Self-hosting

In this article, you will be guided through hosting Lowcoder on your own server using Docker-Compose or Docker.

For easy setup and deployment, we provide an all-in-one image which bundles frontend, backend and data persistence services altogether in one single container.

Also, for developers in need of stateless containers in cluster environment, we provide separate images of backend and frontend services with a customizable Dockerfile.

All-in-one image: all services in one container

Prerequisites

Docker (version 20.10.7 or above)
Docker-Compose (version 1.29.2 or above)

Recommended system spec: 1-core CPU and 2 GB RAM.

Windows users are recommended to use PowerShell for running commands below.

In your working directory, run the following commands to make a directory named openblocks to store the data of Lowcoder:

mkdir openblocks
cd openblocks

Deploy

Follow the steps below:

Download the configuration file by clicking docker-compose.yml or running the curl command:

```bash
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lowcoder-org/lowcoder/main/deploy/docker/docker-compose.yaml -o $PWD/docker-compose.yml
```

Start the Docker container by running this command:
```
docker-compose up -d
```
The docker image, about 400 MB, is downloaded during the initial start-up.\
After downloading, it usually takes less than 30 seconds to start the service.\
Check the logs by running this command:
```
docker logs -f openblocks
```
When you see frontend, backend, redis, and mongo entered the RUNNING state, the Lowcoder service has officially started:
Visit http://localhost:3000 and click Sign up. Lowcoder will automatically create a workspace for you, then you can start building your apps and invite members to your workspace.

Run the command below:

docker run -d --name openblocks -p 3000:3000 -v "$PWD/stacks:/openblocks-stacks" lowcoderorg/lowcoder-ce

Update

Run the following commands to update to the latest Lowcoder image:

docker-compose pull
docker-compose rm -fsv openblocks
docker-compose up -d

Run the following commands to update to the latest Lowcoder image:

docker pull lowcoderorg/lowcoder-ce
docker rm -fv openblocks
docker run -d --name openblocks -p 3000:3000 -v "$PWD/stacks:/openblocks-stacks" lowcoderorg/lowcoder-ce

Separate images: services in different containers

For developers who require stateless containers in a cluster environment, we offer separate images of backend and frontend service with a customizable Dockerfile. A well-functioning Lowcoder deployment consists of below services:

api-service: Backend service.
node-service: Backend service.
frontend: Frontend service.
MongoDB: Used for persisting data of users, apps, data sources, etc.
Redis: Used for maintaining user sessions, rate limiter, etc.

Prerequisites

Docker-Compose (version 1.29.2 or above)

Deploy

In your working directory, run the following commands to make a directory named openblocks to store the data of Lowcoder:
```
mkdir openblocks
cd openblocks
```

Download the configuration file by clicking docker-compose-multi.yml or running the curl command:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lowcoder-org/lowcoder/main/deploy/docker/docker-compose-multi.yaml -o $PWD/docker-compose-multi.yml

Modify service configurations in the downloaded Dockerfile according to your needs:
- mongodb: Start a new MongoDB instance on your host. You can delete this part and modify the environment variable LOWCODER_MONGODB_URL of openblocks-api-service to use your own MongoDB.
- redis: Start a new Redis instance on your host. You can delete this part and modify the environment variable LOWCODER_REDIS_URL of openblocks-api-service to use your own Redis.
- openblocks-api-service: Required.
- openblocks-node-service: Required.
- openblocks-frontend: Required. Can be optional if you deploy frontend on CDN.

Start Docker containers by running this command:

docker-compose -f docker-compose-multi.yml up -d

Visit http://localhost:3000 and click Sign up. Lowcoder will automatically create a workspace for you, then you can start building your apps and invite members to your workspace.

Update

Run the following commands to update services to the latest:

docker-compose -f docker-compose-multi.yml pull
docker-compose -f docker-compose-multi.yml up -d

Customize configurations

This section shows how to customize deployment configurations by setting environment variables.

If you have already started Docker containers, you need to restart the containers for new configurations to take effect. For example, the way to restart your container running an all-in-one image is:

One single command:

docker-compose up -d

It picks up configuration changes by stopping containers already in service and recreating new ones.

Run the following commands to stop, remove the container already in service, and start up a new one using the newly customized deployment command.

docker stop openblocks
docker rm openblocks
# run your new docker run command

Below are examples of configuring all-in-one image by setting environment variables in docker-compose.yml. If you are self-hosting with separate images, modify openblocks-api-service part of docker-compose-multi.yml instead.

For more information about configurations and environment variables, see Configuration.

Use your own MongoDB and Redis

By default Lowcoder uses the built-in MongoDB and Redis installed inside the container, and you can replace them with your own MongoDB and Redis clusters.

Add environment variables LOWCODER_MONGODB_URL and LOWCODER_REDIS_URL in docker-compose.yml downloaded in your working directory.

Add environment variables LOWCODER_MONGODB_URL and LOWCODER_REDIS_URL to the deployment command, as shown below:

docker run -d --name openblocks -e LOWCODER_MONGODB_URL=YOUR_MONGODB_URL LOWCODER_REDIS_URL=YOUR_REDIS_URL -p 3000:3000 -v "$PWD/stacks:/openblocks-stacks lowcoderorg/lowcoder-ce

Run as non-root user

By default the supervisor will run under the user uid=9001. You can specify the uid by adding a docker environment variable LOCAL_USER_ID and setting its value to a Number, such as 10010.

Add an environment variable LOCAL_USER_ID in docker-compose.yml downloaded in your working directory.

Add an environment variable LOCAL_USER_ID to the deployment command, as shown below:

docker run -d --name openblocks -e LOCAL_USER_ID=10010 -p 3000:3000 -v "$PWD/stacks:/openblocks-stacks" lowcoderorg/lowcoder-ce

Install SSL certificate

With an SSL certificate, you can securely visit self-hosted Lowcoder with HTTPS protocol. Here are the steps to install your SSL certificate before starting a container:

Copy fullchain.pem and privkey.pem to the $PWD/stacks/ssl directory.
In $PWD/docker-compose.yml, change the value of ports to "3443:3443".

Copy fullchain.pem and privkey.pem to the $PWD/stacks/ssl directory.
Change the ports in the deployment command to 3443:3443, as shown below:

docker run -d --name openblocks -p 3443:3443 -v "$PWD/stacks:/openblocks-stacks" lowcoderorg/lowcoder-ce

In cases where you have certificates with names: server.crt and server.key, you need to rename them first as follows: server.crt => fullchain.pem server.key => privkey.pem

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