Firefly III with Docker Compose

What Firefly III needs

Only figures Firefly III'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. Firefly III itself runs as 3 containers: firefly-iii-app, firefly-iii-db, firefly-iii-cron.

Which hardware Firefly III 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 app, db. No image for this hardware; the builder leaves the app out.

A manifest says an image exists for a CPU, not how well Firefly III 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 Firefly III 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 Firefly III alone on example.org: the official definition with its published ports removed and Caddy added in front. The time zone is Etc/UTC here; the builder uses your browser's. Every ${VARIABLE} is defined in the .env below.

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

  # ---- Firefly III (money.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://github.com/firefly-iii/docs/blob/main/docs/docs/how-to/firefly-iii/installation/docker.md (checked 2026-09-26)
  # Source: https://github.com/firefly-iii/docker/blob/main/docker-compose.yml (checked 2026-09-26)
  # Source: https://github.com/firefly-iii/firefly-iii/blob/main/.env.example (checked 2026-09-26)
  # Source: https://github.com/firefly-iii/docker/blob/main/database.env (checked 2026-09-26)
  # Changed: Removed the '80:8080' port; Caddy reaches app:8080 on the proxy network. The documented container names firefly_iii_core, firefly_iii_db and firefly_iii_cron become firefly-iii-app, firefly-iii-db and firefly-iii-cron, and the documented firefly_iii network is the app's own back-end network, where app and db keep their hostnames.
  #          env_file: .env and env_file: .db.env are replaced by explicit environment entries for the variables the installation page says to set: APP_KEY (exactly 32 characters), DB_PASSWORD in .env and MYSQL_PASSWORD in .db.env with the same value, and STATIC_CRON_TOKEN (exactly 32 characters, which the cron service needs). All three are generated.
  #          APP_URL is your https address and TRUSTED_PROXIES is the proxy's fixed address: .env.example says APP_URL must match the external URL and that TRUSTED_PROXIES makes reverse proxies work (its example value ** trusts every address).
  #          The back-end network keeps internet access: the cron service runs "apk add tzdata" each time it starts.
  firefly-iii-app:
    image: "fireflyiii/core:latest"
    container_name: "firefly-iii-app"
    hostname: "app"
    restart: "always"
    volumes:
      - "firefly-iii-firefly_iii_upload:/var/www/html/storage/upload"
    environment:
      APP_KEY: "${FIREFLY_III_APP_KEY}"
      APP_URL: "https://money.example.org"
      TRUSTED_PROXIES: "172.30.0.2"
      TZ: "Etc/UTC"
      DB_CONNECTION: "mysql"
      DB_HOST: "db"
      DB_PORT: "3306"
      DB_DATABASE: "firefly"
      DB_USERNAME: "firefly"
      DB_PASSWORD: "${FIREFLY_III_DB_PASSWORD}"
      STATIC_CRON_TOKEN: "${FIREFLY_III_STATIC_CRON_TOKEN}"
    depends_on:
      - "firefly-iii-db"
    networks:
      proxy: {}
      firefly-iii-backend:
        aliases:
          - "app"
  firefly-iii-db:
    image: "mariadb:lts"
    container_name: "firefly-iii-db"
    hostname: "db"
    restart: "always"
    environment:
      MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD: "yes"
      MYSQL_USER: "firefly"
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: "${FIREFLY_III_DB_PASSWORD}"
      MYSQL_DATABASE: "firefly"
    volumes:
      - "firefly-iii-firefly_iii_db:/var/lib/mysql"
    networks:
      firefly-iii-backend:
        aliases:
          - "db"
  firefly-iii-cron:
    image: "alpine"
    container_name: "firefly-iii-cron"
    restart: "always"
    environment:
      TZ: "Etc/UTC"
      STATIC_CRON_TOKEN: "${FIREFLY_III_STATIC_CRON_TOKEN}"
    command:
      - "sh"
      - "-c"
      - "apk add tzdata && (ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/$$TZ /etc/localtime || true) && echo \"0 3 * * * wget -qO- http://app:8080/api/v1/cron/$$STATIC_CRON_TOKEN;echo\" | crontab - && crond -f -L /dev/stdout"
    depends_on:
      - "firefly-iii-app"
    networks:
      firefly-iii-backend:
        aliases:
          - "cron"

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"
  firefly-iii-backend: {}

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:
  firefly-iii-firefly_iii_upload:
  firefly-iii-firefly_iii_db:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for money.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.

# Firefly III
money.example.org {
	reverse_proxy firefly-iii-app:8080
}

.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 Firefly III, from dankhost.com/app/firefly-iii/. Fill the blank secrets before starting.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).

