Deploy Coolify with Dokploy

Dokploy is an open-source server management platform that simplifies deploying Docker Compose applications on your VPS. Coolify is another open-source PaaS (Platform as a Service) that serves a similar purpose — managing application deployments, databases, and services on your server.

Since both Coolify and Dokploy are deployment platforms that manage Docker on a host, deploying Coolify inside Dokploy is not recommended. Instead, this guide covers how to run Coolify standalone on a separate server, or how to run both platforms on different ports if needed.

Prerequisites

• A VPS with at least 2 vCPUs, 2 GB RAM, and 30 GB storage
• SSH access to your server
• A domain name (e.g., coolify.yourdomain.com) with DNS A record pointing to your server's IP

Recommended: Standalone Installation

Coolify is designed to be installed directly on a server using its automated installer. This is the officially supported and recommended approach:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash

This script installs Coolify with all its dependencies, sets up Docker, configures the Traefik reverse proxy, and starts the Coolify dashboard on port 8000.

Important: Running Coolify and Dokploy on the same server will cause port conflicts since both use Traefik as a reverse proxy on ports 80 and 443. If you want both platforms, run them on separate servers or configure one to use non-standard ports.

Docker Compose Configuration (Advanced)

If you need to run Coolify alongside Dokploy on the same server for evaluation purposes, you can deploy Coolify's core components manually. Note that this is not officially supported and may have limitations:

version: "3.8"

services:
  coolify:
    image: ghcr.io/coollabsio/coolify:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    environment:
      - APP_URL=https://${COOLIFY_DOMAIN}
      - DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
      - DB_HOST=coolify-db
      - DB_PORT=5432
      - DB_DATABASE=coolify
      - DB_USERNAME=coolify
      - DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
      - REDIS_HOST=coolify-redis
      - REDIS_PORT=6379
      - APP_KEY=${APP_KEY}
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - ../files/coolify-data:/data/coolify
    depends_on:
      coolify-db:
        condition: service_healthy
      coolify-redis:
        condition: service_healthy

  coolify-db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=coolify
      - POSTGRES_USER=coolify
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - ../files/coolify-db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U coolify"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  coolify-redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

Warning: This configuration requires mounting the Docker socket (/var/run/docker.sock), which gives Coolify full control over Docker on the host — including containers managed by Dokploy. This could lead to conflicts. Use this only for testing and evaluation.

Environment Variables

Variable	Purpose	Example
COOLIFY_DOMAIN	Your Coolify domain name	coolify.yourdomain.com
DB_PASSWORD	PostgreSQL database password	a-strong-random-password
APP_KEY	Laravel application encryption key	base64:$(openssl rand -base64 32)

Volumes & Data Persistence

• ../files/coolify-data — Coolify application data, SSH keys, and deployment configs
• ../files/coolify-db-data — PostgreSQL database files

Domain & SSL Setup

For standalone installation: Coolify manages its own Traefik instance and handles SSL automatically. Access the dashboard at https://coolify.yourdomain.com after pointing your DNS.

For Docker Compose deployment via Dokploy:

1. In your Dokploy project, navigate to the Domains tab
2. Click Add Domain and enter your domain (e.g., coolify.yourdomain.com)
3. Set the container port to 8000
4. Enable HTTPS — Dokploy provisions SSL via Let's Encrypt

Verifying the Deployment

1. Open https://coolify.yourdomain.com in your browser
2. You should see the Coolify registration page on first visit
3. Create your admin account and complete the setup wizard
4. Coolify will detect the server configuration and available resources

Troubleshooting

Port conflicts with Dokploy Both Coolify and Dokploy use Traefik on ports 80/443. If running both, disable Coolify's built-in proxy and let Dokploy handle reverse proxy duties. Alternatively, configure Coolify's Traefik to listen on different ports.

Docker socket permission errors Coolify needs access to the Docker socket to manage containers. Ensure the container has access to /var/run/docker.sock and that the socket's permissions allow access.

Coolify interfering with Dokploy containers Since both platforms manage Docker, they may interfere with each other's containers. Label your containers appropriately and consider using separate Docker networks for each platform.

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Learn more about Coolify in our complete overview.

Need a VPS? Hostinger VPS starts at $4.99/mo — perfect for running Coolify.

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For more on Docker Compose deployments in Dokploy, see the Dokploy Docker Compose documentation.

App data sourced from selfh.st open-source directory.