Zigbee2MQTT with Docker Compose

What Zigbee2MQTT needs

Only figures Zigbee2MQTT'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 Zigbee2MQTT 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 Zigbee2MQTT 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 Zigbee2MQTT 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 Zigbee2MQTT alone on example.org: the official definition with its published ports removed and Caddy added in front. The time zone is Etc/UTC here; the builder uses your browser's. Every ${VARIABLE} is defined in the .env below.

# docker-compose.yml built at dankhost.com for: Zigbee2MQTT
# 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"

  # ---- Zigbee2MQTT (zigbee.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/installation/02_docker.html (checked 2026-09-29)
  # Source: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/getting-started/ (checked 2026-09-29)
  # Source: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/configuration/frontend.html (checked 2026-09-29)
  # Source: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/configuration/ (checked 2026-09-29)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '8080:8080' frontend port; Caddy reaches zigbee2mqtt:8080 on the proxy network.
  #          The adapter path is ${ZIGBEE2MQTT_ADAPTER} in .env (the docs' example path until you change it) instead of written into the file; the docs say to use the /dev/serial/by-id/ path.
  #          Added ZIGBEE2MQTT_CONFIG_FRONTEND_AUTH_TOKEN, the documented environment form of frontend.auth_token, set to a generated token, so the frontend asks for it. TZ is your time zone instead of Europe/Berlin; container_name is dropped.
  # ELEVATED ACCESS (devices: your Zigbee adapter): kept from the documented file: the USB Zigbee adapter is passed into the container as /dev/ttyACM0, and /run/udev is mounted read-only so Zigbee2MQTT can detect it. The container gets that one device, not the others on the host.
  zigbee2mqtt:
    image: "ghcr.io/koenkk/zigbee2mqtt"
    container_name: "zigbee2mqtt"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    volumes:
      - "./zigbee2mqtt/data:/app/data"
      - "/run/udev:/run/udev:ro"
    environment:
      TZ: "Etc/UTC"
      ZIGBEE2MQTT_CONFIG_FRONTEND_AUTH_TOKEN: "${ZIGBEE2MQTT_AUTH_TOKEN}"
    devices:
      - "${ZIGBEE2MQTT_ADAPTER}:/dev/ttyACM0"
    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 zigbee.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.

# Zigbee2MQTT
zigbee.example.org {
	reverse_proxy zigbee2mqtt:8080
}

Already running nginx, Nginx Proxy Manager, Caddy or Traefik? The reverse-proxy settings Zigbee2MQTT needs, for all four, each cited to Zigbee2MQTT'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 Zigbee2MQTT, from dankhost.com/app/zigbee2mqtt/. Fill the blank secret before starting.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).

# Zigbee2MQTT
# 32 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
ZIGBEE2MQTT_AUTH_TOKEN=
# Your Zigbee adapter: the value below is the example from Zigbee2MQTT's docs. Replace it with your adapter's path from: ls -l /dev/serial/by-id/
ZIGBEE2MQTT_ADAPTER=/dev/serial/by-id/usb-Texas_Instruments_TI_CC2531_USB_CDC___0X00124B0018ED3DDF-if00

What Zigbee2MQTT needs beyond the proxy

Zigbee2MQTT 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.

• devices: your Zigbee adapter: kept from the documented file: the USB Zigbee adapter is passed into the container as /dev/ttyACM0, and /run/udev is mounted read-only so Zigbee2MQTT can detect it. The container gets that one device, not the others on the host.

Changes from the official file

Besides prefixing every service, container, volume, folder and variable with zigbee2mqtt (so any set of apps can share one file), these are all the differences from what the project documents:

• Removed the documented '8080:8080' frontend port; Caddy reaches zigbee2mqtt:8080 on the proxy network.
• The adapter path is ${ZIGBEE2MQTT_ADAPTER} in .env (the docs' example path until you change it) instead of written into the file; the docs say to use the /dev/serial/by-id/ path.
• Added ZIGBEE2MQTT_CONFIG_FRONTEND_AUTH_TOKEN, the documented environment form of frontend.auth_token, set to a generated token, so the frontend asks for it. TZ is your time zone instead of Europe/Berlin; container_name is dropped.

Notes for Zigbee2MQTT behind the proxy

• Set ZIGBEE2MQTT_ADAPTER in .env to your adapter first: plug it in and run ls -l /dev/serial/by-id/. Docker refuses to start the container while the path does not exist.
• On the first start Zigbee2MQTT runs its onboarding page at https://zigbee.example.org, and it is open to whoever gets there first: open it straight away. Give the adapter as /dev/ttyACM0 (the path inside the container) and your MQTT broker; with Mosquitto in the same file that is mqtt://mosquitto:1883 and the user you created for it.
• After onboarding the frontend asks for a token: ZIGBEE2MQTT_AUTH_TOKEN from .env. The docs note that the frontend's WebSocket does not work with HTTP basic authentication in Safari and on iOS, which is why the token is used instead.
• The docs' image has no tag, so it is 'latest', which the Docker page describes as the latest release.

Back it up

Zigbee2MQTT publishes no backup procedure for Docker. Everything it keeps (configuration.yaml, the device database and the adapter's network backup) is in its data directory, copied below with Docker's generic method.

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: Zigbee2MQTT

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)

## Zigbee2MQTT

Zigbee2MQTT publishes no backup procedure for Docker. Everything it keeps (configuration.yaml, the device database and the adapter's network backup) is in its data directory, copied below with Docker's generic method.

What this compose mounts:
- ./zigbee2mqtt/data (/app/data in zigbee2mqtt)
  BACK UP: configuration.yaml, database.db (your paired devices) and coordinator_backup.json.

1. Stop zigbee2mqtt. Stopping it keeps the device database from changing mid-copy. Zigbee devices keep working locally, but nothing reaches MQTT until it starts again.

    docker compose stop zigbee2mqtt

2. Copy while zigbee2mqtt is stopped:

    tar czf "$BACKUP/zigbee2mqtt-data.tar.gz" ./zigbee2mqtt/data

3. Start it again:

    docker compose start zigbee2mqtt

Restore check:

    tar tzf "$BACKUP/zigbee2mqtt-data.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with zigbee2mqtt stopped):

    tar xzf "$BACKUP/zigbee2mqtt-data.tar.gz"   # recreates ./zigbee2mqtt/data; move the old folder aside first

Stop it, put ./zigbee2mqtt/data back, start it with the same adapter.

Sources:
- Zigbee2MQTT docs: Configuration (the data directory, ZIGBEE2MQTT_CONFIG_ environment variables): https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/configuration/ (checked 2026-09-29)
- 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 2026-09-29)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• zigbee2mqtt.io front page checked 2026-09-29 (what it does)
• Zigbee2MQTT README on GitHub checked 2026-09-29 (what it replaces)
• Zigbee2MQTT docs: Docker (docker run, Docker Compose example, tags) checked 2026-09-29 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Zigbee2MQTT docs: Getting started (onboarding on first run) checked 2026-09-29 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Zigbee2MQTT docs: Frontend (auth_token, Nginx proxy configuration) checked 2026-09-29 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Zigbee2MQTT docs: Configuration (the data directory, ZIGBEE2MQTT_CONFIG_ environment variables) checked 2026-09-29 (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 2026-09-29 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)

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