Docker Guide ​

Directus is published to Docker Hub under directus/directus. To use the latest Directus image from Docker Hub, run:

# Make sure to change sensitive values (KEY, SECRET, ...) in production
docker run \
  -p 8055:8055 \
  -e KEY=255d861b-5ea1-5996-9aa3-922530ec40b1 \
  -e SECRET=6116487b-cda1-52c2-b5b5-c8022c45e263 \
  directus/directus

Installing Specific Versions ​

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

• Full version, e.g. 10.0.0
• Minor releases, e.g. 10.0
• Major releases, e.g. 10

To use a specific version of Directus, run:

# Make sure to change sensitive values (KEY, SECRET, ...) in production
docker run \
  -p 8055:8055 \
  -e KEY=255d861b-5ea1-5996-9aa3-922530ec40b1 \
  -e SECRET=6116487b-cda1-52c2-b5b5-c8022c45e263 \
  directus/directus:10.0.0

Configure Admin User ​

The published Docker image will automatically populate the database and create an admin user. To configure the email/password for this first user, pass the following env vars:

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

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

Docker Compose ​

When using Docker Compose, you can use the following setup to get you started - make sure to change all sensitive values (SECRET, DB_PASSWORD, ...) in production:

version: '3'
services:
  database:
    container_name: 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
    networks:
      - directus
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: 'directus'
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: 'directus'
      POSTGRES_DB: 'directus'

  cache:
    container_name: cache
    image: redis:6
    networks:
      - directus

  directus:
    container_name: directus
    image: directus/directus:latest
    ports:
      - 8055:8055
    volumes:
      # By default, uploads are stored in /directus/uploads
      # Always make sure your volumes matches the storage root when using
      # local driver
      - ./uploads:/directus/uploads
      # Make sure to also mount the volume when using SQLite
      # - ./database:/directus/database
      # If you want to load extensions from the host
      # - ./extensions:/directus/extensions
    networks:
      - directus
    depends_on:
      - cache
      - database
    environment:
      KEY: '255d861b-5ea1-5996-9aa3-922530ec40b1'
      SECRET: '6116487b-cda1-52c2-b5b5-c8022c45e263'

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

      CACHE_ENABLED: 'true'
      CACHE_STORE: 'redis'
      CACHE_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'

networks:
  directus:

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.:

-   image: directus/directus:10.0.0
+   image: directus/directus:10.1.0

You can then issue the following two commands (from your docker-compose root):

docker-compose pull
docker-compose up -d

The images 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).

Adding packages to use in Flows scripts ​

If you need third-party packages in a script of one of your flows, the recommended way is to create a new Docker image extending from the official image and installing the packages there.

First create a file called Dockerfile with a content like this:

FROM directus/directus:10.0.0

USER root
RUN corepack enable \
  && corepack prepare pnpm@8.3.1 --activate

USER node
RUN pnpm install moment uuid

Then build the image based on that file:

docker build -t my-custom-directus-image .

And update the image reference in the docker-compose.yml file:

-    image: directus/directus:latest
+    image: my-custom-directus-image:latest

environment:
+     FLOWS_EXEC_ALLOWED_MODULES=array:moment,uuid

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.

To run Directus, you currently need one of the following databases:

^[1] MySQL 8+ requires mysql_native_password to be enabled
^[2] Older versions may work, but aren't officially supported. Use at your own risk.
^[3] Make sure to install node-oracledb and it's system dependencies when using OracleDB