Last Updated: 3/16/2026

Setup with Docker

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Working with Docker is pretty straight forward, but you should be familiar with Docker. To make things easier, we provide Docker Compose files in the repository which contain all needed services, configured to just run the application right away.

amd64 arm64 amd/v7

Base Requirements

2-Minute Test Setup

You can run LinkAce within a couple of minutes, using a SQLite database to try out the application. Please note that this is not recommended for production use and migrating from this test setup to another database is not supported.

touch database.sqlite chmod 0766 database.sqlite docker run -p "8080:80" -v "./database.sqlite:/app/database/database.sqlite" linkace/linkace

Then open http://localhost:8080 in your browser and follow the setup steps.

http://localhost:8080

If the LinkAce container is not starting, this might be caused by OS-specific permissions for Docker. In that case, try to run LinkAce on another internal port:

docker run -p "8080:8080" -e "PORT=8080" -v "./database.sqlite:/app/database/database.sqlite" linkace/linkace

Stable Setup

It is recommended to follow these setup steps to ensure that LinkAce is running smoothly. This setup method is the only supported one for Docker.

1. Copy the needed files

Download the Docker setup package from the LinkAce repository: linkace-docker.zip

Alternatively, you can take a look at the docker-compose.yml  and .env  files directly and adopt it to your own setup.

2. Edit the base configuration

You should change the following settings in the .env file before starting the setup:

If you are unsure if the .env file is writable inside Docker, please make it writable for anybody (-rw-rw-rw- or 666). You can switch back to read only after the setup.

.env -rw-rw-rw- or 666

Your directory should look like this now:

/my-user-directory/linkace ├╴ .env ├╴ docker-compose.yml ├╴ LICENSE.md └╴ README.md

Using environment variables instead of an .env file

You might move the configuration variables from the .env file into your docker-compose.yml file or Docker setup. If you do this, you must generate your own application key.

$ docker run --rm -it linkace/linkace php artisan key:generate --show base64:Il/5KRDENz2TiCYjKweDAkI93Q4D5ZWmP3AORXgReNo=

Put this key into your environment variables. This is how it might look like in the provided docker-compose.yml file:

`services:

--- LinkAce

app: image: docker.io/linkace/linkace:latest environment: APP_KEY: base64:Il/5KRDENz2TiCYjKweDAkI93Q4D5ZWmP3AORXgReNo= DB_CONNECTION: mysql

…`

3. Start the application

After you completed the above steps, run the following command to start up the container setup:

docker compose up -d

4. Start the built-in setup

Open the URL which points to your Docker container in your browser now. If you started LinkAce on your local machine, for example, the URL should be http://localhost or your domain pointing to LinkAce.

http://localhost

You can configure the database and your user account in the following process.

5. Follow the post-installation steps

Advanced Configuration

Completing the installation without the built-in setup

If you run into issues with the built-in setup via the web, you may try to complete the installation via the command line.

Follow the instructions above until step 4. Then run the following commands. Please note that the database configuration must be done in the .env file BEFORE running the following commands.

docker exec -it linkace_app_1 php artisan migrate docker exec -it linkace_app_1 php artisan setup:complete docker exec -it linkace_app_1 php artisan registeruser --admin

The last command lets you create your first admin user. After all commands were successful, you can login right away at http://localhost or your domain pointing to LinkAce.

http://localhost

Running Linkace behind a proxy / load balancer

If you are using a proxy / load balancer with HTTPS, please make sure it sends the X-Forwarded-Proto and X-Forwarded-For headers to LinkAce. Otherwise, LinkAce won’t be able to correctly generate URLs.

X-Forwarded-Proto X-Forwarded-For

Nginx configuration example:

proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; proxy_set_header Host $host;

Apache configuration example:

ProxyPreserveHost on RequestHeader set X-Forwarded-Port "443" RequestHeader set X-Forwarded-Proto "https"

LinkAce 2 accepts a $PORT environment variable to listen on the specified port for incoming connections. This might be useful for restricted Docker hosting environments such as Heroku.

$PORT

Running LinkAce directly with SSL

If you want to run LinkAce without a proxy but still want to use HTTPS, you must configure the built-in web server accordingly.

First of all, stop your existing LinkAce setup. Make sure that your domain is properly configured to be accessible from the internet.

Download the ssl.Caddyfile  file, place it besides your docker-compose.yml file.

docker-compose.yml

Then, open your docker-compose.yml file and do the following adjustments:

docker-compose.yml

After image: docker.io/linkace/linkace:latest, add a new env like this and set your own domain:

image: docker.io/linkace/linkace:latest env `services:

--- LinkAce

app: image: docker.io/linkace/linkace:latest environment: LINKACE_DOMAIN: “your-linkace-domain.com” PORT: 443`

Remove the hash in front of the - "0.0.0.0:443:443" line.

- "0.0.0.0:443:443"

Remove the hash in front of the - ./caddy-data:/home/www-data/.local/share/caddy and - ./ssl.Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile lines.

- ./caddy-data:/home/www-data/.local/share/caddy - ./ssl.Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Your docker-compose.yml file should now look like this:

`--- services:

--- LinkAce

app: image: docker.io/linkace/linkace:latest environment: LINKACE_DOMAIN: “demo.linkace.org” restart: unless-stopped depends_on:

• db ports:
• “0.0.0.0:80:80”

Remove the hash of the following line if you want to use HTTPS for this container

• “0.0.0.0:443:443” volumes:
• ./.env:/app/.env
• ./backups:/app/storage/app/backups

Remove the hash of the following line if you want to use HTTPS for this container

• ./caddy-data:/home/www-data/.local/share/caddy
• ./ssl.Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile …`

After that, start the installation again with docker compose up -d.

docker compose up -d

The web server will now try to get the SSL certificate. After a short while you will be able to access LinkAce under your domain.

If that doesn’t work, check the logs of the web server with docker compose logs -f app.

docker compose logs -f app

Compatibility with other Tools

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