There is this open issue (which I just closed) on Discourse Docker repo asking Discourse should behave like a standard docker image a docker user excepts to be able to run discourse without a special launcher. to define multiple containers (redis, postgres, discourse,..), links and volumes, dock…

You are right, the settings can be changed indeed. If I get it running without a big effort, I will try sending some PR to improve the existing tooling or documentation, such as running it without root. That should be compatible with the opinions of the development team, while bringing some relief t…

9 years later, it seems like idiomatic docker is covered by bitnami’s discourse ? But elsewhere in this forum there are claims that it’s a ram hog and is unsupported. I was surprised to see how much friction there still is in the canonical setup when trying to get it running in the cloud. A lot of …

Eh… I’m pondering setting up a forum/community board and obviously thought about using Discourse (because I enjoy end-user experience) but again I hit the roadblock with completely hostile installation/management… Over the years I grew super attached with having everything run with simple docker-co…

Does ./launcher rebuild app work? That’s the usual command. Also, did you follow the standard install guide?

I have nothing constructive to comment, so I ask you try upgrade Mastodon server, Pixelfed, Moodle… Discourse is unbeliavable easy. One manual command is a road block :flushed_face:

[image] wojtek: sorry - manually rebuilding the image? Like WTF… it’s like having/using docker but actually not using it… I believe the launcher was built before docker compose was a thing: [image] Why Docker? We intend to refactor it and/or move to docker-compose, but that’s not a priori…

Docker compose does not feature the required functionality. Discourse’s docker file templating construction allows for flexible docker results. With compose all you have is a possible set of fixed Dockefiles which can result in a bunch of containers. In my Discourse setup I use a single container w…

So, to sum it up. There won’t be proper docker image. As for the unbelievable amount of incorrect knowledge about what docker is and how it operates: What is Docker? | Docker Docs You can share containers while you work, and be sure that everyone you share with gets the same container that works …

[image] elmuerte: Docker compose does not feature the required functionality. I’ve successfully deployed Discourse to Production using Docker Compose with the published image as have clients. However, yes, it’s messy and a reasonable amount of bespoke work is involved. It is much easier to …

[image] merefield: use a different method because you have an opionated view, specific architecture or otherwise special requirements. Using non-wizard-take-my-by-the-hand approach is not “opinionated, specific or special” :roll_eyes: At any rate - the clue is having original docker image fr…

Can Discourse ship frequent Docker images that do not need to be bootstrapped?

Development

merefield (Robert) July 5, 2025, 4:00pm 187

I believe the launcher was built before docker compose was a thing:

Topic		Replies	Views
Using a launcher built docker image in docker-compose Development	30	7924	September 27, 2024
Container restart - discourse tries to reinstall Self-hosting unsupported-install	24	2962	July 30, 2020
Installing on Kubernetes Self-hosting unsupported-install	55	25065	February 6, 2026
Community supported official docker image Development	35	8665	July 22, 2022
Why does Discourse have to use Docker? Self-hosting docker	36	10335	September 29, 2018

Can Discourse ship frequent Docker images that do not need to be bootstrapped?

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