TREK with Docker Compose

What TREK needs

Only figures TREK'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 TREK 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 TREK 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 TREK 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 TREK 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: TREK
# 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"

  # ---- TREK (trek.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/blob/main/docker-compose.yml (checked 2026-10-08)
  # Source: https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/wiki/Install-Docker-Compose (checked 2026-10-08)
  # Source: https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/wiki/Environment-Variables (checked 2026-10-08)
  # Source: https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/wiki/Updating (checked 2026-10-08)
  # Source: https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/wiki/Backups (checked 2026-10-08)
  # Source: https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/wiki/Reverse-Proxy (checked 2026-10-08)
  # Source: https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/wiki/Troubleshooting (checked 2026-10-08)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '3000:3000' port and container_name; Caddy reaches trek-app:3000 on the proxy network. The service keeps the file's name, app, which this file prefixes with trek like every app's services.
  #          ENCRYPTION_KEY, which the file marks "Recommended. Generate with: openssl rand -hex 32", is a generated 64-digit hex value in .env.
  #          TZ and LOG_LEVEL are written out as the file's defaults, UTC and info. ALLOWED_ORIGINS, empty in the file, is left out.
  #          Three of the file's commented lines are switched on for a public HTTPS address: APP_URL https://trek.example.org (the base of links in emails and calendar feeds), FORCE_HTTPS=true and TRUST_PROXY=1, which the file says FORCE_HTTPS needs.
  # ELEVATED ACCESS (cap_add CHOWN, SETUID, SETGID): kept from the documented file, where it follows cap_drop: ALL. The Install: Docker Compose page: it "adds back only the capabilities needed for the entrypoint to drop privileges to the node user". The file also sets no-new-privileges and a read-only root filesystem, so the container has fewer rights than a default one.
  trek-app:
    image: "mauriceboe/trek:latest"
    container_name: "trek-app"
    read_only: true
    security_opt:
      - "no-new-privileges:true"
    cap_drop:
      - "ALL"
    cap_add:
      - "CHOWN"
      - "SETUID"
      - "SETGID"
    tmpfs:
      - "/tmp:noexec,nosuid,size=128m"
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: "production"
      PORT: "3000"
      ENCRYPTION_KEY: "${TREK_ENCRYPTION_KEY}"
      TZ: "UTC"
      LOG_LEVEL: "info"
      APP_URL: "https://trek.example.org"
      FORCE_HTTPS: "true"
      TRUST_PROXY: "1"
    volumes:
      - "./trek/data:/app/data"
      - "./trek/uploads:/app/uploads"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    healthcheck:
      test:
        - "CMD"
        - "wget"
        - "-qO-"
        - "http://localhost:3000/api/health"
      interval: "30s"
      timeout: "10s"
      retries: 3
      start_period: "15s"
    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 trek.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.

# TREK
trek.example.org {
	reverse_proxy trek-app:3000
}

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

# TREK
# 64 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
TREK_ENCRYPTION_KEY=

What TREK needs beyond the proxy

TREK asks for more than an ordinary container. The compose file keeps what the project documents and labels each item with an # ELEVATED ACCESS comment; /check/ flags it too, as it would in any file.

• cap_add CHOWN, SETUID, SETGID: kept from the documented file, where it follows cap_drop: ALL. The Install: Docker Compose page: it "adds back only the capabilities needed for the entrypoint to drop privileges to the node user". The file also sets no-new-privileges and a read-only root filesystem, so the container has fewer rights than a default one.

Changes from the official file

Besides prefixing every service, container, volume, folder and variable with trek (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 and container_name; Caddy reaches trek-app:3000 on the proxy network. The service keeps the file's name, app, which this file prefixes with trek like every app's services.
• ENCRYPTION_KEY, which the file marks "Recommended. Generate with: openssl rand -hex 32", is a generated 64-digit hex value in .env.
• TZ and LOG_LEVEL are written out as the file's defaults, UTC and info. ALLOWED_ORIGINS, empty in the file, is left out.
• Three of the file's commented lines are switched on for a public HTTPS address: APP_URL https://trek.example.org (the base of links in emails and calendar feeds), FORCE_HTTPS=true and TRUST_PROXY=1, which the file says FORCE_HTTPS needs.

Notes for TREK behind the proxy

• On the first start TREK creates an admin account, admin@trek.local, with a random password it prints to the log. Read it with docker compose logs trek-app, sign in at https://trek.example.org and choose a new password when asked. (ADMIN_EMAIL and ADMIN_PASSWORD under app's environment set them instead, before the first start only.)
• Restoring a backup from the Admin Panel uploads a zip that can reach 500 MB; Caddy sets no body-size limit, so it passes.
• The container is hardened as in the file: read-only root filesystem, all capabilities dropped but CHOWN, SETUID and SETGID, /tmp as a small tmpfs. Only ./trek/data and ./trek/uploads are writable.
• The tag is latest, "always the newest release across all major versions" (Updating page); :4 stays on one major version.

