Appsmith with Docker Compose

What Appsmith needs

Only figures Appsmith's own documentation publishes, each linked to the page it is on. Where the project gives no number, this page does not invent one.

On top of this, Caddy (the reverse proxy in the file) is a single small container.

Which hardware Appsmith has images for

Read from each image's manifest list in its registry (anonymous, read-only) when this page was built. An app counts for a CPU only if every one of its images lists it.

• x86-64 PC or NAS (linux/amd64): every image has a build.
• Raspberry Pi 4/5, 64-bit OS (linux/arm64): every image has a build.
• Raspberry Pi 3 or Zero 2 W, 32-bit OS (linux/arm/v7): no image for appsmith. No image for this hardware; the builder leaves the app out.

A manifest says an image exists for a CPU, not how well Appsmith runs on it: a build for arm64 or arm/v7 can still be too slow or need more memory than the board has. The RAM and disk Appsmith publishes are in the table above and, for a whole set of apps against a Raspberry Pi, on Will it run on my machine?. A tag like latest can move to a new digest after the date checked.

docker-compose.yml

This is exactly what the builder writes for Appsmith alone on example.org: the official definition with its published ports removed and Caddy added in front.

# docker-compose.yml built at dankhost.com for: Appsmith
# Each app block is its official compose definition. Only the names were prefixed with
# the app slug (services, containers, volumes, bind folders, .env variables) so any set of
# apps can share one file; other differences are listed under "Changed:" in each block.
# Only Caddy publishes ports. Secrets live in .env next to this file.

services:
  # ---- Caddy: the one reverse proxy, HTTPS certificates from Let's Encrypt ----
  # Source: https://caddyserver.com/docs/running (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Source: https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/Using-Docker-Compose (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Caddyfile goes in ./caddy/Caddyfile. Fixed address 172.30.0.2 so apps can trust it exactly.
  caddy:
    image: "caddy:2"
    container_name: "caddy"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "443:443/udp"
    volumes:
      - "./caddy:/etc/caddy"
      - "caddy-data:/data"
      - "caddy-config:/config"
    networks:
      proxy:
        ipv4_address: "172.30.0.2"

  # ---- Appsmith (appsmith.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://docs.appsmith.com/getting-started/setup/installation-guides/docker (checked 2026-10-01)
  # Source: https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith/releases/tag/v2.4.3 (checked 2026-10-01)
  # Source: https://docs.appsmith.com/getting-started/setup/instance-management/backup-and-restore/backup-instance (checked 2026-10-01)
  # Source: https://docs.appsmith.com/getting-started/setup/instance-management/backup-and-restore/restore-instance (checked 2026-10-01)
  # Source: https://docs.appsmith.com/getting-started/setup/instance-management/update-appsmith (checked 2026-10-01)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '80:80' and '443:443' ports, container_name and the version: "3" line; Caddy reaches appsmith:80 on the proxy network and serves HTTPS, so Appsmith's own certificate set-up is not used.
  #          The image is the Community edition at release v2.4.3. The docs' file names appsmith-ee:<version> and says to replace appsmith-ee with appsmith-ce for the Community edition, and <version> with a release tag from GitHub. v2.4.3 was the latest release on 2026-10-01.
  appsmith:
    image: "index.docker.io/appsmith/appsmith-ce:v2.4.3"
    container_name: "appsmith"
    volumes:
      - "./appsmith/stacks:/appsmith-stacks"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    networks:
      proxy: {}

networks:
  # Pinned so the trusted-proxy address given to each app (172.30.0.2) is exact.
  # If "docker compose up" reports "Pool overlaps", change 172.30.0 here, in Caddy's
  # ipv4_address and in every trusted-proxy value to a free 172.x.0 range.
  proxy:
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: "172.30.0.0/24"
          ip_range: "172.30.0.128/25"
          gateway: "172.30.0.1"

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for appsmith.example.org by itself once the DNS record points at your server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# Caddyfile built at dankhost.com. Save it as ./caddy/Caddyfile next to docker-compose.yml.
# Caddy gets and renews a Let's Encrypt certificate for each name below by itself,
# once the DNS records point at this server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# Appsmith
appsmith.example.org {
	reverse_proxy appsmith:80
}

Already running nginx, Nginx Proxy Manager, Caddy or Traefik? The reverse-proxy settings Appsmith needs, for all four, each cited to Appsmith's own docs.

.env

Appsmith needs no secret here; the builder adds nothing you have to fill in by hand.

