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Self-host Monica with Docker Compose

Personal CRM for keeping track of family, friends, and important dates.

monica

mysql

mariadb:12.2.2-noble

mysql-mysql-data-init

busybox

mysql-mysql-socket-init

busybox

mysql-mysql-tmp-init

busybox

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 Monica needs.
  3. Start Monica 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 Monica 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 Monica and save the file below into it as docker-compose.yml. It describes every container the stack needs — Monicaitself 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:
  monica:
    image: linuxserver/monica:4.1.2
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - 80:80
    environment:
      APP_ENV: production
      APP_URL: http://monica.localhost:80
      DB_DATABASE: app
      DB_HOST: 127.0.0.1
      DB_PASSWORD: ${RANDOM_MYSQL_PASSWORD}
      DB_PORT: "3306"
      DB_USERNAME: app
      TRUSTED_PROXIES: '*'
    volumes:
      - storage:/var/www/html/storage
    depends_on:
      mysql:
        condition: service_started
  mysql:
    image: mariadb:12.2.2-noble
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MARIADB_DATABASE: app
      MARIADB_PASSWORD: ${RANDOM_MYSQL_PASSWORD}
      MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${RANDOM_MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      MARIADB_USER: app
    volumes:
      - mysql-data:/var/lib/mysql
      - mysql-tmp:/tmp
      - mysql-socket:/run/mysqld
    depends_on:
      mysql-mysql-data-init:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      mysql-mysql-socket-init:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      mysql-mysql-tmp-init:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
  mysql-mysql-data-init:
    image: busybox
    volumes:
      - mysql-data:/var/lib/mysql
    command:
      - chown
      - 999:999
      - /var/lib/mysql
  mysql-mysql-socket-init:
    image: busybox
    volumes:
      - mysql-socket:/run/mysqld
    command:
      - chown
      - 999:999
      - /run/mysqld
  mysql-mysql-tmp-init:
    image: busybox
    volumes:
      - mysql-tmp:/tmp
    command:
      - chown
      - 999:999
      - /tmp
volumes:
  mysql-data: null
  mysql-socket: null
  mysql-tmp: null
  storage: null

Volumes

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

  • storage mounted at /var/www/html/storage: Monica's file storage: contact photos, avatars, uploaded documents, and exports.

2. Secret generation

Monica 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 Monica with Docker Compose

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

Terminal

Start Monica 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:80 in your browser.