# Anyone have experience running two separate Docker containers instead of the secondsite method?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** hosting
**Created:** [November 17, 2025, 5:40am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628 "2025-11-17T05:40:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MikeNolan](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MikeNolan)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 5:40am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/1 "2025-11-17T05:40:39Z")
I can’t seem to get the secondsite method working again, so now I’m looking at running my two sites in separate containers on the same server.
If anyone has any experience with this, drop me a message.
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### Author:  [@itsbhanusharma](https://meta.discourse.org/u/itsbhanusharma)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 6:51am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/2 "2025-11-17T06:51:16Z")
It is mostly doable on a decently sized machine, You’ll need a reverse proxy at the bare minimum to handle ssl. And maybe use the socketed template instead of exposing ports.
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### Author:  [@Ethsim2](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ethsim2)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 7:47am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/3 "2025-11-17T07:47:26Z")
> [@itsbhanusharma](#):
>
> And maybe use the socketed template instead of exposing ports.
would a docker network be appropriate?
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### Author:  [@itsbhanusharma](https://meta.discourse.org/u/itsbhanusharma)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 10:30am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/4 "2025-11-17T10:30:37Z")
If you know what you are doing then yes. There shouldn’t be any problem.
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 2:14pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/5 "2025-11-17T14:14:58Z")
I’ve done it with treafik and nginx proxy something. It does use more resources than multisite. You still have to understand how to get postgres to have multiple databases (unless you want to run two copies of postgres, which will require still more resources).
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### Author:  [@MikeNolan](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MikeNolan)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/6 "2025-11-17T19:46:46Z")
This server has 12 processors and 16 Gig and these are not high volume forums, so I’m not worried about the extra resources to have two containers both running postgres.
I just need to figure out how to get two containers running at the same time, if I rebuild one, it stops the other.
I can handle the proxy issue in nginx.
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/7 "2025-11-17T19:56:42Z")
> [@MikeNolan](#):
>
> I just need to figure out how to get two containers running at the same time, if I rebuild one, it stops the other.
You need to make another yml file, like `app2.yml` and change all the stuff that conflicts with the other one.
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### Author:  [@Ethsim2](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ethsim2)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/8 "2025-11-17T20:07:44Z")
Hi Jay,
When you say
> [@pfaffman](#):
>
> change all the stuff that conflicts with the other one.
do you mean I should be treating the two containers as a single site behind a sensible hostname and failover setup (i.e. same `DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME` with a load balancer/health checks in front), rather than exposing both containers’ ports directly?
I’m assuming both configs can just join the same Docker network rather than binding host ports, which would avoid some of the obvious conflicts — is that the right approach?
And for the volumes: section, do the bind mounts need to be different for each container (e.g. separate `/var/discourse/shared/app1` and `/var/discourse/shared/app2`), or is there a sane way to share some of that between them?
Thanks!
---
### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/9 "2025-11-17T20:42:12Z")
> [@MikeNolan](#):
>
> I just need to figure out how to get two containers running at the same time, if I rebuild one, it stops the other.
Wait. Did you clone Discourse twice? You want clone Discourse once and then have multiple yml files in the containers directory.
Maybe look at [Use Nginx Proxy Manager to manage multiple sites with Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/use-nginx-proxy-manager-to-manage-multiple-sites-with-discourse/206344), though [jwilder/nginx-proxy - Docker Image](https://hub.docker.com/r/jwilder/nginx-proxy) is the one that I’ve used. You just need to add some ENV variables to your YML to get it to connect up, but there are still a whole bunch of things that you have to understand to make it work.
> [@Ethsim2](#):
>
> do you mean I should be treating the two containers as a single site behind a sensible hostname
Each site has its own hostname. That’s the point of all this, right?
> [@Ethsim2](#):
>
> I’m assuming both configs can just join the same Docker network rather than binding host ports, which would avoid some of the obvious conflicts — is that the right approach?
I have the reverse proxy talk to port 80 on the container. Others prefer to use sockets. You should not expose any ports.
> [@Ethsim2](#):
>
> And for the volumes: section, do the bind mounts need to be different for each container (e.g. separate `/var/discourse/shared/app1` and `/var/discourse/shared/app2`), or is there a sane way to share some of that between them?
No. None of those files can be shared.
Each site needs a postgres database (can be on the same postgres server if you know how to do that).
Each site needs its own redis. They cannot share redis, which is one advantage of the multisite setup.
If you want to run two postgres’s, then just change the hostname, smtp, and volume paths and remove/comment out the ssl and letsencrypt templates. You can even use `discourse-setup` if you rename app.yml to, say, `hostname.yml` before you run `./discourse-setup` again.
---
### Author:  [@Ethsim2](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ethsim2)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/10 "2025-11-17T21:12:46Z")
> [@pfaffman](#):
>
> > [@Ethsim2](#):
> >
> > I’m assuming both configs can just join the same Docker network rather than binding host ports, which would avoid some of the obvious conflicts — is that the right approach?
