Wiki.js with Docker Compose

What Wiki.js needs

Only figures Wiki.js'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. Wiki.js itself runs as 2 containers: wikijs-db, wikijs-wiki.

docker-compose.yml

This is exactly what the builder writes for Wiki.js 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: Wiki.js
# 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"

  # ---- Wiki.js (wiki.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://docs.requarks.io/install/docker (checked 2026-09-25)
  # Changed: Removed the '80:3000' port; Caddy reaches wiki:3000 on the proxy network.
  #          The documented database password 'wikijsrocks' is replaced by a generated one, used both as POSTGRES_PASSWORD and DB_PASS.
  wikijs-db:
    image: "postgres:15-alpine"
    container_name: "wikijs-db"
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: "wiki"
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "${WIKIJS_DB_PASS}"
      POSTGRES_USER: "wikijs"
    logging:
      driver: "none"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    volumes:
      - "wikijs-db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
    networks:
      wikijs-backend:
        aliases:
          - "db"
  wikijs-wiki:
    image: "ghcr.io/requarks/wiki:2"
    container_name: "wikijs-wiki"
    depends_on:
      - "wikijs-db"
    init: true
    environment:
      DB_TYPE: "postgres"
      DB_HOST: "db"
      DB_PORT: "5432"
      DB_USER: "wikijs"
      DB_PASS: "${WIKIJS_DB_PASS}"
      DB_NAME: "wiki"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    networks:
      proxy: {}
      wikijs-backend:
        aliases:
          - "wiki"

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"
  wikijs-backend:
    internal: true

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:
  wikijs-db-data:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for wiki.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.

# Wiki.js
wiki.example.org {
	reverse_proxy wikijs-wiki:3000
}

.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 Wiki.js, from dankhost.com/app/wikijs/. Fill the blank secret before starting.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).

# Wiki.js
# 32 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
WIKIJS_DB_PASS=

Changes from the official file

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

• Removed the '80:3000' port; Caddy reaches wiki:3000 on the proxy network.
• The documented database password 'wikijsrocks' is replaced by a generated one, used both as POSTGRES_PASSWORD and DB_PASS.

Notes for Wiki.js behind the proxy

• Open https://wiki.example.org and finish the setup wizard straight away: it creates the administrator account, and until then anyone who opens the address can. Enter https://wiki.example.org as the Site URL.
• The documented file turns the database's logs off (logging: driver none); remove those two lines if you need to read them.
• Wiki.js stores uploaded images and files in the database by default, so the database dump in BACKUP.md covers them.

Back it up

Wiki.js's guide to moving to another server backs up its Docker database with pg_dump in custom format (-F c) and restores it with pg_restore. The wiki container itself stores nothing outside the database.

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: Wiki.js

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)

## Wiki.js

Wiki.js's guide to moving to another server backs up its Docker database with pg_dump in custom format (-F c) and restores it with pg_restore. The wiki container itself stores nothing outside the database.

What this compose mounts:
- wikijs-db-data (named volume, /var/lib/postgresql/data in wikijs-db)
  COVERED BY THE COMMAND BELOW: Postgres data files; copy them only with the database stopped.

1. Database dump for wikijs-db:

    docker compose exec -T wikijs-db pg_dump wiki -U wikijs -F c > "$BACKUP/wikibackup.dump"

   The guide writes docker exec db pg_dump wiki -U wiki -F c > wikibackup.dump. In this compose the database is wiki and its user is wikijs (POSTGRES_DB, POSTGRES_USER), and the service is wikijs-db.

2. Nothing else to copy: the command above holds all of Wiki.js's data. pg_dump is consistent while Wiki.js runs: the dump is a snapshot of the database at the moment it started (PostgreSQL docs).

Restore check:

    docker compose exec -T wikijs-db pg_restore --list < "$BACKUP/wikibackup.dump" > /dev/null && echo OK   # pg_restore can read it

The guide stops Wiki.js, drops and recreates the empty database, and restores into it. With this file's names:

    docker compose stop wikijs-wiki
    docker compose exec -T wikijs-db dropdb -U wikijs wiki
    docker compose exec -T wikijs-db createdb -U wikijs wiki
    docker compose exec -T wikijs-db pg_restore -U wikijs -d wiki < "$BACKUP/wikibackup.dump"
    docker compose start wikijs-wiki

Sources:
- Wiki.js docs: Move to another server (pg_dump / pg_restore of the Docker database): https://docs.requarks.io/install/transfer (checked 2026-09-25)
- PostgreSQL docs: SQL Dump: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/backup-dump.html (checked 2026-09-25)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• Wiki.js repository README checked 2026-09-25 (what it does)
• Wiki.js docs: Requirements (CPU, RAM, Storage) checked 2026-09-25 (hardware requirements)
• Wiki.js docs: Docker (Using Docker Compose, ARM images) checked 2026-09-25 (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)
• Wiki.js docs: Move to another server (pg_dump / pg_restore of the Docker database) checked 2026-09-25 (backup plan)
• PostgreSQL docs: SQL Dump checked 2026-09-25 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)

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