Dokploy VPS Setup Guide: Self-Hosted Deployment Platform

Dokploy is an open-source PaaS that makes deploying applications dead simple. Think of it as your personal Vercel/Railway that runs on any VPS.

What is Dokploy?

Dokploy handles the boring parts of deployment:

• Git-based deployments — Push to deploy
• Automatic SSL — Let's Encrypt integration
• Docker native — Run any containerized app
• Database templates — One-click PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis
• Traefik routing — Automatic domain management
• Real-time logs — Monitor deployments live

Dokploy vs Other Platforms

Feature	Dokploy	Coolify	Vercel
Price	Free (VPS cost)	Free (VPS cost)	$20+/mo
Self-hosted	✅	✅	❌
Docker Compose	✅	✅	❌
Multi-server	✅	✅	❌
UI Simplicity	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Features	Growing	Mature	Most

Dokploy is newer but has a cleaner UI and faster setup.

VPS Requirements

Minimum:

• 1 vCPU, 2GB RAM
• 25GB storage
• Ubuntu 22.04+

Recommended:

• 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM
• 50GB storage
• Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 12

Best VPS for Dokploy

Provider	Plan	Specs	Price
Hostinger	KVM1	1 vCPU, 4GB RAM	$4.99/mo
Hetzner	CX21	2 vCPU, 4GB RAM	€5.39/mo
Vultr	VC2	1 vCPU, 2GB RAM	$12/mo

Installation

Step 1: Create VPS

1. Sign up with Hetzner or Hostinger
2. Create Ubuntu 22.04 server
3. Add SSH key
4. Note the IP address

Step 2: DNS Setup

Point your domain before installation:

A    dokploy.yourdomain.com      → your-server-ip
A    *.dokploy.yourdomain.com    → your-server-ip

The wildcard lets each app get a subdomain.

Step 3: Connect to Server

ssh root@your-server-ip

# Update system
apt update && apt upgrade -y

Step 4: Install Dokploy

One command does everything:

curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sh

This installs:

• Docker
• Dokploy application
• Traefik reverse proxy
• PostgreSQL (for Dokploy data)

Takes about 3-5 minutes.

Step 5: Access Dashboard

http://your-server-ip:3000

Create your admin account. Use a strong password.

Step 6: Configure Domain & SSL

1. Go to Settings
2. Set Server Domain: dokploy.yourdomain.com
3. Enable SSL/TLS
4. Enter email for Let's Encrypt
5. Save

Now access via https://dokploy.yourdomain.com

Deploying Applications

Deploy from GitHub

1. Projects → New Project
2. Add Application
3. Select source: GitHub
4. Authorize GitHub access
5. Choose repository
6. Click Deploy

Dokploy auto-detects:

• Node.js (package.json)
• Python (requirements.txt)
• Go (go.mod)
• Dockerfile

Deploy with Docker Compose

For existing compose projects:

1. Create Application → Docker Compose
2. Paste your compose file or select from repo
3. Deploy

Example compose:

version: '3.8'
services:
  web:
    image: nginx:alpine
    ports:
      - "80:80"

Deploy Dockerfile

1. Create Application → Dockerfile
2. Point to repo with Dockerfile
3. Dokploy builds and deploys

Database Setup

PostgreSQL

1. Projects → Select project
2. Add Service → PostgreSQL
3. Set database name and password
4. Deploy

Connection string shows in dashboard:

postgresql://postgres:password@postgres-xxx:5432/dbname

MySQL

Same process:

1. Add Service → MySQL
2. Configure credentials
3. Deploy

Redis

1. Add Service → Redis
2. Deploy
3. Use redis://redis-xxx:6379

Custom Domains

Add Domain to App

1. Select application
2. Domains tab
3. Add: app.yourdomain.com
4. SSL automatically provisioned

Redirect www to non-www

Add both domains, Dokploy handles redirects:

yourdomain.com
www.yourdomain.com

Environment Variables

Application Variables

1. Select app → Environment
2. Add variables:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://...
SECRET_KEY=your-secret
NODE_ENV=production

Secrets (Encrypted)

For sensitive data:

1. Settings → Secrets
2. Create secret
3. Reference in apps: {{SECRET_NAME}}

Deployments & Rollbacks

Automatic Deployments

Enable webhooks:

1. App settings → Build
2. Enable Auto Deploy
3. Push to main triggers rebuild

Manual Deploy

Click Deploy button anytime.

