu5"

      # Make sure to set this in production
      # (see https://docs.directus.io/self-hosted/config-options#general)
      # PUBLIC_URL: "https://directus.example.com"

    # Environment variables can also be defined in a file (for example `.env`):
    # env_file:
    #	  - .env

Updating With Docker Compose ​

If you are not using the latest tag for the Directus image you need to adjust your docker-compose.yml file to increment the tag version number, e.g.:

diff
-   image: directus/directus:11.0.0
+   image: directus/directus:11.3.5
-   image: directus/directus:11.0.0
+   image: directus/directus:11.3.5

Then run the following from your docker-compose root:

bash
docker compose up
docker compose up

The specified image will be pulled and the containers recreated. Migrations will happen automatically so once the containers have started you will be on the latest version (or the version you specified).

Supported Databases ​

The Directus Docker Image contains all optional dependencies supported in the API. This means the Docker image can be used with most of the supported databases and storage adapters without having to create a custom image.

Directus supports the LTS versions of PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MS SQL Server, MariaDB, CockroachDB, and OracleDB. Please see https://endoflife.date/ to make sure your database version is still supported.

Requirements ​

It can be easy to under-provision resources to run a self-hosted instance of Directus. For Directus' container resources, the required minimum system requirements are 1x 0.25 vCPU / 512 MB, although the recommended minimum is 2x 1 vCPU / 2GB.