# .env for Appsmith, from dankhost.com/app/appsmith/. Nothing here is secret.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).
# None of the chosen apps needs a variable here.

Changes from the official file

Besides prefixing every service, container, volume, folder and variable with appsmith (so any set of apps can share one file), these are all the differences from what the project documents:

• Removed the documented '80:80' and '443:443' ports, container_name and the version: "3" line; Caddy reaches appsmith:80 on the proxy network and serves HTTPS, so Appsmith's own certificate set-up is not used.
• The image is the Community edition at release v2.4.3. The docs' file names appsmith-ee:<version> and says to replace appsmith-ee with appsmith-ce for the Community edition, and <version> with a release tag from GitHub. v2.4.3 was the latest release on 2026-10-01.

Notes for Appsmith behind the proxy

• After docker compose up -d, wait: the docs say the server "can take up to 5 minutes" to come up. Then open https://appsmith.example.org and fill in your details to create the administrator account; until someone does, whoever opens the address first gets that form.
• MongoDB, Redis and PostgreSQL run inside the one container and keep their data in ./appsmith/stacks, with the configuration (docker.env, including the encryption password and salt) next to them.
• The docs ask you to allow outgoing traffic to cs.appsmith.com.
• The Community edition is the open-source build; the docs recommend the Commercial edition (appsmith-ee), which has a free plan.

Back it up

Appsmith's backup guide: appsmithctl backup, run inside the container, writes one archive with the MongoDB database, the configuration and Git data to /appsmith-stacks/data/backup/ (./appsmith/stacks/data/backup here). Run without a terminal it writes an unencrypted .tar.gz, and restoring that needs APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD and APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_SALT from the old instance's docker.env, so keep the whole stacks folder.

Below is the BACKUP.md the builder writes next to the compose file above: which of its folders and volumes hold data, the dump command the project documents, rewritten for this file's service names, what to copy with which container stopped, and a restore check. Pick more apps in the builder and it covers them all in one file.

# BACKUP.md built at dankhost.com for: Appsmith

What to copy from the docker-compose.yml built with this file, the database dump each project documents (rewritten for the service names in that file), what to copy with which container stopped, and how to check the result. Run every command in the folder that holds docker-compose.yml.

The folders are owned by the containers' users: put sudo in front of tar if it says "Permission denied". Named volumes live under /var/lib/docker/volumes, not next to the compose file, so they are copied through a throwaway ubuntu container (Docker's documented --volumes-from method). tar makes a full copy each run; for large folders an incremental tool (restic, borg, rsync) saves time and space.

Never run "docker compose down -v" on this file: it deletes the named volumes of every app in it.

## Before you start

    BACKUP=/mnt/backup/selfhost   # change this: a disk or machine other than this server's system disk
    mkdir -p "$BACKUP"

## Every time: the three stack files

    tar czf "$BACKUP/stack-files.tar.gz" docker-compose.yml .env caddy

.env holds the database passwords and secret keys the apps were set up with; keep this archive as private as the data.

## Caddy (the reverse proxy)

Caddy's docs: 'The data directory must not be treated as a cache.' It holds the TLS certificates and their private keys; without it Caddy has to ask Let's Encrypt for every certificate again.

- caddy-data (named volume, /data in caddy)
  BACK UP: TLS certificates, private keys, OCSP staples.
- caddy-config (named volume, /config in caddy)
  SKIP: the last active configuration, kept for 'caddy run --resume', which this setup does not use: it starts from the Caddyfile.
- ./caddy (/etc/caddy in caddy)
  IN stack-files.tar.gz: the Caddyfile, copied with the stack files above.

Copy (Caddy keeps serving while you copy):

    docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/caddy-data.tar /data

Restore check:

    tar tf "$BACKUP/caddy-data.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK
    docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /data && tar xvf /backup/caddy-data.tar --strip 1"

Sources:
- Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory: https://caddyserver.com/docs/conventions#data-directory (checked 2026-09-24)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-09-24)

## Appsmith

Appsmith's backup guide: appsmithctl backup, run inside the container, writes one archive with the MongoDB database, the configuration and Git data to /appsmith-stacks/data/backup/ (./appsmith/stacks/data/backup here). Run without a terminal it writes an unencrypted .tar.gz, and restoring that needs APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD and APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_SALT from the old instance's docker.env, so keep the whole stacks folder.

