ntfy with Docker Compose

What ntfy needs

Only figures ntfy'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 ntfy 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: ntfy
# 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"

  # ---- ntfy (ntfy.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://docs.ntfy.sh/install/ (checked 2026-09-25)
  # Source: https://docs.ntfy.sh/config/ (checked 2026-09-25)
  # Changed: Removed the '80:80' port; Caddy reaches ntfy:80 on the proxy network.
  #          NTFY_BASE_URL is your https address instead of the example's ntfy.example.com.
  #          Removed NTFY_AUTH_USERS, which carries the example user's bcrypt hash; create your own user with the command in the notes.
  #          The documented './' data folder (the compose file's own folder) becomes ./data, so ntfy's databases do not sit next to docker-compose.yml.
  ntfy:
    image: "binwiederhier/ntfy"
    container_name: "ntfy"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    environment:
      NTFY_BASE_URL: "https://ntfy.example.org"
      NTFY_CACHE_FILE: "/var/lib/ntfy/cache.db"
      NTFY_AUTH_FILE: "/var/lib/ntfy/auth.db"
      NTFY_AUTH_DEFAULT_ACCESS: "deny-all"
      NTFY_BEHIND_PROXY: "true"
      NTFY_ATTACHMENT_CACHE_DIR: "/var/lib/ntfy/attachments"
      NTFY_ENABLE_LOGIN: "true"
    volumes:
      - "./ntfy/data:/var/lib/ntfy"
    command: "serve"
    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 ntfy.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.

# ntfy
ntfy.example.org {
	reverse_proxy ntfy:80
}

.env

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

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

• Removed the '80:80' port; Caddy reaches ntfy:80 on the proxy network.
• NTFY_BASE_URL is your https address instead of the example's ntfy.example.com.
• Removed NTFY_AUTH_USERS, which carries the example user's bcrypt hash; create your own user with the command in the notes.
• The documented './' data folder (the compose file's own folder) becomes ./data, so ntfy's databases do not sit next to docker-compose.yml.

Notes for ntfy behind the proxy

• Access is deny-all, as in the documented file: nobody can publish or read until you add a user. Create an admin with: docker compose exec ntfy ntfy user add --role=admin yourname
• In the ntfy phone app, add https://ntfy.example.org as the default server and log in with that user. iPhone push for a self-hosted server needs NTFY_UPSTREAM_BASE_URL set to the public ntfy.sh server's address (the config page's iOS example); it is not set here.
• Publish from any script: curl -u yourname -d "Backup finished" https://ntfy.example.org/alerts

Back it up

ntfy publishes no backup procedure in its docs. Everything it keeps is in ./data: the message cache, the user database and attachments. The copy below follows Docker's generic method with ntfy stopped.

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: ntfy

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)

## ntfy

ntfy publishes no backup procedure in its docs. Everything it keeps is in ./data: the message cache, the user database and attachments. The copy below follows Docker's generic method with ntfy stopped.

What this compose mounts:
- ./ntfy/data (/var/lib/ntfy in ntfy)
  BACK UP: auth.db (users and access rules), cache.db (recent messages) and attachments/.

1. Stop ntfy. Stopping it keeps the SQLite databases from changing mid-copy.

    docker compose stop ntfy

2. Copy while ntfy is stopped:

    tar czf "$BACKUP/ntfy-data.tar.gz" ./ntfy/data

3. Start it again:

    docker compose start ntfy

Restore check:

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

Put a copy back (with ntfy stopped):

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

Stop it, put ./ntfy/data back, start it. Without auth.db every user has to be created again.

Sources:
- ntfy docs: Configuring the ntfy server (Docker Compose with auth, cache and attachments; behind a proxy): https://docs.ntfy.sh/config/ (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.

• ntfy.sh front page checked 2026-09-25 (what it does)
• ntfy docs: Installation, Docker (port 80, architectures, docker-compose example) checked 2026-09-25 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• ntfy docs: Configuring the ntfy server (Docker Compose with auth, cache and attachments; behind a proxy) checked 2026-09-25 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• 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)

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