HedgeDoc with Docker Compose

What HedgeDoc needs

Only figures HedgeDoc'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. HedgeDoc itself runs as 2 containers: hedgedoc-database, hedgedoc-app.

Which hardware HedgeDoc 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. No image for this hardware; the builder leaves the app out.

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

  # ---- HedgeDoc (pad.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://docs.hedgedoc.org/setup/docker/ (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Source: https://docs.hedgedoc.org/guides/reverse-proxy/ (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Source: https://docs.hedgedoc.org/guides/production-ready/ (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Source: https://docs.hedgedoc.org/configuration/ (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Source: https://github.com/docker-library/postgres/blob/master/18/alpine3.24/Dockerfile (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '3000:3000' port; Caddy reaches hedgedoc-app:3000 on the proxy network. The documented version: '3' line is dropped (Compose ignores it).
  #          The database volume is mounted at /var/lib/postgresql instead of the documented /var/lib/postgresql/data. The example's postgres:18.6-alpine keeps its data in /var/lib/postgresql/18/docker, and its entrypoint refuses to start when a volume is mounted at /var/lib/postgresql/data ("unused mount/volume"); the image's Dockerfile: "in 18+ ... the VOLUME has moved from /var/lib/postgresql/data to /var/lib/postgresql".
  #          The example password 'password' is a generated value in .env, used in POSTGRES_PASSWORD and in CMD_DB_URL.
  #          The reverse-proxy guide's settings for https on the standard port: CMD_DOMAIN is pad.example.org, CMD_PROTOCOL_USESSL true and CMD_URL_ADDPORT false (the example's CMD_DOMAIN=localhost and CMD_URL_ADDPORT=true are for http://localhost:3000). CMD_SESSION_SECRET is generated, because without it "all your users will be logged out" at every restart, and CMD_ALLOW_ANONYMOUS is false, as the production guide recommends.
  hedgedoc-database:
    image: "postgres:18.6-alpine"
    container_name: "hedgedoc-database"
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: "hedgedoc"
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "${HEDGEDOC_DB_PASSWORD}"
      POSTGRES_DB: "hedgedoc"
    volumes:
      - "hedgedoc-database:/var/lib/postgresql"
    restart: "always"
    networks:
      hedgedoc-backend:
        aliases:
          - "database"
  hedgedoc-app:
    image: "quay.io/hedgedoc/hedgedoc:1.12.0"
    container_name: "hedgedoc-app"
    environment:
      CMD_DB_URL: "postgres://hedgedoc:${HEDGEDOC_DB_PASSWORD}@database:5432/hedgedoc"
      CMD_DOMAIN: "pad.example.org"
      CMD_URL_ADDPORT: "false"
      CMD_PROTOCOL_USESSL: "true"
      CMD_SESSION_SECRET: "${HEDGEDOC_SESSION_SECRET}"
      CMD_ALLOW_ANONYMOUS: "false"
    volumes:
      - "hedgedoc-uploads:/hedgedoc/public/uploads"
    restart: "always"
    depends_on:
      - "hedgedoc-database"
    networks:
      proxy: {}
      hedgedoc-backend:
        aliases:
          - "app"

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"
  hedgedoc-backend:
    internal: true

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:
  hedgedoc-database:
  hedgedoc-uploads:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for pad.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.

# HedgeDoc
pad.example.org {
	reverse_proxy hedgedoc-app:3000
}

Already running nginx, Nginx Proxy Manager, Caddy or Traefik? The reverse-proxy settings HedgeDoc needs, for all four, each cited to HedgeDoc'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 HedgeDoc, from dankhost.com/app/hedgedoc/. Fill the blank secrets before starting.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).

# HedgeDoc
# 32 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
HEDGEDOC_DB_PASSWORD=
# 64 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
HEDGEDOC_SESSION_SECRET=

