Homebox with Docker Compose

What Homebox needs

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

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

  # ---- Homebox (homebox.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://homebox.software/en/quick-start/install/ (checked 2026-10-09)
  # Source: https://homebox.software/en/quick-start/configure/ (checked 2026-10-09)
  # Source: https://homebox.software/en/quick-start/configure/proxy/ (checked 2026-10-09)
  # Source: https://homebox.software/en/quick-start/configure/storage/ (checked 2026-10-09)
  # Source: https://homebox.software/en/quick-start/configure/database/ (checked 2026-10-09)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '3100:7745' port; Caddy reaches homebox:7745 on the proxy network.
  #          HBOX_AUTH_API_KEY_PEPPER, some_random_string in the file, is a generated 64-character value in .env: the Configure page says Homebox refuses to start with less than 32 bytes and that changing it later invalidates every API key.
  #          Added HBOX_OPTIONS_TRUST_PROXY=true, which the Proxying page says you must set behind a reverse proxy.
  homebox:
    image: "ghcr.io/sysadminsmedia/homebox:latest"
    container_name: "homebox"
    restart: "always"
    environment:
      HBOX_LOG_LEVEL: "info"
      HBOX_LOG_FORMAT: "text"
      HBOX_WEB_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE: "10"
      HBOX_OPTIONS_ALLOW_ANALYTICS: "false"
      HBOX_AUTH_API_KEY_PEPPER: "${HOMEBOX_HBOX_AUTH_API_KEY_PEPPER}"
      HBOX_OPTIONS_TRUST_PROXY: "true"
    volumes:
      - "homebox-data:/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:
  homebox-data:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for homebox.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.

# Homebox
homebox.example.org {
	reverse_proxy homebox:7745
}

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

.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 Homebox, from dankhost.com/app/homebox/. Fill the blank secret before starting.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).

# Homebox
# 64 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
HOMEBOX_HBOX_AUTH_API_KEY_PEPPER=

Changes from the official file

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

• Removed the documented '3100:7745' port; Caddy reaches homebox:7745 on the proxy network.
• HBOX_AUTH_API_KEY_PEPPER, some_random_string in the file, is a generated 64-character value in .env: the Configure page says Homebox refuses to start with less than 32 bytes and that changing it later invalidates every API key.
• Added HBOX_OPTIONS_TRUST_PROXY=true, which the Proxying page says you must set behind a reverse proxy.

Notes for Homebox behind the proxy

• Open https://homebox.example.org and register; anyone who reaches the address can register too (HBOX_OPTIONS_ALLOW_REGISTRATION defaults to true). Once your household has its accounts, add HBOX_OPTIONS_ALLOW_REGISTRATION: "false" to the environment and run docker compose up -d.
• Everything lives in the homebox-data volume: the SQLite database (the default) and every photo and file you upload (the Storage page: local storage is /data in the container).
• Uploads are limited to 10 MB each (HBOX_WEB_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE); raise it there for large manuals or videos.
• The tag is latest. The install page names two other variants of every tag, -rootless and -hardened (no shell; no MQTT client).

Back it up

Homebox publishes no backup procedure. Everything it keeps is in /data: the SQLite database and your uploaded photos and attachments.

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: Homebox

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)

## Homebox

Homebox publishes no backup procedure. Everything it keeps is in /data: the SQLite database and your uploaded photos and attachments.

What this compose mounts:
- homebox-data (named volume, /data in homebox)
  BACK UP: the SQLite database (items, locations, labels, users) and every uploaded photo and file.

1. Stop homebox. undefined

    docker compose stop homebox

2. Copy while homebox is stopped:

    docker run --rm --volumes-from homebox -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/homebox-data.tar /data

3. Start it again:

    docker compose start homebox

Restore check:

    tar tf "$BACKUP/homebox-data.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with homebox stopped):

    docker run --rm --volumes-from homebox -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /data && tar xvf /backup/homebox-data.tar --strip 1"

Put the homebox-data volume back and run docker compose up -d.

Sources:
- Homebox docs: Storage (local storage at /data in the container): https://homebox.software/en/quick-start/configure/storage/ (checked 2026-10-09)
- Homebox docs: Configure (environment variables: API key pepper, registration, trust proxy): https://homebox.software/en/quick-start/configure/ (checked 2026-10-09)
- 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 2026-10-09)

Update it

What docker compose pull does depends only on how each image line in the compose file above is tagged. For Homebox as this page writes it:

What Homebox's docs say about updating

Homebox publishes no update procedure for this setup; the steps below are Docker's generic method.

The steps

1. Back up first, as in Back it up above. An update can migrate Homebox's data on its first start; the copy is the way back.
2. Download the new images. Running containers are not touched yet:

   docker compose pull

3. Recreate the containers whose image changed. Volumes and bind-mounted folders stay as they are:

   docker compose up -d

4. Watch Homebox start (Ctrl+C stops following the log, not the app):

   docker compose logs -f homebox

5. Optional: remove the old images the pull left without a tag. This covers every stack on the machine, not only this one:

   docker image prune

Docker's reference for these commands: Docker docs: docker compose pull checked 2026-09-30; Docker docs: docker compose up (recreates changed containers, keeps volumes) checked 2026-09-30; Docker docs: docker image prune checked 2026-09-30

Locked out? Reset the admin password

Homebox's docs give no command, setting or email reset for a forgotten password.

1. Its configuration page has no password setting; the login options it lists are registration (HBOX_OPTIONS_ALLOW_REGISTRATION) and OpenID Connect sign-in, with HBOX_OPTIONS_ALLOW_LOCAL_LOGIN to keep the password form next to it. Write the admin password down somewhere safe. Source: Homebox docs: Configure (environment variables: API key pepper, registration, trust proxy) read 2026-10-09
2. Your data does not depend on the password: it is all in the homebox-data volume (the Storage and Database pages), so back that up. Source: Homebox docs: Storage (local storage at /data in the container) read 2026-10-09; Homebox docs: Database (SQLite by default) read 2026-10-09

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• Homebox on GitHub (repository description) checked 2026-10-09 (what it does)
• Homebox docs: Install (Docker Compose, Regular image, port 7745, /data volume) checked 2026-10-09 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Homebox docs: Configure (environment variables: API key pepper, registration, trust proxy) checked 2026-10-09 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• Homebox docs: Proxying (HBOX_OPTIONS_TRUST_PROXY, nginx WebSocket example) checked 2026-10-09 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Homebox docs: Storage (local storage at /data in the container) checked 2026-10-09 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• Homebox docs: Database (SQLite by default) checked 2026-10-09 (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 2026-10-09 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
• Docker docs: docker compose pull checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
• Docker docs: docker compose up (recreates changed containers, keeps volumes) checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
• Docker docs: docker image prune checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)

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