Rollback

1. Deployments tab
2. Find previous deployment
3. Click Rollback

Monitoring

Real-time Logs

1. Select application
2. Logs tab
3. Stream logs in real-time

Resource Usage

Dashboard shows:

• CPU usage per app
• Memory consumption
• Disk usage
• Network traffic

Health Checks

Configure in app settings:

Health Check Path: /health
Interval: 30s
Timeout: 5s

Backups

Database Backups

1. Select database
2. Backups → Enable
3. Set schedule
4. Configure destination (S3, local)

Manual Backup

# On VPS
docker exec dokploy-postgres pg_dump -U postgres > backup.sql

Volume Backups

For apps with persistent data:

docker run --rm \
  -v app_data:/data \
  -v /backup:/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/data.tar.gz /data

Multi-Server Setup

Dokploy supports multiple servers:

1. Servers → Add Server
2. Install Dokploy agent on new VPS:

   curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install-agent.sh | sh
   

3. Add server token to Dokploy
4. Deploy apps to specific servers

Use cases:

• Separate staging/production
• Geographic distribution
• Resource isolation

Common Deployments

Next.js

1. Create app → GitHub → Select repo
2. Build command: npm run build
3. Start command: npm start
4. Port: 3000

FastAPI

Dockerfile:

FROM python:3.11-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
COPY . .
CMD ["uvicorn", "main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]

Static Sites

1. Create app → GitHub
2. Build: npm run build
3. Publish directory: dist or build
4. Dokploy serves static files

WordPress

1. Add Service → WordPress
2. One-click setup includes MySQL
3. Configure domain
4. Done

Troubleshooting

Deployment Fails

Check logs:

1. App → Deployments → Failed deployment
2. View build logs
3. Common issues:
   • Missing dependencies
   • Port mismatch
   • Build command wrong

SSL Not Working

1. Verify DNS points to server
2. Wait for propagation
3. Check ports 80/443 open
4. Restart Traefik:

   docker restart dokploy-traefik
   

Out of Memory

1. Check with docker stats
2. Add swap:

   fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
   chmod 600 /swapfile
   mkswap /swapfile
   swapon /swapfile
   

3. Reduce concurrent apps

Container Won't Start

# Check container logs
docker logs container-name

# Common fixes:
# - Wrong port exposed
# - Missing env variables
# - Healthcheck failing

Performance Optimization

Enable Swap

fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
chmod 600 /swapfile
mkswap /swapfile
swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile swap swap defaults 0 0' >> /etc/fstab

Docker Cleanup

# Remove unused images
docker system prune -a

# Schedule weekly cleanup
echo "0 3 * * 0 docker system prune -af" | crontab -

Resource Limits

Set per-app in compose:

services:
  app:
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: 512M
          cpus: '0.5'

API Access

Dokploy has a REST API:

# Get auth token from settings

# List projects
curl -X GET https://dokploy.yourdomain.com/api/projects \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

# Trigger deployment
curl -X POST https://dokploy.yourdomain.com/api/application/deploy \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"applicationId": "xxx"}'

FAQ

How many apps can Dokploy handle?

On 4GB VPS: 5-15 lightweight apps comfortably. More with proper resource limits.

Is Dokploy production-ready?

Yes, it's actively maintained and used in production. v0.8+ is stable.

Dokploy vs Coolify?

Both are excellent. Dokploy has simpler UI, Coolify has more features. Try both.

Can I migrate from Heroku?

Yes! Add your repo, configure buildpacks or Dockerfile, deploy.

How do I update Dokploy?

curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sh

Same command updates to latest.

Summary

Dokploy turns a $5 VPS into a powerful deployment platform:

What You Get	Cost
Unlimited apps	VPS cost only
Automatic SSL	Included
Git deployments	Included
Databases	Included
Custom domains	Unlimited

Recommended Setup:

1. Get Hostinger VPS ($4.99/mo)
2. Install Dokploy
3. Connect GitHub
4. Deploy everything

That's $5/month for your own Vercel. No limits, no vendor lock-in, full control.