authentik with Docker Compose

What authentik needs

Only figures authentik'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. authentik itself runs as 3 containers: authentik-postgresql, authentik-server, authentik-worker.

Which hardware authentik 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 server, worker. No image for this hardware; the builder leaves the app out.

A manifest says an image exists for a CPU, not how well authentik 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 authentik 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 authentik alone on example.org: the official definition with its published ports removed and Caddy added in front. Every ${VARIABLE} is defined in the .env below.

# docker-compose.yml built at dankhost.com for: authentik
# 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"

  # ---- authentik (sso.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://docs.goauthentik.io/install-config/install/docker-compose/ (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Source: https://goauthentik.io/docker-compose.yml (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Source: https://docs.goauthentik.io/install-config/reverse-proxy/ (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Changed: Removed the documented ports ${COMPOSE_PORT_HTTP:-9000}:9000 and ${COMPOSE_PORT_HTTPS:-9443}:9443; Caddy reaches authentik-server:9000 (the HTTP listener) on the proxy network.
  #          Removed the worker's /var/run/docker.sock mount. The install page: it is only for automatic deployment of outposts, "you can remove this mount and instead manually deploy and manage outposts". Nothing in this file needs it, and it would give the worker control of every container on the server.
  #          PG_PASS and AUTHENTIK_SECRET_KEY are generated values in .env, as the install page asks (it generates them with openssl rand). The documented ${PG_USER:-authentik} and ${PG_DB:-authentik} are written as their defaults, authentik, and the healthcheck names them directly instead of $${POSTGRES_DB} and $${POSTGRES_USER}. env_file: .env is dropped: every value the services read is under environment:.
  #          The image is the default of ${AUTHENTIK_IMAGE:-ghcr.io/goauthentik/server}:${AUTHENTIK_TAG:-2026.8.3}, written out. authentik's own network allows outgoing traffic, because the worker sends email and syncs from outside sources such as LDAP or OAuth providers.
  authentik-postgresql:
    image: "docker.io/library/postgres:16-alpine"
    container_name: "authentik-postgresql"
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: "authentik"
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "${AUTHENTIK_PG_PASS}"
      POSTGRES_USER: "authentik"
    healthcheck:
      interval: "30s"
      retries: 5
      start_period: "20s"
      test:
        - "CMD-SHELL"
        - "pg_isready -d authentik -U authentik"
      timeout: "5s"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    volumes:
      - "authentik-database:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
    networks:
      authentik-backend:
        aliases:
          - "postgresql"
  authentik-server:
    image: "ghcr.io/goauthentik/server:2026.8.3"
    container_name: "authentik-server"
    command: "server"
    depends_on:
      authentik-postgresql:
        condition: "service_healthy"
    environment:
      AUTHENTIK_POSTGRESQL__HOST: "postgresql"
      AUTHENTIK_POSTGRESQL__NAME: "authentik"
      AUTHENTIK_POSTGRESQL__PASSWORD: "${AUTHENTIK_PG_PASS}"
      AUTHENTIK_POSTGRESQL__USER: "authentik"
      AUTHENTIK_SECRET_KEY: "${AUTHENTIK_SECRET_KEY}"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    shm_size: "512mb"
    volumes:
      - "./authentik/data:/data"
      - "./authentik/custom-templates:/templates"
    networks:
      proxy: {}
      authentik-backend:
        aliases:
          - "server"
  authentik-worker:
    image: "ghcr.io/goauthentik/server:2026.8.3"
    container_name: "authentik-worker"
    command: "worker"
    depends_on:
      authentik-postgresql:
        condition: "service_healthy"
    environment:
      AUTHENTIK_POSTGRESQL__HOST: "postgresql"
      AUTHENTIK_POSTGRESQL__NAME: "authentik"
      AUTHENTIK_POSTGRESQL__PASSWORD: "${AUTHENTIK_PG_PASS}"
      AUTHENTIK_POSTGRESQL__USER: "authentik"
      AUTHENTIK_SECRET_KEY: "${AUTHENTIK_SECRET_KEY}"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    shm_size: "512mb"
    user: "root"
    volumes:
      - "./authentik/data:/data"
      - "./authentik/certs:/certs"
      - "./authentik/custom-templates:/templates"
    networks:
      authentik-backend:
        aliases:
          - "worker"

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"
  authentik-backend: {}

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:
  authentik-database:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for sso.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.

# authentik
sso.example.org {
	reverse_proxy authentik-server:9000
}

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

.env

The secrets are left blank here on purpose: a password printed on a public page is the same for everyone who copies it. The builder fills them with random letters and digits made in your browser.

# .env for authentik, from dankhost.com/app/authentik/. Fill the blank secrets before starting.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).

# authentik
# 40 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
AUTHENTIK_PG_PASS=
# 64 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
AUTHENTIK_SECRET_KEY=

Changes from the official file

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

• Removed the documented ports ${COMPOSE_PORT_HTTP:-9000}:9000 and ${COMPOSE_PORT_HTTPS:-9443}:9443; Caddy reaches authentik-server:9000 (the HTTP listener) on the proxy network.
• Removed the worker's /var/run/docker.sock mount. The install page: it is only for automatic deployment of outposts, "you can remove this mount and instead manually deploy and manage outposts". Nothing in this file needs it, and it would give the worker control of every container on the server.
• PG_PASS and AUTHENTIK_SECRET_KEY are generated values in .env, as the install page asks (it generates them with openssl rand). The documented ${PG_USER:-authentik} and ${PG_DB:-authentik} are written as their defaults, authentik, and the healthcheck names them directly instead of $${POSTGRES_DB} and $${POSTGRES_USER}. env_file: .env is dropped: every value the services read is under environment:.
• The image is the default of ${AUTHENTIK_IMAGE:-ghcr.io/goauthentik/server}:${AUTHENTIK_TAG:-2026.8.3}, written out. authentik's own network allows outgoing traffic, because the worker sends email and syncs from outside sources such as LDAP or OAuth providers.