Back it up

TREK's Backups and Updating pages: create a backup in the Admin Panel (Backups), which writes a zip of the database and uploads, or copy the ./data and ./uploads folders.

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: TREK

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)

## TREK

TREK's Backups and Updating pages: create a backup in the Admin Panel (Backups), which writes a zip of the database and uploads, or copy the ./data and ./uploads folders.

What this compose mounts:
- ./trek/data (/app/data in trek-app)
  BACK UP: the SQLite database (trips, users, settings), the Admin Panel's backup zips and the at-rest encryption key file of older installs.
- ./trek/uploads (/app/uploads in trek-app)
  BACK UP: photos, documents, covers and other uploaded files.

1. Stop trek-app. Stopping it keeps the SQLite database from changing mid-copy; a backup made in the Admin Panel needs no stop.

    docker compose stop trek-app

2. Copy while trek-app is stopped:

    tar czf "$BACKUP/trek-data.tar.gz" ./trek/data
    tar czf "$BACKUP/trek-uploads.tar.gz" ./trek/uploads

3. Start it again:

    docker compose start trek-app

Restore check:

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

Put a copy back (with trek-app stopped):

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

Stop it, put ./trek/data and ./trek/uploads back, start it. Keep the same ENCRYPTION_KEY in .env: secrets in the database are encrypted with it. An Admin Panel zip is restored from the same panel.

Sources:
- TREK wiki: Backups (Admin Panel backups; ./data and ./uploads): https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/wiki/Backups (checked 2026-10-08)
- TREK wiki: Updating (back up, docker compose pull && docker compose up -d): https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/wiki/Updating (checked 2026-10-08)
- 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 2026-10-08)

Update it

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

What TREK's docs say about updating

TREK's Updating page: back up first (Admin Panel, Backups, or copy ./data and ./uploads). Then, from the folder holding the compose file:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

• "This pulls the newest matching image and recreates the container with your existing volumes." With a full version tag (such as 4.0.0) you change the tag instead and run docker compose up -d.

Source: TREK wiki: Updating (back up, docker compose pull && docker compose up -d) checked 2026-10-08

The steps

1. Back up first, as in Back it up above. An update can migrate TREK'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 TREK start (Ctrl+C stops following the log, not the app):

   docker compose logs -f trek-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

Locked out? Reset the admin password

TREK's Troubleshooting page has a recovery script that resets (or creates) the admin without losing data.

1. Run the script in the running container. It resets admin@trek.local and prints a generated password; you are asked to change it at the next sign-in. Source: TREK wiki: Troubleshooting (reset-admin.js) read 2026-10-08; Docker docs: docker compose exec read 2026-10-03

   docker compose exec trek-app node server/reset-admin.js

2. For another address, pass it in: the page's RESET_ADMIN_EMAIL and RESET_ADMIN_PASSWORD. For an email that already exists the script resets only the password and role; if that admin is locked out by two-factor authentication, use a new address to get a second admin and clear the first one's MFA from there. Source: TREK wiki: Troubleshooting (reset-admin.js) read 2026-10-08

   docker compose exec -e RESET_ADMIN_EMAIL='<email>' trek-app node server/reset-admin.js

Run the commands in the folder that holds docker-compose.yml. Words in angle brackets are placeholders: replace them, brackets included. docker compose exec runs the command in the container that is already running: Docker docs: docker compose exec read 2026-10-03

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• TREK on GitHub (repository description) checked 2026-10-08 (what it does)
• TREK: docker-compose.yml (hardened app service, ./data and ./uploads) checked 2026-10-08 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• TREK wiki: Install: Docker Compose checked 2026-10-08 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• TREK wiki: Environment Variables (ENCRYPTION_KEY, APP_URL, FORCE_HTTPS, TRUST_PROXY, ADMIN_EMAIL) checked 2026-10-08 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• TREK wiki: Updating (back up, docker compose pull && docker compose up -d) checked 2026-10-08 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan, update notes)
• TREK wiki: Backups (Admin Panel backups; ./data and ./uploads) checked 2026-10-08 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• TREK wiki: Reverse Proxy (WebSocket on /ws, 500 MB bodies, Mcp-Session-Id) checked 2026-10-08 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• TREK wiki: Troubleshooting (reset-admin.js) checked 2026-10-08 (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 2026-10-08 (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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