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Vultr profile image Sanskriti Harmukh
Sanskriti Harmukh for Vultr

Posted on with Aashish Chaurasiya • Originally published at docs.vultr.com

Deploying Dokploy - Self-Hosted PaaS for Docker Applications on Ubuntu 24.04

#paas #docker #devops #selfhosted

Dokploy is an open-source, self-hosted PaaS, a free alternative to Heroku, Vercel, and Netlify, that deploys apps from Git, manages databases, and routes traffic with Traefik's automatic HTTPS. This guide installs Dokploy on Ubuntu 24.04, deploys a sample app from a public GitHub repo, attaches a custom domain with a Let's Encrypt certificate, provisions a one-click PostgreSQL database, and checks the resource monitoring dashboard. By the end, you'll have a working PaaS running an app and a database behind HTTPS.

Prerequisite: Ubuntu 24.04 server, non-root sudo user, DNS A records for two subdomains (e.g. dokploy.example.com for the dashboard, app.example.com for your app).

Install Dokploy

1. Update packages:

$ sudo apt update
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2. Run the installer (installs Docker if missing, sets up Swarm mode, deploys the Dokploy stack):

$ curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sudo sh
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Congratulations, Dokploy is installed!
Wait 15 seconds for the server to start
Please go to http://YOUR-SERVER-IP:3000
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3. Add your user to the Docker group:

$ sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
$ newgrp docker
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4. Verify the services:

$ docker service ls
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ID             NAME               MODE         REPLICAS   IMAGE
yjuz1bv9slln   dokploy            replicated   1/1        dokploy/dokploy:latest
icesr4uht5py   dokploy-postgres   replicated   1/1        postgres:16
aqb1hms95ox8   dokploy-redis      replicated   1/1        redis:7
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Access the Dashboard

Open http://SERVER_IP:3000, enter your name, email, and password, and click Register. You land on the main project view.

Note: This is HTTP on port 3000 — HTTPS for the dashboard gets set up later in "Secure the Dokploy Dashboard."

Deploy a Sample App

1. Create a project — Create Project, name it (e.g. demo-project), Create.

2. Add an application — Create Service → Application, name it (e.g. hello-app).

3. Configure the source under General:

  • Provider: GitHub (or Git for custom repos)
  • Repository URL: e.g. https://github.com/dokploy/hello-world
  • Branch: main

4. Set the build type: Nixpacks (auto-detects language/dependencies). Other options: Heroku Buildpacks, Paketo Buildpacks, or a custom Dockerfile.

5. Save, then click Deploy. Watch the Deployments tab for build progress, and Logs for runtime output:

Server listening on port 3000
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Add a Custom Domain with SSL

1. Open the firewall:

$ sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
$ sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
$ sudo ufw enable
$ sudo ufw status
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2. On the app's Domains tab, click Add Domain:

  • Host: app.example.com
  • Container Port: match what your app listens on (check the logs)
  • HTTPS: enabled
  • Certificate Provider: Let's Encrypt

3. Confirm DNS resolves to your server:

$ sudo apt install -y dnsutils
$ dig +short app.example.com
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Output should match your server's public IP.

4. Visit https://app.example.com — Traefik issues the certificate on first request and renews automatically before expiry.

Secure the Dokploy Dashboard

  1. Settings → Web Server, set a domain (e.g. dokploy.example.com).
  2. Enable HTTPS with Let's Encrypt.
  3. Confirm https://dokploy.example.com works.
  4. Once confirmed, disable direct IP:port access: 
$ docker service update --publish-rm "published=3000,target=3000,mode=host" dokploy
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Warning: Confirm the HTTPS domain works before running this — otherwise you lock yourself out of the dashboard.

Deploy a Database

  1. In your project, Create Service → Database → PostgreSQL, name it (e.g. app-db), Create.
  2. The General tab shows user, database name, password, internal port/host, and a ready-to-use Internal Connection URL. Only set External Port if you need access from outside the server.
  3. Click Deploy.
  4. (Optional) Backups tab — set frequency and an S3-compatible destination for off-server backup storage.

Connect the app: copy the Internal Connection URL into the app's Environment tab:

DATABASE_URL=INTERNAL-CONNECTION-URL
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Save and redeploy.

Monitor Resources

The app's Monitoring tab graphs CPU, memory, block I/O, and network I/O in real time. Use Advanced to set CPU and memory limits per container.

Next Steps

Dokploy is running an app and a database behind HTTPS. From here you can:

  • Deploy a Docker Compose stack instead of a single app for multi-service projects
  • Add remote servers to Dokploy for multi-node deployments
  • Configure custom Traefik middleware for auth, rate limiting, or redirects

For the full guide with additional tips, visit the original article on Vultr Docs.

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