Deploy and Host Dockge on Railway

Dockge (by Louis Lam) is a self-hosted, reactive manager for Docker Compose stacks featuring an intuitive web interface, interactive compose editor, and real-time container log viewer. This Railway template deploys louislam/dockge:1 as a single-container web service paired with persistent storage for application data and stack definitions.

About Hosting Dockge

Hosting Dockge on Railway provisions a single container service using the official louislam/dockge:1 Docker image. The application listens internally on port 5001 (PORT=5001) and is exposed securely over HTTPS via Railway's public domain routing. Dockge mounts a persistent storage volume at /app/data to retain application configuration, database records, and stack metadata across container updates and redeployments. The default stack directory is configured to /opt/stacks (DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR=/opt/stacks).

Common Use Cases

Interactive Compose Editing: Write, edit, and format docker-compose.yml stack files directly inside a modern web-based code editor with syntax checks.
Stack Management UI: Organize, start, stop, restart, and monitor multi-container Docker applications from a centralized reactive dashboard.
Real-time Log Streaming: Inspect live stdout/stderr container output streams and terminal responses directly in your web browser.
Compose File Repository: Centralize and back up server orchestration configs and compose files in persistent cloud storage.

Dependencies for Dockge Hosting

Dockge image: louislam/dockge:1
One persistent volume mounted at /app/data
Railway public domain mapped to port 5001
No external database required (uses internal storage inside /app/data)

Upstream: Dockge Site · GitHub (louislam/dockge) · Docker Hub

Implementation Details

Item	Value
Image	`louislam/dockge:1`
Web UI Port	`5001`
Storage / Volume	`/app/data`
Stacks Directory	`/opt/stacks`
Domain	`${{RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN}}`

Topology

Service	Role	Volume	Public	Notes
dockge	Web UI & Stack Manager	`/app/data`	Yes (Port `5001`)	Single container deployment

Volumes (drives) — what to mount

Service	Mount path	What is stored
dockge	`/app/data`	Application database, authentication settings, stack configurations, and runtime state

Warning: Do not remove or detach the /app/data volume — deleting this volume will permanently erase all stored Dockge settings, user credentials, and stack definitions during container redeployments.

Quick Start

Click the Deploy on Railway button above.
Sign in (or create a free Railway account) and click Deploy.
Wait 1–2 minutes for the container service and persistent volume to provision.
Open the dockge service → Settings → Networking and click the generated public domain URL.
On initial launch, follow the on-screen prompt to set up your administrator username and password.

Configuration

Container-level choices defined in the template:

Variable	Default / Source	Description / Notes
`DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR`	`/opt/stacks`	Directory path where Docker Compose stack files are saved
`PORT`	`5001`	HTTP port the web application listens on inside the container

Custom Domain

Open the dockge service → Settings → Networking → Custom Domain.
Add your custom domain and follow Railway’s DNS configuration instructions].
Railway provisions TLS automatically.
Access your Dockge dashboard securely at https://your.custom.domain.

Updating Dockge

Open the dockge service → Settings → Source.
Update the image tag (e.g., louislam/dockge:1 to a specific release tag).
Click Redeploy.

All application settings and stack configurations inside the /app/data volume remain safe across updates.

Traps

Common pitfalls and failure modes:

Docker Socket Availability — Dockge is designed to control a host Docker daemon via /var/run/docker.sock. On serverless container platforms like Railway without privileged host socket mounting, Dockge serves primarily as a web-based compose editor and stack catalog manager unless connected to an external remote Docker daemon endpoint.
Missing /app/data Volume — If the /app/data mount path is omitted or detached, user accounts, application state, and compose files will be wiped whenever Railway restarts or updates the container.
Port Mismatch — Dockge runs on port 5001 by default. Changing PORT in environment variables without updating Railway's target port under service settings will cause public network requests to fail.

Why Deploy Dockge on Railway?

Railway provides a lightweight, zero-maintenance platform for containerized applications. Hosting Dockge on Railway gives you an always-accessible web dashboard with persistent volume storage, automatic HTTPS encryption, and simple one-click deployments.