---
title: "Deploy Frappe HR"
description: "Open source HR and payroll software for small and mid-size teams"
category: "Other"
url: https://railway.com/deploy/frappe-hr
---

# Deploy Frappe HR

Open source HR and payroll software for small and mid-size teams

**[Deploy Frappe HR on Railway](https://railway.com/template/frappe-hr)**

- **Creator:** A3A
- **Category:** Other

## Template content

### Websocket https://raw.githubusercontent.com/frappe/frappe/version-16/frappe/public/images/frappe-framework-logo.png

- **Source:** https://github.com/gridalpha/frappe-hr-railway

### Redis-Cache https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/redis.svg

- **Image:** redis:8.2
- **Start command:** `/bin/sh -c "rm -rf $RAILWAY_VOLUME_MOUNT_PATH/lost+found/ && exec docker-entrypoint.sh redis-server --requirepass $REDIS_PASSWORD --save 60 1 --dir $RAILWAY_VOLUME_MOUNT_PATH"`

### Frappe-HR https://raw.githubusercontent.com/frappe/hrms/version-16/hrms/public/images/frappe-hr-logo.svg

- **Source:** https://github.com/gridalpha/frappe-hr-railway
- **Health check:** /railway/health
- **Public domain:** Yes

### Redis-Queue https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/redis.svg

- **Image:** redis:8.2
- **Start command:** `/bin/sh -c "rm -rf $RAILWAY_VOLUME_MOUNT_PATH/lost+found/ && exec docker-entrypoint.sh redis-server --requirepass $REDIS_PASSWORD --save 60 1 --dir $RAILWAY_VOLUME_MOUNT_PATH"`

### MariaDB https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/mariadb.svg

- **Image:** mariadb:11.8
- **Start command:** `/bin/sh -c 'M=$(cat /sys/fs/cgroup/memory.max 2>/dev/null || echo max); case "$M" in ""|max|*[!0-9]*) P=1024;; *) P=$((M/1048576/2));; esac; if [ "$P" -lt 256 ]; then P=256; fi; echo "mariadb: cgroup_mem=${M} innodb_buffer_pool_size=${P}M"; exec docker-entrypoint.sh mariadbd --datadir=/var/lib/mysql/data --bind-address=:: --character-set-server=utf8mb4 --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci --skip-character-set-client-handshake --innodb-buffer-pool-size=${P}M --max-connections=300'`

## Documentation

# Deploy and Host Frappe HR on Railway

Frappe HR is an open-source HRIS and payroll system covering the whole employee lifecycle: onboarding, employee records, leave policies and approvals, shifts and attendance, expense claims, appraisals and salary processing. Built by Frappe Technologies on the Frappe framework — the same foundation as ERPNext — it suits teams that want BambooHR-style HR software without per-employee SaaS fees. Deploy Frappe HR on Railway and you get the whole module set, an employee self-service PWA, and a REST API over every record.

This template runs the production shape, not the single-container demo. **Frappe-HR** is the public service: nginx fronts gunicorn, with two queue workers and the scheduler beside it so leave notifications, payroll runs and scheduled reports actually execute. **Websocket** is the Frappe realtime server. **MariaDB** holds every record. **Redis-Cache** and **Redis-Queue** are separate instances, as Frappe's deployment guide specifies. A volume on the app service keeps uploads, payslip PDFs and backups. Self-hosting Frappe HR elsewhere means wiring these five pieces up by hand; here they arrive connected.

![Diagram of the Frappe HR, realtime, MariaDB and Redis services on Railway](https://res.cloudinary.com/rroe4rtk/image/upload/v1788404935/frappe-hr-architecture.png)

## Getting Started with Frappe HR on Railway

The first deployment creates the site and installs the schema, so the URL takes a few minutes to answer; the health check has a long window for it. Open the public URL and sign in as `Administrator` — the password is the `ADMIN_PASSWORD` variable on the Frappe-HR service, readable in Railway's variables panel. You land on the setup wizard, which asks for language, country, time zone, currency and company name; that creates the Company record every payroll and expense document is scoped to, so use your real legal entity name. Then open **Frappe HR** from the app switcher.

The first useful action is creating an employee: **Employee → Add Employee**, fill in name, date of joining, department and designation, save. Then add a Holiday List for the year, assign it to your company through **Holiday List Assignment**, and allocate leave with **Leave Allocation** — Frappe HR refuses a leave application until a holiday list applies to the employee, which is the commonest first-run stumble. Submit a Leave Application against that allocation and check the Human Resource dashboard: the counters and charts update immediately, confirming the database, workers and realtime server all work. Public sign-up is closed by default, so add colleagues under **Users**.

![Frappe HR dashboard counting six employees with hiring and age charts](https://res.cloudinary.com/rroe4rtk/image/upload/v1788404937/frappe-hr-hr-dashboard.png)

![Frappe HR employee list showing six active staff with departments](https://res.cloudinary.com/rroe4rtk/image/upload/v1788404938/frappe-hr-employee-directory.png)

![Approved three-day privilege leave application in Frappe HR](https://res.cloudinary.com/rroe4rtk/image/upload/v1788404939/frappe-hr-leave-application.png)

## About Hosting Frappe HR

Frappe HR replaces spreadsheet-and-email HR administration with one system of record. It is the `hrms` app on the Frappe framework, and because it declares ERPNext as a required app, the deployment also carries ERPNext's accounting doctypes — which is what lets payroll post real journal entries.