>
> I have the reverse proxy talk to port 80 on the container. Others prefer to use sockets. You should not expose any ports.
could you expand on this point, i’ve adapted both examples below to fit a second site configuration rather than single-site
```diff
##########################################
# app1.yml (web + sidekiq)
##########################################
templates:
- "templates/web.template.yml"
- "templates/web.ratelimited.template.yml"
# - "templates/web.ssl.template.yml"
# - "templates/web.letsencrypt.ssl.template.yml"
- docker_args: "--network=discourse-net"
+ docker_args: "--network=discourse-net-1"
expose:
- "8001:80"
params:
version: tests-passed
env:
LC_ALL: en_US.UTF-8
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE: en_US.UTF-8
DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME: "physicsyear2.site"
DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS: "tvgazebo5@gmail.com"
DISCOURSE_SMTP_ADDRESS: smtp-relay.brevo.com
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT: 2525
DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER_NAME: "YOUR_BREVO_USERNAME"
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD: "YOUR_BREVO_PASSWORD"
DISCOURSE_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL: "noreply@physicsyear2.site"
## External Postgres
DISCOURSE_DB_HOST: pg
DISCOURSE_DB_PORT: 5432
DISCOURSE_DB_USERNAME: discourse
DISCOURSE_DB_PASSWORD: "REPLACE_ME_discordb_strong"
- DISCOURSE_DB_NAME: discourse
+ DISCOURSE_DB_NAME: discourse1
DISCOURSE_DB_SOCKET: ""
## External Redis
- DISCOURSE_REDIS_HOST: redis
+ DISCOURSE_REDIS_HOST: redis1
DISCOURSE_REDIS_PORT: 6379
DISCOURSE_REDIS_PASSWORD: "REPLACE_ME_redis_strong"
## MUST be identical on app1 and app2
SECRET_KEY_BASE: "REPLACE_ME_secret_key_base"
volumes:
- volume:
- host: /var/discourse/shared/web-only
+ host: /var/discourse/shared/web-only-1
guest: /shared
- volume:
- host: /var/discourse/shared/web-only/log/var-log
+ host: /var/discourse/shared/web-only/log/var-log-1
guest: /var/log
hooks:
after_code:
- exec:
cd: $home/plugins
cmd:
- git clone https://github.com/discourse/docker_manager.git
run:
- exec: echo "App1 starting — Sidekiq ENABLED"
# Note: NO sidekiq/down file here → Sidekiq runs
- exec: echo "App1 ready"
##########################################
# app2.yml (web + sidekiq)
##########################################
templates:
- "templates/web.template.yml"
- "templates/web.ratelimited.template.yml"
# - "templates/web.ssl.template.yml"
# - "templates/web.letsencrypt.ssl.template.yml"
- docker_args: "--network=discourse-net"
+ docker_args: "--network=discourse-net-2"
expose:
- "8002:80"
params:
version: tests-passed
env:
LC_ALL: en_US.UTF-8
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE: en_US.UTF-8
- DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME: "physicsyear2.site"
+ DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME: "year2physics.site"
DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS: "ppyem3@gmail.com"
DISCOURSE_SMTP_ADDRESS: smtp-relay.brevo.com
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT: 2525
DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER_NAME: "YOUR_BREVO_USERNAME"
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD: "YOUR_BREVO_PASSWORD"
DISCOURSE_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL: "noreply@physicsyear2.site"
## External Postgres
DISCOURSE_DB_HOST: pg
DISCOURSE_DB_PORT: 5432
DISCOURSE_DB_USERNAME: discourse
DISCOURSE_DB_PASSWORD: "REPLACE_ME_discordb_strong"
- DISCOURSE_DB_NAME: discourse
+ DISCOURSE_DB_NAME: discourse2
DISCOURSE_DB_SOCKET: ""
## External Redis
- DISCOURSE_REDIS_HOST: redis
+ DISCOURSE_REDIS_HOST: redis2
DISCOURSE_REDIS_PORT: 6379
DISCOURSE_REDIS_PASSWORD: "REPLACE_ME_redis_strong"
## MUST be identical on app1 and app2
SECRET_KEY_BASE: "REPLACE_ME_secret_key_base"
volumes:
- volume:
- host: /var/discourse/shared/web-only
+ host: /var/discourse/shared/web-only-2
guest: /shared
- volume:
- host: /var/discourse/shared/web-only/log/var-log
+ host: /var/discourse/shared/web-only/log/var-log-2
guest: /var/log
hooks:
after_code:
- exec:
cd: $home/plugins
cmd:
- git clone https://github.com/discourse/docker_manager.git
run:
- exec: echo "App2 starting — Sidekiq ENABLED"
# IMPORTANT: we DO NOT create /etc/service/sidekiq/down here
# so Sidekiq also runs in app2
- exec: echo "App2 ready"
```
---
### Author:  [@Ethsim2](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ethsim2)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/11 "2025-11-17T21:22:02Z")
> [@pfaffman](#):
>
> You can even use `discourse-setup` if you rename app.yml to, say, `hostname.yml` before you run `./discourse-setup` again.
this sounds good, and probably explains why `.\discourse-setup` wasn’t working with an `app.yml` rather than the yml file being named the intended hostname?
---
### Author:  [@MikeNolan](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MikeNolan)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2025, 1:52am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/12 "2025-11-18T01:52:26Z")
I’ve got two separate copies of Discourse, at least for now, that may allow me to play around a bit with them. As I said earlier, this system is big enough and the sites are small enough that I don’t think it’s a problem duplicating things.
Looks like I’ve got everything back online.
---
### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2025, 2:22am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/13 "2025-11-18T02:22:12Z")
> [@MikeNolan](#):
>
> As I said earlier, this system is big enough and the sites are small enough that I don’t think it’s a problem duplicating things.
It’s not the space. It’s just confusing. It’s designed to have a single discourse clone and all the containers in the containers directory. That’s why it’s called containers.
---
### Author:  [@MikeNolan](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MikeNolan)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-have-experience-running-two-separate-docker-containers-instead-of-the-secondsite-method/388628/14 "2025-11-18T02:37:49Z")
Understood. I’ll probably fix it tomorrow, sounds like an easy fix.