Notes for authentik behind the proxy

• Open https://sso.example.org/if/flow/initial-setup/ straight away and set the password for akadmin, the default user. Until you do, whoever reaches that page first sets it.
• Before the first start: mkdir -p ./authentik/data ./authentik/certs ./authentik/custom-templates. The worker runs as root, as in the documented file.
• Email is optional but recommended (password resets, notifications): the install page lists the AUTHENTIK_EMAIL__* variables; add them to both server and worker.
• Outposts (the LDAP, RADIUS and proxy providers' separate containers) are not deployed automatically without the Docker socket; the install page links the manual deployment steps.

Back it up

authentik publishes what to back up: the PostgreSQL database first ("Without it, authentik cannot be restored to a usable state"), then /data, /certs and /custom-templates.

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: authentik

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)

## authentik

authentik publishes what to back up: the PostgreSQL database first ("Without it, authentik cannot be restored to a usable state"), then /data, /certs and /custom-templates.

What this compose mounts:
- authentik-database (named volume, /var/lib/postgresql/data in authentik-postgresql)
  COVERED BY THE COMMAND BELOW: Postgres data files; copy them only with the database stopped.
- ./authentik/data (/data in authentik-server)
  BACK UP: application icons, flow backgrounds, uploaded files and CSV reports.
- ./authentik/custom-templates (/templates in authentik-server)
  BACK UP: your changes to authentik's UI templates, if any.
- ./authentik/data (/data in authentik-worker)
  BACK UP: application icons, flow backgrounds, uploaded files and CSV reports.
- ./authentik/certs (/certs in authentik-worker)
  BACK UP: TLS certificates on the filesystem; not needed once authentik has imported them into the database.
- ./authentik/custom-templates (/templates in authentik-worker)
  BACK UP: your changes to authentik's UI templates, if any.

1. Database dump for authentik-postgresql:

    docker compose exec -T authentik-postgresql pg_dump -U authentik authentik > "$BACKUP/authentik.sql"

   The backup page: use PostgreSQL-native tooling such as pg_dump, and keep the backup away from the database host. User and database are both authentik in this compose.

2. Copy (authentik keeps running):
   pg_dump is consistent while authentik runs: the dump is a snapshot of the database at the moment it started (PostgreSQL docs).

    tar czf "$BACKUP/authentik-data.tar.gz" ./authentik/data
    tar czf "$BACKUP/authentik-custom-templates.tar.gz" ./authentik/custom-templates
    tar czf "$BACKUP/authentik-data.tar.gz" ./authentik/data
    tar czf "$BACKUP/authentik-certs.tar.gz" ./authentik/certs
    tar czf "$BACKUP/authentik-custom-templates.tar.gz" ./authentik/custom-templates

Restore check:

    grep -c 'PostgreSQL database dump complete' "$BACKUP/authentik.sql"   # 1 means pg_dump finished
    tar tzf "$BACKUP/authentik-data.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK
    tar tzf "$BACKUP/authentik-custom-templates.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK
    tar tzf "$BACKUP/authentik-data.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK
    tar tzf "$BACKUP/authentik-certs.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK
    tar tzf "$BACKUP/authentik-custom-templates.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with authentik stopped):

    tar xzf "$BACKUP/authentik-data.tar.gz"   # recreates ./authentik/data; move the old folder aside first
    tar xzf "$BACKUP/authentik-custom-templates.tar.gz"   # recreates ./authentik/custom-templates; move the old folder aside first
    tar xzf "$BACKUP/authentik-data.tar.gz"   # recreates ./authentik/data; move the old folder aside first
    tar xzf "$BACKUP/authentik-certs.tar.gz"   # recreates ./authentik/certs; move the old folder aside first
    tar xzf "$BACKUP/authentik-custom-templates.tar.gz"   # recreates ./authentik/custom-templates; move the old folder aside first

The backup page: restore the database before bringing authentik back into service. On a new server:

    docker compose up -d authentik-postgresql
    docker compose exec -T authentik-postgresql psql -U authentik authentik < "$BACKUP/authentik.sql"

Put ./authentik/data, ./authentik/certs and ./authentik/custom-templates back, keep the same AUTHENTIK_SECRET_KEY in .env, then:

    docker compose up -d

Sources:
- authentik docs: Backup and restore (PostgreSQL database, /data, /certs, /custom-templates): https://docs.goauthentik.io/sys-mgmt/ops/backup-restore/ (checked 2026-09-30)
- PostgreSQL docs: SQL Dump: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/backup-dump.html (checked 2026-09-30)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• authentik README on GitHub checked 2026-09-30 (what it does)
• authentik docs: Docker Compose installation (requirements, PG_PASS and AUTHENTIK_SECRET_KEY, Docker socket, initial setup) checked 2026-09-30 (hardware requirements, compose definition and proxy settings)
• authentik: docker-compose.yml (postgresql, server and worker, version 2026.8.3) checked 2026-09-30 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• authentik docs: Reverse proxy (required headers, WebSockets, trusted proxy networks) checked 2026-09-30 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• 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)
• authentik docs: Backup and restore (PostgreSQL database, /data, /certs, /custom-templates) checked 2026-09-30 (backup plan)
• PostgreSQL docs: SQL Dump checked 2026-09-30 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)

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