Key features:

- Employee lifecycle: onboarding, promotions, transfers, separation
- Leave: types, policies, allocations, approval workflows, encashment
- Shifts and attendance: shift types, rosters, check-in, attendance requests
- Payroll: salary components and structures, tax slabs, payroll entries, salary slips
- Expense claims, employee advances and travel requests
- Performance: goals, KRAs, appraisal cycles and feedback
- Recruitment: job openings, applicants, interviews and offers
- An employee self-service PWA at `/hrms` and a roster view

The split follows Frappe's own recommendation. The app service holds the web tier and the workers together because they share the uploaded-files directory; the realtime server runs separately because it needs only Redis.

## Why Deploy Frappe HR on Railway

Frappe HR needs five coordinated pieces, and Railway wires them for you.

- MariaDB, both Redis instances and the realtime server arrive connected
- A persistent volume keeps uploads, payslip PDFs and backups across deploys
- HTTPS and a public domain are issued automatically
- Workers and the scheduler share the web container, so no shared storage is needed
- Vertical scaling and metrics without touching a server

## Common Use Cases

- A 20–300 person company running leave, attendance and payroll in one place instead of three SaaS tools
- An agency tracking billable shifts, expense claims and travel requests
- An ERPNext user who wants the HR modules on a separate, independently scaled deployment
- An employer that needs payroll data resident in a jurisdiction of its choosing

## Dependencies for Frappe HR

- **Frappe HR application** — built from `frappe/erpnext:v16` with the `hrms` app at branch `version-16` added; source at [github.com/frappe/hrms](https://github.com/frappe/hrms)
- **MariaDB `mariadb:11.8`** — system of record for every HR document. Frappe requires `utf8mb4` with `--skip-character-set-client-handshake`, which the template sets
- **Redis (cache)** — document and translation caching for the web tier
- **Redis (queue)** — the RQ job queue and realtime pub/sub. Leave notifications, payroll runs and scheduled reports all pass through it
- **Realtime server** — the Frappe socket.io process; without it the desk works but live updates stop

### Environment Variables Reference

| Variable | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `ADMIN_PASSWORD` | Password for the first `Administrator` login |
| `FRAPPE_SECRET` | Root secret the database password and encryption key derive from |
| `SITE_NAME` | Internal Frappe site name; independent of your public domain |
| `DISABLE_SIGNUP` | `1` closes public self-registration on first boot |
| `GUNICORN_WORKERS` / `GUNICORN_THREADS` | Web concurrency; raise with CPU allocation |
| `CLIENT_MAX_BODY_SIZE` | Maximum upload size for documents and attachments |

### Deployment Dependencies

- [Frappe HR repository](https://github.com/frappe/hrms)
- [Frappe HR documentation](https://docs.frappe.io/hr)
- [ERPNext repository](https://github.com/frappe/erpnext)
- [frappe/erpnext on Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/r/frappe/erpnext)

## Hardware Requirements for Self-Hosting Frappe HR

| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 2 vCPU | 4 vCPU |
| RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB or more |
| Storage | 5 GB volume | 20 GB, grows with attachments and backups |
| Runtime | Python 3.11+, Node 20+, MariaDB 10.6+, Redis 6+ | Python 3.14, Node 24, MariaDB 11.8, Redis 8 |

## Self-Hosting Frappe HR

Frappe publishes no standalone `hrms` image: Frappe HR is an app installed into a bench alongside ERPNext. This template's image adds it as one layer over the official ERPNext production image — the Dockerfile in full:

```
FROM frappe/erpnext:v16
USER frappe
WORKDIR /home/frappe/frappe-bench
RUN ln -s /home/frappe/frappe-bench/assets sites/assets \
 && bench get-app --branch=version-16 hrms https://github.com/frappe/hrms \
 && rm -f sites/assets
```

With the image built, create the site against a reachable MariaDB and Redis:

```
bench new-site hr.local \
  --db-root-username root --db-root-password "$DB_ROOT_PASSWORD" \
  --admin-password "$ADMIN_PASSWORD" --install-app erpnext --set-default
bench --site hr.local install-app hrms
bench --site hr.local enable-scheduler
```

## How Much Does Frappe HR Cost to Self-Host?

Frappe HR is free and open source under the GNU GPL v3 — no per-employee licence, no seat cap, no paid edition holding features back; payroll, appraisals and recruitment are all in the public repository. Frappe Technologies sells a managed version on Frappe Cloud; self-hosting is the alternative to that subscription, and on Railway you pay only for the compute, memory and volume the five services use.

## FAQ

**What is Frappe HR?**

Open-source HR and payroll software covering employee records, leave, attendance, expense claims, appraisals, recruitment and salary processing. It is the `hrms` app on the Frappe framework, from the makers of ERPNext.

**What does this Railway template deploy?**

Five services: the Frappe HR application (nginx, gunicorn, two queue workers, the scheduler), a realtime server, MariaDB, and two Redis instances. The app service has a persistent volume for uploads and backups.

**Why does the template include ERPNext as well as Frappe HR?**

Frappe HR declares ERPNext as a required app. Payroll posts to accounts and expense claims settle against them, so ERPNext's accounting doctypes have to be there.

**Why are there two Redis services instead of one?**

Frappe uses one Redis for caching and one for the job queue and realtime pub/sub. A shared instance lets cache eviction drop queued jobs, so Frappe keeps them separate.

**How do I give employees their own logins in self-hosted Frappe HR?**

Create a User for each person under **Users**, then set `user_id` on their Employee record. They can then sign in to the desk or the PWA at `/hrms`, where they see only their own leave balance, attendance and salary slips.

**Can I attach my own domain to Frappe HR on Railway?**

Yes. Add it to the Frappe-HR service in Railway. The deployment addresses its site by a fixed internal name rather than by the request host, so a new domain serves immediately with no reconfiguration.


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