Deploy and Host Log Bull on Railway

Log Bull is a zero‑config, self‑hosted log collection and viewing system for developers and small teams. Send logs from your apps via simple libraries and search them in a clean dashboard by text, fields, and time ranges. It’s an open‑source, Docker‑native alternative to ELK/Loki focused on essentials, not bloat.

About Hosting Log Bull

Hosting Log Bull on Railway runs a single Docker service exposing the web UI and HTTP ingestion API. You’ll provision persistent storage for log indices, set an external URL, and optionally protect ingestion with API keys. Clients (Python, Go, Java, JS, C#, PHP, Ruby, Rust) post JSON batches to your Railway URL. Railway handles the runtime, scaling, and HTTPS; you handle projects, API keys, retention, and user access in the Log Bull UI. Expect low ops: deploy container, mount volume, open dashboard, create a project, start sending logs.

Common Use Cases

• Centralize app logs from multiple services/environments without ELK complexity
• Team-friendly log search with fields, time ranges, and audit trails
• Lightweight prod/staging observability for small stacks and hobby infra

Dependencies for Log Bull Hosting

• A Railway project with Docker deployment and a persistent volume
• Public URL (Railway domain) for clients to send logs; optional API key

Deployment Dependencies

• Website/docs: https://logbull.com/
• Playground: https://app.logbull.com
• Language guides:
  • cURL: https://logbull.com/languages/curl/
  • Python: https://logbull.com/languages/python/
  • Go: https://logbull.com/languages/go/
  • Java: https://logbull.com/languages/java/
  • JavaScript/TypeScript: https://logbull.com/languages/js/
  • C#: https://logbull.com/languages/net/
  • PHP: https://logbull.com/languages/php/
  • Ruby, Rust: see site

Implementation Details

Railway service (Docker image) example:

# railway.json style or compose reference
services:
  logbull:
    image: logbull/logbull:latest
    ports:
      - 4005:4005
    volumes:
      - ./logbull-data:/logbull-data
    environment:
      # Optional hardening
      # LOGLB_API_KEY: "generate-and-enforce"
      # LOGLB_BASE_URL: "https://your-railway-domain"
    restart: unless-stopped

Client HTTP ingestion (all languages use the same endpoint):

POST {host}/api/v1/logs/receiving/{project_id}
Headers:
  Content-Type: application/json
  X-API-Key: {api_key}   # optional if enabled
Body:
{
  "logs": [
    {
      "level": "INFO",
      "message": "User logged in",
      "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:30:45.123456789Z",
      "fields": { "user_id": "12345" }
    }
  ]
}

After deploy: open the dashboard, create a project, grab the project_id, wire a client.

Why Deploy Log Bull on Railway?

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying Log Bull on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.