Deployment

Version requirement

For versions > 1.5.3, single-binary deployment requires PostgreSQL. SQLite is deprecated.

Docker single-container (built-in PostgreSQL)

The image includes PostgreSQL. Recommended for most users.

One-click start (minimal config, first launch opens Setup Wizard):

docker run -d --name nginxpulse \
  -p 8088:8088 \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -v ./docker_local/logs:/share/logs:ro \
  -v ./docker_local/nginxpulse_data:/app/var/nginxpulse_data \
  -v ./docker_local/pgdata:/app/var/pgdata \
  -v ./docker_local/configs:/app/configs \
  -v /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro \
  magiccoders/nginxpulse:latest

Replace PUID/PGID with the correct UID/GID on your host. This is used to prevent permission mismatch issues that can block log reads. See Docker Deployment Permissions below for details.

Useful env vars (built-in PG):

POSTGRES_USER / POSTGRES_PASSWORD / POSTGRES_DB
POSTGRES_PORT (default 5432)
POSTGRES_LISTEN (default 127.0.0.1)
POSTGRES_CONNECT_HOST (default 127.0.0.1)
DATA_DIR (default /app/var/nginxpulse_data)
PGDATA (default /app/var/pgdata)

If you want to use an external PG, set DB_DSN and the built-in PG will be bypassed. In this case the built-in PG will not start, POSTGRES_* is ignored, and you can drop the /app/var/pgdata mount.

Docker Compose

A docker-compose.yml is provided in the repo. Update:

log mount paths
Configure PUID/PGID to align with host UID/GID if you hit permission issues.
mount nginxpulse_data and configs for persistence; mount pgdata only when using built-in PG
/etc/localtime mount for timezone
On SELinux hosts (RHEL/CentOS/Fedora), append :z or :Z to the volume options.

One-click start (minimal config, first launch opens Setup Wizard):

docker compose -f docker-compose-simple.yml up -d

Docker Deployment Permissions

The image runs as a non-root user (nginxpulse) by default. Whether the app can read logs or write data depends on host directory permissions. If you can cat files via docker exec, you are likely root; it does not mean the app user can access them.

Recommended approach: align container UID/GID with host directory ownership.

Step 1: Check host directory UID/GID

ls -n /path/to/logs /path/to/nginxpulse_data /path/to/pgdata
# or
stat -c '%u %g %n' /path/to/logs /path/to/nginxpulse_data /path/to/pgdata

Step 2: Pass PUID/PGID when starting the container

docker run ... \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -v /path/to/logs:/var/log/nginx:ro \
  -v /path/to/nginxpulse_data:/app/var/nginxpulse_data:rw \
  -v /path/to/pgdata:/app/var/pgdata:rw \
  ...

Step 3: Ensure directories are readable/writable for that UID/GID

chown -R 1000:1000 /path/to/nginxpulse_data /path/to/pgdata
chmod -R u+rx /path/to/logs

If you use an external database (DB_DSN), you can skip mounting pgdata.

SELinux note (RHEL/CentOS/Fedora):

These systems enable SELinux by default. Docker volumes may be visible but still inaccessible due to labels.
Add :z or :Z to re-label the mount:
- :Z for exclusive use by this container.
- :z to share across multiple containers.

docker run ... \
  -v /path/to/logs:/var/log/nginx:ro,Z \
  -v /path/to/nginxpulse_data:/app/var/nginxpulse_data:rw,Z \
  -v /path/to/pgdata:/app/var/pgdata:rw,Z \
  ...

Not recommended: chmod -R 777. It is unsafe; only use it for temporary debugging.

Single binary (non-Docker)

You must install PostgreSQL yourself.

Suggested steps:

Install PostgreSQL and create DB/user.
Set database.dsn in configs/nginxpulse_config.json.
Build & run (e.g. scripts/build_single.sh).

Example DSN:

"database": {
  "driver": "postgres",
  "dsn": "postgres://nginxpulse:nginxpulse@127.0.0.1:5432/nginxpulse?sslmode=disable",
  "maxOpenConns": 10,
  "maxIdleConns": 5,
  "connMaxLifetime": "30m"
}

Local development

Use scripts/dev_local.sh:

It starts a local docker postgres container by default.
Data is stored in docker volume nginxpulse_pgdata.
To reset: docker volume rm nginxpulse_pgdata.

Ports

8088: Web UI
8089: API

Custom frontend base path

If you want to serve the UI under a subpath (e.g. /nginxpulse/), set system.webBasePath. Only a single path segment is supported. After changing it, restart the service. The root path / will be disabled.

Docker image (built-in Nginx)

Set webBasePath in system config (or WEB_BASE_PATH env var).
Restart the container. New paths:
- PC: /<base>/
- Mobile: /<base>/m/
- API: /<base>/api/

The image generates Nginx config and /app-config.js on startup. No frontend rebuild needed.

Single binary (embedded frontend)

Set system.webBasePath in the config file.
Restart. New paths:
- PC: /<base>/
- Mobile: /<base>/m/
- API: /<base>/api/

Design principles

/app-config.js delivers window.__NGINXPULSE_BASE_PATH__ so the frontend resolves base path at runtime.
Server middleware enforces prefix isolation; only /<base>/... is allowed and API is forced to /<base>/api/*.
Static assets and /app-config.js stay accessible so the app can boot.

Timezone

The project uses system timezone for parsing.

Docker: mount /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
Bare metal: set system timezone and restart

UI configuration

All configurations listed in this document can also be managed visually in System Settings.

Deployment

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