What this compose mounts:
- ./appsmith/stacks (/appsmith-stacks in appsmith)
  BACK UP: everything: the embedded databases, docker.env (encryption password and salt), Git data, logs and the backup archives under data/backup.

1. Appsmith's own backup archive (appsmithctl backup):

    docker compose exec -T appsmith appsmithctl backup --non-interactive

   The guide's docker-compose exec -it appsmith appsmithctl backup, without a terminal (-T, --non-interactive), so it asks no encryption password and writes appsmith-backup-<date>.tar.gz into ./appsmith/stacks/data/backup/. The guide: that archive holds a plaintext database dump, so keep it private.

2. Copy (Appsmith keeps running):
   appsmithctl backup takes the database dump from the running instance; copying the folder after it finishes picks up the archive with it.

    tar czf "$BACKUP/appsmith-stacks.tar.gz" ./appsmith/stacks

Restore check:

    ls -l ./appsmith/stacks/data/backup/   # the newest appsmith-backup-*.tar.gz is the one just written
    tar tzf "$BACKUP/appsmith-stacks.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with Appsmith stopped):

    tar xzf "$BACKUP/appsmith-stacks.tar.gz"   # recreates ./appsmith/stacks; move the old folder aside first

The restore guide: copy the archive into /appsmith-stacks/data/backup/ (./appsmith/stacks/data/backup/ here), then run appsmithctl restore and pick it:

    docker compose exec -it appsmith appsmithctl restore

Restoring an unencrypted archive asks for the source instance's APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD and APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_SALT. If you restore to an older version, the guide says to set the image tag to that version first.

Sources:
- Appsmith docs: Backup Instance (appsmithctl backup): https://docs.appsmith.com/getting-started/setup/instance-management/backup-and-restore/backup-instance (checked 2026-10-01)
- Appsmith docs: Restore Instance (appsmithctl restore): https://docs.appsmith.com/getting-started/setup/instance-management/backup-and-restore/restore-instance (checked 2026-10-01)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-10-01)

Update it

What docker compose pull does depends only on how each image line in the compose file above is tagged. For Appsmith as this page writes it:

What Appsmith's docs say about updating

Appsmith's update guide: back up the instance, set the image to the new release tag from GitHub, then docker-compose pull && docker-compose rm -fsv appsmith && docker-compose up -d.

• The tag here is v2.4.3, so a pull changes nothing: edit the tag to the new release.

Source: Appsmith docs: Update Appsmith (pinned tag, pull, recreate) checked 2026-10-01

The steps

1. Back up first, as in Back it up above. An update can migrate Appsmith's data on its first start; the copy is the way back.
2. appsmith is pinned to an exact version (see the table), so a pull alone changes nothing there: to update Appsmith, first edit its tag in docker-compose.yml to the version you want.
3. Download the new images. Running containers are not touched yet:

   docker compose pull

4. Recreate the containers whose image changed. Volumes and bind-mounted folders stay as they are:

   docker compose up -d

5. Watch Appsmith start (Ctrl+C stops following the log, not the app):

   docker compose logs -f appsmith

6. Optional: remove the old images the pull left without a tag. This covers every stack on the machine, not only this one:

   docker image prune

Docker's reference for these commands: Docker docs: docker compose pull checked 2026-09-30; Docker docs: docker compose up (recreates changed containers, keeps volumes) checked 2026-09-30; Docker docs: docker image prune checked 2026-09-30

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• Appsmith on GitHub (repository description) checked 2026-10-01 (what it does)
• Appsmith docs: Docker (docker-compose.yml, Community edition, release tags, 8 GB of RAM) checked 2026-10-01 (hardware requirements, compose definition and proxy settings)
• Appsmith docs: Backup Instance (appsmithctl backup) checked 2026-10-01 (hardware requirements, compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• Appsmith on GitHub: release v2.4.3 (2026-09-30), the latest on 2026-10-01 checked 2026-10-01 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Appsmith docs: Restore Instance (appsmithctl restore) checked 2026-10-01 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• Appsmith docs: Update Appsmith (pinned tag, pull, recreate) checked 2026-10-01 (compose definition and proxy settings, update notes)
• Caddy docs: Keep Caddy running (Docker Compose section) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
• Vaultwarden wiki: Caddy with HTTP challenge (uses the caddy:2 image) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-10-01 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
• Docker docs: docker compose pull checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
• Docker docs: docker compose up (recreates changed containers, keeps volumes) checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
• Docker docs: docker image prune checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)

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