dankhostself-host anything

wg-easy with Docker Compose

You have found the easiest way to install & manage WireGuard on any Linux host! All-in-one: WireGuard + Web UI. In the project's words: wg-easy README on GitHub checked 2026-09-26

Runs on: amd64, arm64 from each image's registry manifest, checked 2026-09-26; a CPU counts only if every image has a build for it. Image by image

Add wg-easy to the builder to use your own domain and combine it with other apps in one file.

What wg-easy needs

Only figures wg-easy's own documentation publishes, each linked to the page it is on. Where the project gives no number, this page does not invent one.

ResourceMinimumRecommended
RAMNot published by the project
CPUNot published by the project
DiskNot published by the project

On top of this, Caddy (the reverse proxy in the file) is a single small container.

Which hardware wg-easy 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.

ServiceImagePlatforms in the manifestDigestRegistryChecked
wg-easyghcr.io/wg-easy/wg-easy:15arm64, amd64sha256:0e7bc9d34e86ddcaa92bc700d4d7dc9b33291dbc07ac8d13382f7c2095f949ecghcr.io2026-09-26

A manifest says an image exists for a CPU, not how well wg-easy 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 wg-easy 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 wg-easy alone on example.org: the official definition with its published ports removed except 51820:51820/udp, which cannot go through a web proxy (see below), and Caddy added in front. 

# docker-compose.yml built at dankhost.com for: wg-easy
# 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.
# Caddy publishes 80 and 443. The only other published ports, each labelled where
# it is written: 51820/udp (wg-easy: WireGuard).
# 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"

  # ---- wg-easy (vpn.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://github.com/wg-easy/wg-easy/blob/master/docker-compose.yml (checked 2026-09-26)
  # Source: https://wg-easy.github.io/wg-easy/latest/examples/tutorials/basic-installation/ (checked 2026-09-26)
  # Source: https://wg-easy.github.io/wg-easy/latest/examples/tutorials/caddy/ (checked 2026-09-26)
  # Source: https://wg-easy.github.io/wg-easy/latest/getting-started/ (checked 2026-09-26)
  # Source: https://wg-easy.github.io/wg-easy/latest/examples/tutorials/traefik/ (checked 2026-09-26)
  # Changed: Removed the '51821:51821/tcp' port, as wg-easy's Caddy guide does; Caddy reaches wg-easy:51821 (the web UI's default PORT) on the proxy network. '51820:51820/udp' stays: it is the VPN.
  #          The documented wg network (10.42.42.0/24 and fdcc:ad94:bacf:61a3::/64, with the container's fixed addresses) is kept, named wg-easy-wg; the container also joins the proxy network, as the Caddy guide adds the caddy network.
  # PORT OUTSIDE THE PROXY 51820/udp: the VPN itself: your phones and laptops connect here. WireGuard runs over UDP, not HTTP, so it cannot go through the proxy; wg-easy's installation page says to open UDP 51820.
  # ELEVATED ACCESS (cap_add NET_ADMIN, SYS_MODULE, sysctls, /lib/modules): kept from the documented file. NET_ADMIN lets the container create the WireGuard interface and set its routes and firewall rules; the sysctls turn on IP forwarding inside its own network. SYS_MODULE with the read-only /lib/modules lets it load the wireguard module into the host kernel, which is as powerful as root on the host. If "lsmod | grep wireguard" on the server already shows the module, you can remove SYS_MODULE and the /lib/modules mount.
  wg-easy:
    image: "ghcr.io/wg-easy/wg-easy:15"
    container_name: "wg-easy"
    volumes:
      - "wg-easy-etc_wireguard:/etc/wireguard"
      - "/lib/modules:/lib/modules:ro"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    cap_add:
      - "NET_ADMIN"
      - "SYS_MODULE"
    sysctls:
      - "net.ipv4.ip_forward=1"
      - "net.ipv4.conf.all.src_valid_mark=1"
      - "net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=0"
      - "net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=1"
      - "net.ipv6.conf.default.forwarding=1"
    ports:
      - "51820:51820/udp"  # WireGuard
    networks:
      proxy: {}
      wg-easy-wg:
        ipv4_address: "10.42.42.42"
        ipv6_address: "fdcc:ad94:bacf:61a3::2a"

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"
  wg-easy-wg:
    driver: "bridge"
    enable_ipv6: true
    ipam:
      driver: "default"
      config:
        - subnet: "10.42.42.0/24"
        - subnet: "fdcc:ad94:bacf:61a3::/64"

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:
  wg-easy-etc_wireguard:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for vpn.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.

# wg-easy
vpn.example.org {
	reverse_proxy wg-easy:51821
}

.env

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

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

What wg-easy needs beyond the proxy

Every other app in the builder is reached only through the proxy on ports 80 and 443. wg-easy also needs this port on the server itself, because it carries traffic that is not HTTP. The compose file labels it with a # PORT OUTSIDE THE PROXY comment.

wg-easy 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.

Changes from the official file

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

Notes for wg-easy behind the proxy

How to run it

  1. At your DNS provider, add an A record named vpn on your domain pointing at the server's public IP address, and forward TCP 80, TCP 443 and UDP 443 to it. For wg-easy, forward UDP 51820 from your router to this server. VPN clients connect to it directly from the internet, not through the proxy.
  2. Save the three files in one folder: docker-compose.yml and .env side by side, the Caddyfile at ./caddy/Caddyfile. Replace example.org with your domain in the Caddyfile, the compose file and the .env, or let the builder do it.
  3. Nothing in .env needs filling in; chmod 600 .env all the same.
  4. Start it: 
    docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f caddy   # watch the certificate arrive
  5. Open the new address (vpn. plus your domain) in a browser and follow the notes above.

Back it up

wg-easy keeps everything in /etc/wireguard, the documented named volume etc_wireguard: its database with the server and client keys and settings. /lib/modules is the host's, mounted read-only.

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: wg-easy

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)

## wg-easy

wg-easy keeps everything in /etc/wireguard, the documented named volume etc_wireguard: its database with the server and client keys and settings. /lib/modules is the host's, mounted read-only.

What this compose mounts:
- wg-easy-etc_wireguard (named volume, /etc/wireguard in wg-easy)
  BACK UP: the server and client keys, client list and settings.

1. Stop wg-easy. Stopping it keeps its database from changing mid-copy. VPN clients are disconnected until it is back.

    docker compose stop wg-easy

2. Copy while wg-easy is stopped:

    docker run --rm --volumes-from wg-easy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/wg-easy-etc_wireguard.tar /etc/wireguard

3. Start it again:

    docker compose up -d --force-recreate wg-easy

Restore check:

    tar tf "$BACKUP/wg-easy-etc_wireguard.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with wg-easy stopped):

    docker run --rm --volumes-from wg-easy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /etc/wireguard && tar xvf /backup/wg-easy-etc_wireguard.tar --strip 2"

Put the volume back with the command above (wg-easy stopped), then start it with: docker compose up -d --force-recreate wg-easy

Sources:
- wg-easy docs: Getting Started (tag 15, use docker compose up/down, not start/stop): https://wg-easy.github.io/wg-easy/latest/getting-started/ (checked 2026-09-26)
- 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 2026-09-26)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

Add wg-easy to the builder All forty apps