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Self-host Joplin Server with Docker Compose

Self-hosted sync server for Joplin note-taking apps.

joplin-server

postgres

postgres:18.3-alpine3.23

The steps below take a few minutes end to end.

  1. Docker compose setup and file
    save the generated compose and env files.
  2. Secret generation
    create the random passwords Joplin Server needs.
  3. Start Joplin Server with Docker Compose
    bring the stack up and check it's healthy.

Requirements

You'll need these installed on the machine you're deploying to:

Docker

Packages Joplin Server and everything it depends on into an isolated container, so it runs the same way on your machine as it does everywhere else.

Install guide

Docker Compose

Reads docker-compose.ymland starts everything in it together. Ships with Docker Desktop. On Linux servers it's usually a separate install.

Install guide

1. Docker compose setup and file

Create a folder for Joplin Server and save the file below into it as docker-compose.yml. It describes every container the stack needs — Joplin Serveritself and any supporting services, such as its database — along with the ports, volumes and environment variables each one uses. You'll also need an empty .env file in the same folder; Docker Compose reads it automatically and uses it to fill in the ${VARIABLE}references you'll see in the file below.

docker-compose.yml

version: "3.9"
services:
  joplin-server:
    image: joplin/server:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - 22300:22300
    environment:
      APP_BASE_URL: http://localhost
      APP_PORT: "22300"
      DB_CLIENT: pg
      MAX_TIME_DRIFT: "0"
      POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING: postgresql://app:${RANDOM_PG_PASSWORD}@localhost:5432/app
      RANDOM_PG_PASSWORD: ${RANDOM_PG_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - tmp:/tmp
      - pm2-home:/opt/pm2
      - app-logs:/home/joplin/packages/server/logs
      - app-temp:/home/joplin/packages/server/temp
    healthcheck:
      test:
        - CMD
        - curl
        - -f
        - http://localhost:22300/
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
  postgres:
    image: postgres:18.3-alpine3.23
    restart: unless-stopped
    network_mode: service:joplin-server
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${RANDOM_PG_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_USER: app
volumes:
  app-logs: null
  app-temp: null
  pm2-home: null
  tmp: null

Volumes

Joplin Server stores its data in named Docker volumes, so it survives container restarts and updates:

  • tmp mounted at /tmp: writable scratch for yarn's package cache at startup.
  • pm2-home mounted at /opt/pm2: pm2 daemon home (log, pid, sockets) written at startup.
  • app-logs mounted at /home/joplin/packages/server/logs: joplin server writes runtime logs under packages/server/logs.
  • app-temp mounted at /home/joplin/packages/server/temp: joplin server writes temp/upload scratch under packages/server/temp.

2. Secret generation

Joplin Server needs a few randomly generated secrets — for example, database passwords or an internal session key — before it can start. These are referenced from docker-compose.ymlabove but don't live in it, so they need to end up in your .env file. Pick one of the two options below.

Generating secrets…

3. Start Joplin Server with Docker Compose

From the folder with docker-compose.yml and .env, run:

Terminal

Start Joplin Server and all its supporting services in the background.

docker compose up -d

The -d flag runs the stack in the background so it keeps running after you close the terminal. Docker will pull the images the first time, which can take a minute or two.

To check on it afterwards: docker compose ps shows whether containers are healthy, and docker compose logs -f follows their logs if something looks wrong. Once it's running, open http://localhost:22300 in your browser.