Changes from the official file

Besides prefixing every service, container, volume, folder and variable with hedgedoc (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 hedgedoc-app:3000 on the proxy network. The documented version: '3' line is dropped (Compose ignores it).
• The database volume is mounted at /var/lib/postgresql instead of the documented /var/lib/postgresql/data. The example's postgres:18.6-alpine keeps its data in /var/lib/postgresql/18/docker, and its entrypoint refuses to start when a volume is mounted at /var/lib/postgresql/data ("unused mount/volume"); the image's Dockerfile: "in 18+ ... the VOLUME has moved from /var/lib/postgresql/data to /var/lib/postgresql".
• The example password 'password' is a generated value in .env, used in POSTGRES_PASSWORD and in CMD_DB_URL.
• The reverse-proxy guide's settings for https on the standard port: CMD_DOMAIN is pad.example.org, CMD_PROTOCOL_USESSL true and CMD_URL_ADDPORT false (the example's CMD_DOMAIN=localhost and CMD_URL_ADDPORT=true are for http://localhost:3000). CMD_SESSION_SECRET is generated, because without it "all your users will be logged out" at every restart, and CMD_ALLOW_ANONYMOUS is false, as the production guide recommends.

Notes for HedgeDoc behind the proxy

• Register your account at https://pad.example.org (email and password), then set CMD_ALLOW_EMAIL_REGISTER: "false" under hedgedoc-app's environment and run docker compose up -d: registration is open to anyone until you do. Accounts can still be added later with bin/manage_users inside the container.
• Notes are editable by every logged-in user by default; each note's owner can change that, and the production guide links the permission table.
• The /status and /metrics endpoints are on by default; the production guide suggests CMD_ENABLE_STATS_API=false if you do not collect them.
• Pinned to 1.12.0, the version in the docs' example ("Make sure to use the latest release"); read the release notes before changing it, as the docs ask.

Back it up

HedgeDoc publishes a backup procedure: a pg_dump of the database, run through docker compose, and a restore into a database HedgeDoc has not started against. The production guide adds the uploads and the configuration.

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: HedgeDoc

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)

## HedgeDoc

HedgeDoc publishes a backup procedure: a pg_dump of the database, run through docker compose, and a restore into a database HedgeDoc has not started against. The production guide adds the uploads and the configuration.

What this compose mounts:
- hedgedoc-database (named volume, /var/lib/postgresql in hedgedoc-database)
  COVERED BY THE COMMAND BELOW: Postgres data files; copy them only with the database stopped.
- hedgedoc-uploads (named volume, /hedgedoc/public/uploads in hedgedoc-app)
  BACK UP: images uploaded into notes.

1. Database dump for hedgedoc-database:

    docker compose exec -T hedgedoc-database pg_dump hedgedoc -U hedgedoc > "$BACKUP/hedgedoc.sql"

   The docs' command, with -T so no terminal is attached to the redirect and this file's service name.

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

    docker run --rm --volumes-from hedgedoc-app -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/hedgedoc-uploads.tar /hedgedoc/public/uploads

Restore check:

    grep -c 'PostgreSQL database dump complete' "$BACKUP/hedgedoc.sql"   # 1 means pg_dump finished
    tar tf "$BACKUP/hedgedoc-uploads.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with HedgeDoc stopped):

    docker run --rm --volumes-from hedgedoc-app -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /hedgedoc/public/uploads && tar xvf /backup/hedgedoc-uploads.tar --strip 3"

The docs: restore before starting the application for the first time.

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

Put the uploads volume back, then:

    docker compose up -d

Sources:
- HedgeDoc docs: Docker Image (docker-compose.yml, amd64 and arm64, backup and restore): https://docs.hedgedoc.org/setup/docker/ (checked 2026-09-30)
- HedgeDoc docs: How to make your HedgeDoc instance production ready (guest users, backups): https://docs.hedgedoc.org/guides/production-ready/ (checked 2026-09-30)
- 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 2026-09-30)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• HedgeDoc README on GitHub checked 2026-09-30 (what it does)
• HedgeDoc docs: Docker Image (docker-compose.yml, amd64 and arm64, backup and restore) checked 2026-09-30 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• HedgeDoc docs: Using a Reverse Proxy (CMD_DOMAIN, CMD_PROTOCOL_USESSL, CMD_URL_ADDPORT, /socket.io/ WebSocket) checked 2026-09-30 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• HedgeDoc docs: How to make your HedgeDoc instance production ready (guest users, backups) checked 2026-09-30 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• HedgeDoc docs: Configuration (CMD_SESSION_SECRET, CMD_ALLOW_ANONYMOUS, CMD_ALLOW_EMAIL_REGISTER) checked 2026-09-30 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• docker-library/postgres: the 18 Dockerfile ("in 18+ ... the VOLUME has moved from /var/lib/postgresql/data to /var/lib/postgresql") 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)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-09-30 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)

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