Gitea with Docker Compose

What Gitea needs

Only figures Gitea'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 Gitea 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. No image for this hardware; the builder leaves the app out.

A manifest says an image exists for a CPU, not how well Gitea 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 Gitea 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 Gitea 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: Gitea
# 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"

  # ---- Gitea (gitea.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://docs.gitea.com/installation/install-with-docker (checked 2026-09-29)
  # Source: https://docs.gitea.com/administration/reverse-proxies (checked 2026-09-29)
  # Source: https://docs.gitea.com/administration/config-cheat-sheet (checked 2026-09-29)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '3000:3000' port; Caddy reaches gitea-server:3000 on the proxy network, which replaces the documented gitea network.
  #          Removed the documented '222:22' SSH port, because in this file only Caddy publishes ports. Git works over HTTPS, and GITEA__server__DISABLE_SSH is true so Gitea stops offering SSH clone addresses that would not work.
  #          Added GITEA__server__ROOT_URL, set to https://gitea.example.org/, in the documented GITEA__section__KEY form; the reverse-proxy page says to set ROOT_URL to the public address.
  #          Uses the documented default SQLite database; the MySQL and PostgreSQL variants on the same page are optional. The documented container_name 'gitea' becomes gitea-server.
  gitea-server:
    image: "docker.gitea.com/gitea:1.27.3"
    container_name: "gitea-server"
    environment:
      USER_UID: "1000"
      USER_GID: "1000"
      GITEA__server__ROOT_URL: "https://gitea.example.org/"
      GITEA__server__DISABLE_SSH: "true"
    restart: "always"
    volumes:
      - "./gitea/gitea:/data"
      - "/etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro"
      - "/etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro"
    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 gitea.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.

# Gitea
gitea.example.org {
	reverse_proxy gitea-server:3000
}

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

.env

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

# .env for Gitea, from dankhost.com/app/gitea/. 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 gitea (so any set of apps can share one file), these are all the differences from what the project documents:

• Removed the documented '3000:3000' port; Caddy reaches gitea-server:3000 on the proxy network, which replaces the documented gitea network.
• Removed the documented '222:22' SSH port, because in this file only Caddy publishes ports. Git works over HTTPS, and GITEA__server__DISABLE_SSH is true so Gitea stops offering SSH clone addresses that would not work.
• Added GITEA__server__ROOT_URL, set to https://gitea.example.org/, in the documented GITEA__section__KEY form; the reverse-proxy page says to set ROOT_URL to the public address.
• Uses the documented default SQLite database; the MySQL and PostgreSQL variants on the same page are optional. The documented container_name 'gitea' becomes gitea-server.

Notes for Gitea behind the proxy

• SSH clone is not set up: clone and push over HTTPS, git clone https://gitea.example.org/<user>/<repo>.git, with your Gitea user name and password or an access token.
• The first visit opens Gitea's installation wizard, and it is open to whoever gets there first: open the address straight away, keep SQLite3, check that the base URL reads https://gitea.example.org/, and create the administrator account on that page.
• The docs: the volume must be owned by the UID/GID in USER_UID/USER_GID (1000 here) or the container may not start. Run id -u and id -g and change both values if yours differ.
• The docs mount /etc/timezone and /etc/localtime from the host. Some Linux systems (Fedora, Arch) have no /etc/timezone: remove that line there.
• Pinned to 1.27.3, the release the docs' example uses. Their tag list: :1 follows every 1.x release, :latest the newest.

Back it up

Gitea's backup page: to be consistent, Gitea "must be shutdown during backup". In this compose everything (app.ini, the SQLite database, the repositories and uploads) is in one folder.

Below is the BACKUP.md the builder writes next to the compose file above: which of its folders and volumes hold data, 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: Gitea

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)

## Gitea

Gitea's backup page: to be consistent, Gitea "must be shutdown during backup". In this compose everything (app.ini, the SQLite database, the repositories and uploads) is in one folder.

What this compose mounts:
- ./gitea/gitea (/data in gitea-server)
  BACK UP: Gitea's whole /data: app.ini with the instance's secret keys, the SQLite database, the git repositories and uploaded files.

Gitea also has gitea dump, which zips files and database. With Docker the page says to run it as the user in app.ini's RUN_USER (git in this image) from inside its --tempdir, where the zip is written. To make one as well, run this before step 1; the zip lands in ./gitea/gitea and so goes into the copy:

    docker compose exec -u git -w /data gitea-server bash -c '/usr/local/bin/gitea dump -c /data/gitea/conf/app.ini --tempdir /data'

1. Stop gitea-server. Gitea's backup page: a backup taken while Gitea runs can hold a repository and a database from different moments.

    docker compose stop gitea-server

2. Copy while gitea-server is stopped:

    tar czf "$BACKUP/gitea-gitea.tar.gz" ./gitea/gitea

3. Start it again:

    docker compose start gitea-server

Restore check:

    tar tzf "$BACKUP/gitea-gitea.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with gitea-server stopped):

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

Stop it, put ./gitea/gitea back, start it. The page then suggests checking the instance:

    docker compose exec -u git gitea-server gitea doctor check

Sources:
- Gitea docs: Backup and Restore (consistency, gitea dump with Docker): https://docs.gitea.com/administration/backup-and-restore (checked 2026-09-29)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• Gitea repository on GitHub (description) checked 2026-09-29 (what it does)
• Gitea docs: What is Gitea? (system requirements) checked 2026-09-29 (hardware requirements)
• Gitea docs: Installation with Docker (docker-compose.yml, GITEA__section__KEY variables) checked 2026-09-29 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Gitea docs: Reverse Proxies (ROOT_URL, nginx example, client_max_body_size 512M) checked 2026-09-29 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Gitea docs: Configuration Cheat Sheet (ROOT_URL, DISABLE_SSH) checked 2026-09-29 (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)
• Gitea docs: Backup and Restore (consistency, gitea dump with Docker) checked 2026-09-29 (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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