Deploy Borgitory

Deploy and Host Borgitory on Railway

Borgitory is a lightweight, web-based management UI and dashboard for BorgBackup repositories. This Railway template deploys the mlapaglia/borgitory:latest Docker image as a single container service, complete with persistent storage for application data and configuration.

About Hosting Borgitory

Hosting Borgitory on Railway runs a single container instance using mlapaglia/borgitory:latest. A persistent volume is mounted at /app/data to safeguard configuration settings, SSH keys, repository metadata, and job state across container redeployments. The service listens internally on port 8000 and is exposed securely via Railway's automatically assigned HTTPS domain.

Common Use Cases

• Web UI for BorgBackup: Manage BorgBackup repositories, schedules, and backup status through an intuitive graphical dashboard.
• Automated backup scheduling: Set up periodic background backup jobs for remote or local data targets without managing cron scripts manually.
• Repository status monitoring: View prune policies, encryption details, archive history, and disk space usage across multiple Borg repositories.
• Centralized backup orchestration: Manage encryption keys and SSH authentication for off-site backup destinations from one dashboard.

Dependencies for Borgitory Hosting

• Borgitory image: mlapaglia/borgitory:latest
• One persistent volume mounted at /app/data
• Railway public domain mapped to port 8000
• No external database required (uses internal flat-file/SQLite storage inside /app/data)

Upstream: GitHub (mlapaglia/borgitory) · Docker Hub

Implementation Details

Topology

Volumes (drives) — what to mount

Warning: Do not remove or detach the /app/data volume — deleting this volume will permanently wipe your application settings, SSH keys, repository links, and execution logs during container redeployments.

Quick Start

1. Click the Deploy on Railway button above.
2. Sign in (or create a free Railway account) and click Deploy.
3. Wait 1–2 minutes for the container and persistent volume to provision.
4. Open the borgitory service → Settings → Networking and click the generated public domain URL.
5. Access the Borgitory web dashboard to configure your backup repositories, SSH keys, and backup schedules.

Configuration

Container-level choices defined in the template:

Custom Domain

1. Open the borgitory service → Settings → Networking → Custom Domain.
2. Add your custom domain and follow Railway’s DNS configuration instructions.
3. Railway provisions TLS automatically.
4. Access the dashboard securely at https://your.custom.domain.

Updating Borgitory

1. Open the borgitory service → Settings → Source.
2. Update the image tag (e.g., mlapaglia/borgitory:latest or a specific release tag).
3. Click Redeploy.

All application settings and repository records remain intact inside the /app/data volume.

Traps

Common pitfalls and failure modes:

• Missing /app/data Volume — If the /app/data mount path is omitted or detached, all configuration state, SSH keys, and job histories will be lost whenever Railway restarts or updates the container.
• SSH Key & Remote Target Connectivity — When backing up to remote SSH destinations (e.g. BorgBase or a remote VPS), SSH host key verification or private key permission errors may prevent jobs from connecting unless SSH keys are properly saved in /app/data.
• Out-of-Memory (OOM) during large Borg operations — Large BorgBackup repository checks (borg check) or heavy compaction jobs can consume significant memory. Ensure your Railway service plan has sufficient RAM allocated.
• Port Mismatch — If PORT is changed in variables without updating Railway's target port under service settings, public routing will fail.

Why Deploy Borgitory on Railway?

Railway provides a simple, zero-maintenance platform for hosting Docker containers. Hosting Borgitory on Railway gives you an always-on backup orchestrator with persistent volume storage, automatic HTTPS certificates, and seamless single-click deployments.