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README.md

Dokploy

Dokploy is a self-hosted deployment platform for running and managing apps, databases, and services on your own server. This guide covers a minimal Dokploy install on an Ubuntu VPS and private first access over Tailscale.

Item Value
OS Ubuntu
Run from Local machine and VPS
Prerequisites Completed VPS Security setup
Outcome Dokploy installed and reachable from your local machine over Tailscale

What This Setup Does

This guide keeps the setup close to the official Dokploy docs and covers a minimal install flow with private access over Tailscale.

  • Uses the official installer: the same install script from Dokploy's installation docs
  • Uses Tailscale for access: reach the Dokploy panel from your local machine without exposing it publicly
  • Keeps Dokploy on the system Docker daemon: this matches the default Dokploy install flow
  • Keeps the setup minimal: install first, then use a private Tailscale URL to complete the admin setup

Result: Dokploy is installed on the VPS and reachable privately from your local machine through Tailscale.

Before You Start

This guide assumes all steps in VPS Security are already done.

You should already have:

  • a working Ubuntu VPS
  • a non-root admin user with sudo
  • SSH access working from your local machine
  • Tailscale installed and working on the VPS and your local machine
  • ports 80 and 443 available before install

This guide assumes the Dokploy panel is meant to stay private and be opened through tailscale serve, not directly from the public internet.

Dokploy installs Docker automatically if it is not already present.

Dokploy also initializes a single-node Docker Swarm by default as part of its standard install flow.

If you do not use Tailscale, follow the official Dokploy installation documentation instead of this guide.

Use your existing admin user for the VPS commands below unless a section says otherwise.

Install Dokploy

Run as: your existing admin user on the VPS

Run the official installer.

sudo curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sudo sh

What this does:

  • installs Docker if needed
  • initializes the single-node Docker Swarm Dokploy uses
  • creates Dokploy services and supporting containers
  • exposes the panel on port 3000

Serve Dokploy Over Tailscale

Run as: your existing admin user on the VPS

Expose Dokploy only inside your tailnet so you can open it safely from your local machine.

Important: Dokploy publishes host port 3000 itself. Do not configure Tailscale Serve to also listen on :3000 for Dokploy. Use a different Tailscale-facing port such as 8443 and proxy it to localhost:3000 to avoid startup conflicts after reboot.

sudo tailscale serve --bg --https=8443 localhost:3000

Check the current Tailscale Serve status:

tailscale serve status

You should see a Tailscale HTTPS URL ending in :8443.

This keeps Dokploy reachable from your local machine without opening port 3000 to the public internet while leaving Dokploy free to keep using its own local 3000 binding.

If you have not set up Tailscale yet, use the steps in Tailscale first.

Open The Web UI

Run as: your user on your local machine

Open the Tailscale Serve URL from the previous step in your browser.

It should look similar to:

https://your-machine.your-tailnet.ts.net:8443

If the page does not load, recheck:

  • the Dokploy installer finished without errors
  • curl -I http://127.0.0.1:3000 works on the VPS
  • tailscale serve status shows the mapping
  • your local machine is connected to the same tailnet

Create The Admin Account

Run as: your user in the Dokploy web UI

Complete the initial setup page and create the first Dokploy administrator account.

This account becomes the main admin account for the Dokploy panel.

Update Dokploy

Updates are available directly from the Dokploy dashboard. Look for the update notification in the UI when a new version is ready and apply it there without needing to touch the VPS command line.

Notes

  • Dokploy uses Docker Swarm under the hood as part of the default installation flow.
  • This guide assumes Tailscale is your safe way to reach the Dokploy panel during setup.
  • If you later run Hermes on the same machine, keep Dokploy on the system Docker daemon and keep Hermes on a separate rootless Docker daemon for the hermes user.
  • If you want version pinning, custom swarm network options, or manual installation details, use the official manual installation docs.
  • If you later update Dokploy, the basic update command is sudo curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sudo sh -s update.

Official References