PrivateBin with Docker Compose

What PrivateBin needs

Only figures PrivateBin'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 PrivateBin 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 PrivateBin 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 PrivateBin 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 PrivateBin 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: PrivateBin
# 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"

  # ---- PrivateBin (paste.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://github.com/PrivateBin/docker-nginx-fpm-alpine (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Source: https://github.com/PrivateBin/PrivateBin/blob/master/cfg/conf.sample.php (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Source: https://github.com/PrivateBin/PrivateBin/blob/master/lib/Configuration.php (checked 2026-09-30)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '-p 8080:8080'; Caddy reaches privatebin:8080 on the proxy network. The README: "Be sure to use a reverse proxy for HTTPS termination in front of it in production environments."
  #          The docker run flags become compose keys: --read-only is read_only: true, the two --tmpfs mounts keep their options, --restart="always" is restart: always, and $PWD/privatebin-data is ./data.
  #          The tag is stable instead of the untagged (latest) image in the docker run line: the README's tag list says stable "contains the latest PrivateBin release" and is updated for Alpine security fixes, while latest usually equals nightly.
  #          Added conf.php, mounted read-only at /srv/cfg/conf.php as the README's Custom configuration shows. It only sets [traffic] header = "X_FORWARDED_FOR", the setting conf.sample.php gives for a reverse proxy: without it, the 10-second rate limit counts every visitor as the proxy's one address.
  privatebin:
    image: "privatebin/nginx-fpm-alpine:stable"
    container_name: "privatebin"
    restart: "always"
    read_only: true
    tmpfs:
      - "/tmp:nodev,noexec,mode=1777"
      - "/run:nodev,exec,mode=1777"
    volumes:
      - "./privatebin/data:/srv/data"
      - "./privatebin/conf.php:/srv/cfg/conf.php:ro"
    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 paste.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.

# PrivateBin
paste.example.org {
	reverse_proxy privatebin:8080
}

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

.env

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

# .env for PrivateBin, from dankhost.com/app/privatebin/. Nothing here is secret.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).
# None of the chosen apps needs a variable here.

The file PrivateBin needs next to the compose file

The builder writes it with your domain and fills every secret with random letters and digits made in your browser (crypto.getRandomValues); nothing is sent anywhere. Below, each secret is a FILL-IN-… placeholder instead, because a secret printed on a public page is the same for everyone who copies it.

./privatebin/conf.php

;<?php http_response_code(403); /*
; conf.php for PrivateBin, built at dankhost.com. Save it as ./privatebin/conf.php
; The first line is the one conf.sample.php starts with: it stops the file being served.
; [main], [model] and [model_options] must be present (lib/Configuration.php); every
; setting not written here keeps its default from that file.
[main]
[model]
class = Filesystem
[model_options]
dir = PATH "data"
[traffic]
; one paste per visitor every 10 seconds, the default
limit = 10
; behind the proxy every visitor arrives from its address: take theirs from this header
header = "X_FORWARDED_FOR"

Changes from the official file

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

• Removed the documented '-p 8080:8080'; Caddy reaches privatebin:8080 on the proxy network. The README: "Be sure to use a reverse proxy for HTTPS termination in front of it in production environments."
• The docker run flags become compose keys: --read-only is read_only: true, the two --tmpfs mounts keep their options, --restart="always" is restart: always, and $PWD/privatebin-data is ./data.
• The tag is stable instead of the untagged (latest) image in the docker run line: the README's tag list says stable "contains the latest PrivateBin release" and is updated for Alpine security fixes, while latest usually equals nightly.
• Added conf.php, mounted read-only at /srv/cfg/conf.php as the README's Custom configuration shows. It only sets [traffic] header = "X_FORWARDED_FOR", the setting conf.sample.php gives for a reverse proxy: without it, the 10-second rate limit counts every visitor as the proxy's one address.

Notes for PrivateBin behind the proxy

• Before the first start: mkdir -p ./privatebin/data && sudo chown 65534:82 ./privatebin/data. The README: the data volume "must be owned by UID 65534 / GID 82".
• Anyone who can open https://paste.example.org can create pastes; there is no login. The text is encrypted in the browser and the key stays in the part of the link after #, which browsers never send to the server, so whoever has the full link can read the paste.
• File uploads are off by default. To allow them, add [main] fileupload = true to conf.php (conf.sample.php lists every option) and restart.

Back it up

PrivateBin publishes no backup procedure. Every paste is an encrypted file under /srv/data, which also holds the server salt; conf.php is the only other file.

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: PrivateBin

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)

## PrivateBin

PrivateBin publishes no backup procedure. Every paste is an encrypted file under /srv/data, which also holds the server salt; conf.php is the only other file.

What this compose mounts:
- ./privatebin/data (/srv/data in privatebin)
  BACK UP: the encrypted pastes and comments, the server salt and the traffic limiter state.
- ./privatebin/conf.php (/srv/cfg/conf.php in privatebin)
  BACK UP: the configuration file above.

1. Copy (PrivateBin keeps running):
   Each paste is written once as its own file, so a copy taken while PrivateBin runs misses at most the pastes created during the copy.

    tar czf "$BACKUP/privatebin-data.tar.gz" ./privatebin/data
    tar czf "$BACKUP/privatebin-conf.php.tar.gz" ./privatebin/conf.php

Restore check:

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

Put a copy back (with PrivateBin stopped):

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

Put ./privatebin/data (owned by 65534:82) and conf.php back and run docker compose up -d. Links shared before the backup work again, because the key is in each link, not on the server.

Sources:
- PrivateBin image README: Running the image (docker run, --read-only, tmpfs, /srv/data owned by 65534:82, custom conf.php, image tags): https://github.com/PrivateBin/docker-nginx-fpm-alpine (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.

• PrivateBin README on GitHub checked 2026-09-30 (what it does)
• PrivateBin image README: Running the image (docker run, --read-only, tmpfs, /srv/data owned by 65534:82, custom conf.php, image tags) checked 2026-09-30 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• PrivateBin repository: cfg/conf.sample.php ([traffic] limit and header = "X_FORWARDED_FOR" behind a reverse proxy) checked 2026-09-30 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• PrivateBin source: lib/Configuration.php (requires [main], [model] and [model_options]; fills every other setting from its defaults) 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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