# Firefly III
# 32 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
FIREFLY_III_APP_KEY=
# 32 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
FIREFLY_III_DB_PASSWORD=
# 32 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
FIREFLY_III_STATIC_CRON_TOKEN=

Changes from the official file

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

• Removed the '80:8080' port; Caddy reaches app:8080 on the proxy network. The documented container names firefly_iii_core, firefly_iii_db and firefly_iii_cron become firefly-iii-app, firefly-iii-db and firefly-iii-cron, and the documented firefly_iii network is the app's own back-end network, where app and db keep their hostnames.
• env_file: .env and env_file: .db.env are replaced by explicit environment entries for the variables the installation page says to set: APP_KEY (exactly 32 characters), DB_PASSWORD in .env and MYSQL_PASSWORD in .db.env with the same value, and STATIC_CRON_TOKEN (exactly 32 characters, which the cron service needs). All three are generated.
• APP_URL is your https address and TRUSTED_PROXIES is the proxy's fixed address: .env.example says APP_URL must match the external URL and that TRUSTED_PROXIES makes reverse proxies work (its example value ** trusts every address).
• The back-end network keeps internet access: the cron service runs "apk add tzdata" each time it starts.

Notes for Firefly III behind the proxy

• Open https://money.example.org and create your account.
• The cron service calls Firefly III's cron URL with STATIC_CRON_TOKEN every day at 03:00, the schedule in the documented file.
• Firefly III's backup page warns: "Do not use the export function as a backup mechanism". Keep APP_KEY: the same page says to back up the Docker variables, "especially the APP_KEY-variable" (it is in .env).

Back it up

Firefly III's backup page for Docker: back up the variables (especially APP_KEY), the secrets, and "the two volumes used by Firefly III: upload and db". It copies the volumes with a throwaway container and tar, the method below uses for the upload volume; the database is dumped with mariadb-dump instead, so the copy is consistent without stopping MariaDB.

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: Firefly III

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)

## Firefly III

Firefly III's backup page for Docker: back up the variables (especially APP_KEY), the secrets, and "the two volumes used by Firefly III: upload and db". It copies the volumes with a throwaway container and tar, the method below uses for the upload volume; the database is dumped with mariadb-dump instead, so the copy is consistent without stopping MariaDB.

What this compose mounts:
- firefly-iii-firefly_iii_upload (named volume, /var/www/html/storage/upload in firefly-iii-app)
  BACK UP: attachments uploaded to transactions.
- firefly-iii-firefly_iii_db (named volume, /var/lib/mysql in firefly-iii-db)
  COVERED BY THE COMMAND BELOW: the MariaDB data files: every account, transaction, budget and rule; copy them only with the database stopped.

1. Stop firefly-iii-app. Stopping Firefly III (not MariaDB) keeps new transactions and attachments from arriving between the dump and the copy.

    docker compose stop firefly-iii-app

2. Database dump for firefly-iii-db:

    docker compose exec -T firefly-iii-db sh -c 'mariadb-dump -u "$MYSQL_USER" -p"$MYSQL_PASSWORD" "$MYSQL_DATABASE"' > "$BACKUP/firefly.sql"

   The backup page copies the db volume itself with a throwaway container; copied while MariaDB runs, those files can be inconsistent. mariadb-dump (MariaDB's name for mysqldump) writes a consistent copy of the firefly database from inside the running container, which already has the user, password and database name in its environment.

3. Copy while firefly-iii-app is stopped:

    docker run --rm --volumes-from firefly-iii-app -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/firefly-iii-firefly_iii_upload.tar /var/www/html/storage/upload

4. Start it again:

    docker compose start firefly-iii-app

Restore check:

    grep -c 'Dump completed' "$BACKUP/firefly.sql"   # 1 means mariadb-dump finished
    tar tf "$BACKUP/firefly-iii-firefly_iii_upload.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with firefly-iii-app stopped):

    docker run --rm --volumes-from firefly-iii-app -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /var/www/html/storage/upload && tar xvf /backup/firefly-iii-firefly_iii_upload.tar --strip 5"

The backup page's rule: after making a backup, the first thing to do is restore it to make sure it worked. With this file's names:

    docker compose up -d firefly-iii-db
    docker compose exec -T firefly-iii-db sh -c 'mariadb -u "$MYSQL_USER" -p"$MYSQL_PASSWORD" "$MYSQL_DATABASE"' < "$BACKUP/firefly.sql"
    docker compose up -d

Sources:
- Firefly III docs: How to make a backup (source of docs.firefly-iii.org): https://github.com/firefly-iii/docs/blob/main/docs/docs/how-to/firefly-iii/advanced/backup.md (checked 2026-09-26)
- MariaDB docs: mariadb-dump (formerly mysqldump): https://mariadb.com/docs/server/clients-and-utilities/backup-restore-and-import-clients/mariadb-dump (checked 2026-09-26)
- 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 2026-09-26)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• Firefly III README on GitHub checked 2026-09-26 (what it does)
• Firefly III docs: How to install Firefly III using Docker (source of docs.firefly-iii.org) checked 2026-09-26 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Firefly III: docker-compose.yml (app, db, cron) checked 2026-09-26 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Firefly III: .env.example (APP_KEY, TRUSTED_PROXIES, APP_URL, STATIC_CRON_TOKEN) checked 2026-09-26 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Firefly III: database.env (the .db.env file) checked 2026-09-26 (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)
• Firefly III docs: How to make a backup (source of docs.firefly-iii.org) checked 2026-09-26 (backup plan)
• MariaDB docs: mariadb-dump (formerly mysqldump) checked 2026-09-26 (backup plan)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-09-26 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)

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