listmonk with Docker Compose

What listmonk needs

Only figures listmonk'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. listmonk itself runs as 2 containers: listmonk-app, listmonk-db.

Which hardware listmonk 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): every image has a build.

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

  # ---- listmonk (lists.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://github.com/knadh/listmonk/blob/master/docker-compose.yml (checked 2026-10-03)
  # Source: https://github.com/knadh/listmonk/blob/master/docs/docs/content/installation.md (checked 2026-10-03)
  # Source: https://github.com/knadh/listmonk/blob/master/docs/docs/content/upgrade.md (checked 2026-10-03)
  # Source: https://github.com/knadh/listmonk/blob/master/docs/docs/content/configuration.md (checked 2026-10-03)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '9000:9000' port and the database's '127.0.0.1:5432:5432'; Caddy reaches listmonk-app:9000 on the proxy network and the database publishes nothing. container_name and the example hostname listmonk.example.com are dropped.
  #          The file's x-db-credentials anchor is written out: user and database listmonk, and the password, 'listmonk' in the file, is a generated value in .env used by both services. TZ is your browser's time zone instead of Etc/UTC.
  #          LISTMONK_ADMIN_USER and LISTMONK_ADMIN_PASSWORD, empty in the file, are admin and a generated password, so the Super Admin exists from the first start (the installation page: set them "only the first time").
  #          The database volume is written in short form (listmonk-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data) instead of the file's long type: volume form, and the documented listmonk network is the app's own internal back-end network.
  listmonk-app:
    image: "listmonk/listmonk:latest"
    container_name: "listmonk-app"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    depends_on:
      - "listmonk-db"
    command:
      - "sh"
      - "-c"
      - "./listmonk --install --idempotent --yes --config '' && ./listmonk --upgrade --yes --config '' && ./listmonk --config ''"
    environment:
      LISTMONK_app__address: "0.0.0.0:9000"
      LISTMONK_db__user: "listmonk"
      LISTMONK_db__password: "${LISTMONK_DB_PASSWORD}"
      LISTMONK_db__database: "listmonk"
      LISTMONK_db__host: "db"
      LISTMONK_db__port: "5432"
      LISTMONK_db__ssl_mode: "disable"
      LISTMONK_db__max_open: "25"
      LISTMONK_db__max_idle: "25"
      LISTMONK_db__max_lifetime: "300s"
      TZ: "Etc/UTC"
      LISTMONK_ADMIN_USER: "admin"
      LISTMONK_ADMIN_PASSWORD: "${LISTMONK_ADMIN_PASSWORD}"
    volumes:
      - "./listmonk/uploads:/listmonk/uploads:rw"
    networks:
      proxy: {}
      listmonk-backend:
        aliases:
          - "app"
  listmonk-db:
    image: "postgres:17-alpine"
    container_name: "listmonk-db"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: "listmonk"
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "${LISTMONK_DB_PASSWORD}"
      POSTGRES_DB: "listmonk"
    healthcheck:
      test:
        - "CMD-SHELL"
        - "pg_isready -U listmonk"
      interval: "10s"
      timeout: "5s"
      retries: 6
    volumes:
      - "listmonk-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
    networks:
      listmonk-backend:
        aliases:
          - "db"

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"
  listmonk-backend:
    internal: true

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:
  listmonk-data:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for lists.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.

# listmonk
lists.example.org {
	reverse_proxy listmonk-app:9000
}

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

# listmonk
# 32 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
LISTMONK_DB_PASSWORD=
# 24 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
LISTMONK_ADMIN_PASSWORD=

Changes from the official file

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

• Removed the documented '9000:9000' port and the database's '127.0.0.1:5432:5432'; Caddy reaches listmonk-app:9000 on the proxy network and the database publishes nothing. container_name and the example hostname listmonk.example.com are dropped.
• The file's x-db-credentials anchor is written out: user and database listmonk, and the password, 'listmonk' in the file, is a generated value in .env used by both services. TZ is your browser's time zone instead of Etc/UTC.
• LISTMONK_ADMIN_USER and LISTMONK_ADMIN_PASSWORD, empty in the file, are admin and a generated password, so the Super Admin exists from the first start (the installation page: set them "only the first time").
• The database volume is written in short form (listmonk-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data) instead of the file's long type: volume form, and the documented listmonk network is the app's own internal back-end network.

