Gotify with Docker Compose

What Gotify needs

Only figures Gotify'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.

docker-compose.yml

This is exactly what the builder writes for Gotify 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: Gotify
# 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"

  # ---- Gotify (gotify.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://gotify.net/docs/install (checked 2026-09-25)
  # Source: https://gotify.net/docs/config (checked 2026-09-25)
  # Changed: Removed the '8080:80' port; Caddy reaches gotify:80 on the proxy network.
  #          GOTIFY_DEFAULTUSER_PASS is a generated password instead of 'admin'.
  #          Added TZ (install page), and from the configuration page GOTIFY_SERVER_TRUSTEDPROXIES, set to the proxy's fixed address so Gotify sees visitors' real IPs, and GOTIFY_SERVER_SECURECOOKIE=true, which the page says to enable when the server is reachable over HTTPS.
  gotify:
    image: "gotify/server"
    container_name: "gotify"
    environment:
      GOTIFY_DEFAULTUSER_PASS: "${GOTIFY_DEFAULTUSER_PASS}"
      TZ: "Etc/UTC"
      GOTIFY_SERVER_TRUSTEDPROXIES: "172.30.0.2"
      GOTIFY_SERVER_SECURECOOKIE: "true"
    volumes:
      - "./gotify/gotify_data:/app/data"
    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 gotify.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.

# Gotify
gotify.example.org {
	reverse_proxy gotify:80
}

.env

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

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

# Gotify
# 24 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
GOTIFY_DEFAULTUSER_PASS=

Changes from the official file

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

• Removed the '8080:80' port; Caddy reaches gotify:80 on the proxy network.
• GOTIFY_DEFAULTUSER_PASS is a generated password instead of 'admin'.
• Added TZ (install page), and from the configuration page GOTIFY_SERVER_TRUSTEDPROXIES, set to the proxy's fixed address so Gotify sees visitors' real IPs, and GOTIFY_SERVER_SECURECOOKIE=true, which the page says to enable when the server is reachable over HTTPS.

Notes for Gotify behind the proxy

• Log in as 'admin' with GOTIFY_DEFAULTUSER_PASS from .env. Gotify uses it only when it creates the user on first start.
• Create an application in the web UI to get a token, then send: curl "https://gotify.example.org/message?token=<apptoken>" -F "title=Backup" -F "message=finished"
• The documented file sets no restart policy, so Gotify does not come back by itself after a reboot. Run 'docker compose up -d' again, or add restart: unless-stopped.

Back it up

Gotify's install page: /app/data holds the SQLite database, application images and certificates, and it says to include that directory in your backups.

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: Gotify

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)

## Gotify

Gotify's install page: /app/data holds the SQLite database, application images and certificates, and it says to include that directory in your backups.

What this compose mounts:
- ./gotify/gotify_data (/app/data in gotify)
  BACK UP: gotify.db (users, applications, clients, messages) and the application images.

1. Stop gotify. Stopping it keeps the SQLite database from changing mid-copy.

    docker compose stop gotify

2. Copy while gotify is stopped:

    tar czf "$BACKUP/gotify-gotify_data.tar.gz" ./gotify/gotify_data

3. Start it again:

    docker compose start gotify

Restore check:

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

Put a copy back (with gotify stopped):

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

Stop it, put ./gotify/gotify_data back, start it.

Sources:
- Gotify docs: Installation (Docker, /app/data, example docker-compose.yaml): https://gotify.net/docs/install (checked 2026-09-25)
- 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 2026-09-25)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• gotify.net front page checked 2026-09-25 (what it does)
• Gotify docs: Installation (Docker, /app/data, example docker-compose.yaml) checked 2026-09-25 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• Gotify docs: Configuration (GOTIFY_DEFAULTUSER_PASS, GOTIFY_SERVER_TRUSTEDPROXIES, GOTIFY_SERVER_SECURECOOKIE) checked 2026-09-25 (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)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-09-25 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)

Add Gotify to the builder All thirty apps