ToolJet/docs/versioned_docs/version-2.1.0/setup/docker.md

---
id: docker
title: Docker
---

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# Deploying ToolJet using Docker Compose

Follow the steps below to deploy ToolJet on a server using Docker Compose. ToolJet requires a PostgreSQL database to store applications definitions, (encrypted) credentials for datasources and user authentication data.

:::info
If you rather want to try out ToolJet on your local machine with Docker, you can follow the steps [here](https://docs.tooljet.com/docs/setup/docker-local).
:::
### Installing Docker and Docker Compose
Install docker and docker-compose on the server.
   - Docs for [Docker Installation](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)
   - Docs for [Docker Compose Installation](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/)

### Deployment options

There are two options to deploy ToolJet using Docker Compose:
1.   **Using an external PostgreSQL database**. This setup is recommended if you want to use a managed PostgreSQL service such as AWS RDS or Google Cloud SQL.
2.   **Using in-built PostgreSQL database**. This setup uses the official Docker image of PostgreSQL.

Confused about which setup to select? Feel free to ask the community via Slack: https://tooljet.com/slack

:::info
We recommend using the managed PostgreSQL service on production for ease of administration, security, and management (backups, monitoring, etc).
If you'd want to run postgres with persistent volume rather, curl for the alternate docker compose file shared in the next step.
:::

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  <TabItem value="with-external-postgres" label="With external PostgreSQL" default>

  1. Setup a PostgreSQL database and make sure that the database is accessible.

  2. Download our production docker-compose file into the server.
  ```bash
  curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ToolJet/ToolJet/main/deploy/docker/docker-compose.yaml
  ```

  3. Create `.env` file in the current directory (where the docker-compose.yaml file is downloaded):

  ```bash
  curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ToolJet/ToolJet/main/deploy/docker/.env.example
  mv .env.example .env
  ```

  Set up environment variables in `.env` file as explained in [environment variables reference](/docs/setup/env-vars)

  `TOOLJET_HOST` environment variable can either be the public ipv4 address of your server or a custom domain that you want to use.

  Examples:
  `TOOLJET_HOST=http://12.34.56.78` or
  `TOOLJET_HOST=https://yourdomain.com` or
  `TOOLJET_HOST=https://tooljet.yourdomain.com`

  :::info
  Please make sure that `TOOLJET_HOST` starts with either `http://` or `https://`
  :::

  :::info
  If there are self signed HTTPS endpoints that Tooljet needs to connect to, please make sure that `NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS` environment variable is set to the absolute path containing the certificates.
  :::

  4. Once you've populated the `.env` file, run

  :::note
  Kindly uncomment PostgREST service within the [docker-compose.yaml](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tooljet/tooljet/main/deploy/docker/docker-compose.yaml) if you intend to use tooljet database.
  :::

  ```bash
  docker-compose up -d
  ```

  to start all the required services.

  :::info
  If you're running a linux server, `docker` might need sudo permissions. In that case you can either run:
  `sudo docker-compose up -d`
  or
  setup docker to run without root privileges by following the instructions written here https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/linux-postinstall/
  :::

  5. If you've set a custom domain for `TOOLJET_HOST`, add a `A record` entry in your DNS settings to point to the IP address of the server.


  </TabItem>
  <TabItem value="with-in-built-postgres" label="With in-built PostgreSQL">

  1. Download our production docker-compose file into the server.
  ```bash
  curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ToolJet/ToolJet/main/deploy/docker/docker-compose-db.yaml
  mv docker-compose-db.yaml docker-compose.yaml
  mkdir postgres_data
  ```

  2. Create `.env` file in the current directory (where the docker-compose.yaml file is downloaded):

  ```bash
  curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ToolJet/ToolJet/main/deploy/docker/.env.example
  mv .env.example .env
  ```

  Set up environment variables in `.env` file as explained in [environment variables reference](/docs/setup/env-vars)

  `TOOLJET_HOST` environment variable can either be the public ipv4 address of your server or a custom domain that you want to use.

  Examples:
  `TOOLJET_HOST=http://12.34.56.78` or
  `TOOLJET_HOST=https://yourdomain.com` or
  `TOOLJET_HOST=https://tooljet.yourdomain.com`

  :::info
  Please make sure that `TOOLJET_HOST` starts with either `http://` or `https://`
  :::

  :::info
  If there are self signed HTTPS endpoints that Tooljet needs to connect to, please make sure that `NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS` environment variable is set to the absolute path containing the certificates.
  :::

  3. Once you've populated the `.env` file, run

  :::note
  Kindly uncomment PostgREST service within the [docker-compose.yaml](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ToolJet/ToolJet/main/deploy/docker/docker-compose-db.yaml) if you intend to use tooljet database.
  :::

  ```bash
  docker-compose up -d
  ```

  to start all the required services.

  :::info
  If you're running on a linux server, `docker` might need sudo permissions. In that case you can either run:
  `sudo docker-compose up -d`
  OR
  Setup docker to run without root privileges by following the instructions written here https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/linux-postinstall/
  :::

  4. If you've set a custom domain for `TOOLJET_HOST`, add a `A record` entry in your DNS settings to point to the IP address of the server.



  </TabItem>
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