Notes for listmonk behind the proxy

• Log in at https://lists.example.org/admin as admin with LISTMONK_ADMIN_PASSWORD from .env. Then, in Settings > General, set Root URL to https://lists.example.org: subscription, unsubscribe and tracking links in every e-mail are built from it.
• listmonk sends nothing until you add an SMTP server (Settings > SMTP). The container itself needs outbound access to it, which the proxy network gives.
• Uploads go to ./listmonk/uploads only after you set the media path to /listmonk/uploads under Settings > Media, as the file's comment says.
• The app runs --install --idempotent and --upgrade on every start, so a new image migrates the database by itself.

Back it up

listmonk's upgrade page says to "always take a backup of the Postgres database before upgrading" but publishes no procedure. Everything but the uploaded media is in that database: a pg_dump plus a copy of ./uploads is the whole backup.

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: listmonk

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)

## listmonk

listmonk's upgrade page says to "always take a backup of the Postgres database before upgrading" but publishes no procedure. Everything but the uploaded media is in that database: a pg_dump plus a copy of ./uploads is the whole backup.

What this compose mounts:
- ./listmonk/uploads (/listmonk/uploads in listmonk-app)
  BACK UP: images and files uploaded for campaigns (once the media path is set to /listmonk/uploads).
- listmonk-data (named volume, /var/lib/postgresql/data in listmonk-db)
  COVERED BY THE COMMAND BELOW: PostgreSQL's data files: lists, subscribers, campaigns, templates and settings. The pg_dump below is the copy to keep.

1. Database dump for listmonk-db:

    docker compose exec -T listmonk-db pg_dump -U listmonk listmonk > "$BACKUP/listmonk.sql"

   pg_dump with the user and database of the file, both listmonk.

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

    tar czf "$BACKUP/listmonk-uploads.tar.gz" ./listmonk/uploads

Restore check:

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

Put a copy back (with listmonk stopped):

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

Into a fresh database, before listmonk starts against it:

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

Put ./listmonk/uploads back, then:

    docker compose up -d

Sources:
- listmonk docs: Upgrade (back up Postgres first; Docker steps): https://github.com/knadh/listmonk/blob/master/docs/docs/content/upgrade.md (checked 2026-10-03)
- PostgreSQL docs: pg_dump (consistent backups while the database is in use): https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/app-pgdump.html (checked 2026-10-03)
- 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 2026-10-03)

Update it

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

What listmonk's docs say about updating

listmonk's upgrade page, Docker, for this compose file: back up the database, then

docker compose down app
docker compose pull
docker compose up app -d

• In this file the service is listmonk-app. The app runs ./listmonk --upgrade on start, so the new version migrates the database itself; the page warns that a migrated database cannot go back to an older version without the backup.

Source: listmonk docs: Upgrade (back up Postgres first; Docker steps) checked 2026-10-03

The steps

1. Back up first, as in Back it up above. An update can migrate listmonk's data on its first start and its database with it; 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 listmonk start (Ctrl+C stops following the log, not the app):

   docker compose logs -f listmonk-app

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

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• listmonk on GitHub (repository description) checked 2026-10-03 (what it does)
• listmonk: docker-compose.yml (app and Postgres, install and upgrade on start, LISTMONK_* variables) checked 2026-10-03 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• listmonk docs: Installation (Docker, Super Admin on first start) checked 2026-10-03 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• listmonk docs: Upgrade (back up Postgres first; Docker steps) checked 2026-10-03 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan, update notes)
• listmonk docs: Configuration (environment variables, HTTP routes, media uploads) checked 2026-10-03 (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)
• PostgreSQL docs: pg_dump (consistent backups while the database is in use) checked 2026-10-03 (backup plan)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-10-03 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
• PostgreSQL docs: Upgrading a PostgreSQL Cluster checked 2026-09-30 (database upgrade)
• 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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