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Outline Outline

Stack

ProductivitySocial

Open source collaborative knowledge base for modern teams. Source: https://github.com/outline/outline

Source details

Repo: outline/outline
Stars: 40.2k
Forks: 3k
Language: TypeScript
Latest: v1.9.2 · 26 days ago
Updated: 2 hours ago
Website: www.getoutline.com/

Configuration

Type
Compose
Platform
linux
Env vars
SECRET_KEY=''UTILS_SECRET=''URL=http://localhost:3000SMTP_HOST=SMTP_PORT=SMTP_USERNAME=SMTP_PASSWORD=SMTP_FROM_EMAIL=
Restart
unless-stopped
Source
Repo

Source

Notes

Outline needs an authentication provider to sign in: either fill in the SMTP fields above for email (magic-link) sign-in, or add an OIDC/Google/Slack provider by editing the stack. Generate SECRET_KEY and UTILS_SECRET with 'openssl rand -hex 32'. Uploads are stored on a local volume (no S3/MinIO required).

Services

outline

Configuration

Image
docker.getoutline.com/outlinewiki/outline:latest
Ports
3000:3000
Volumes
/var/lib/outline/data : outline-data
Env vars
NODE_ENV=productionSECRET_KEY=${SECRET_KEY}UTILS_SECRET=${UTILS_SECRET}URL=${URL:-http://localhost:3000}PORT=3000DATABASE_URL=postgres://outline:outline@postgres:5432/outlinePGSSLMODE=disableREDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379FILE_STORAGE=localFILE_STORAGE_LOCAL_ROOT_DIR=/var/lib/outline/dataFILE_STORAGE_UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE=262144000SMTP_HOST=${SMTP_HOST:-}SMTP_PORT=${SMTP_PORT:-}SMTP_USERNAME=${SMTP_USERNAME:-}SMTP_PASSWORD=${SMTP_PASSWORD:-}SMTP_FROM_EMAIL=${SMTP_FROM_EMAIL:-}SMTP_SECURE=${SMTP_SECURE:-true}
Restart
unless-stopped

postgres

Configuration

Image
postgres:16-alpine
Volumes
/var/lib/postgresql/data : postgres-data
Env vars
POSTGRES_USER=outlinePOSTGRES_PASSWORD=outlinePOSTGRES_DB=outline
Restart
unless-stopped

Image details

Pulls: 11.2B
User: stackbrew
Created: Jun 05, 2014
Updated: 1 hour ago
Status: active

redis

Configuration

Image
redis:7-alpine
Volumes
/data : redis-data
Restart
unless-stopped

Image details

Pulls: 11.1B
User: stackbrew
Created: Jun 05, 2014
Updated: 9 days ago
Status: active

Standalone Install

Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying Outline

Installation method

Install on Portainer

Import all app templates into your Portainer instance, for easy 1-click deploys

  1. Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
  2. Log into your Portainer web UI
  3. Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
  4. Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
  5. Select Outline, fill in any config options, and hit Deploy

Template Import URL

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json
Show Me demo
Original stackfile

The compose file this template deploys, straight from its repo:

services:
  outline:
    image: docker.getoutline.com/outlinewiki/outline:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: production
      # REQUIRED — generate each with: openssl rand -hex 32
      SECRET_KEY: ${SECRET_KEY}
      UTILS_SECRET: ${UTILS_SECRET}
      # Public URL Outline is served from
      URL: ${URL:-http://localhost:3000}
      PORT: "3000"
      DATABASE_URL: postgres://outline:outline@postgres:5432/outline
      PGSSLMODE: disable
      REDIS_URL: redis://redis:6379
      # Store uploads on a local volume instead of S3/MinIO
      FILE_STORAGE: local
      FILE_STORAGE_LOCAL_ROOT_DIR: /var/lib/outline/data
      FILE_STORAGE_UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE: "262144000"
      # Optional SMTP — enables email (magic-link) sign-in
      SMTP_HOST: ${SMTP_HOST:-}
      SMTP_PORT: ${SMTP_PORT:-}
      SMTP_USERNAME: ${SMTP_USERNAME:-}
      SMTP_PASSWORD: ${SMTP_PASSWORD:-}
      SMTP_FROM_EMAIL: ${SMTP_FROM_EMAIL:-}
      SMTP_SECURE: ${SMTP_SECURE:-true}
    volumes:
      - outline-data:/var/lib/outline/data
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy
      redis:
        condition: service_healthy

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: outline
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: outline
      POSTGRES_DB: outline
    volumes:
      - postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U outline -d outline"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 6

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - redis-data:/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 6

volumes:
  outline-data:
  postgres-data:
  redis-data:

Or deploy it directly from the source:

git clone https://github.com/lissy93/portainer-templates
cd portainer-templates
docker compose -f sources/stacks/outline.yml up -d

More install options in our documentation, or see outline/outline for app-specific guidance.

Container Documentation

postgres Documentation

The PostgreSQL object-relational database system provides reliability and data integrity.

redis Documentation

Redis is the world’s fastest data platform for caching, vector search, and NoSQL databases.

Serve Outline on your own domain behind Caddy, Nginx or Traefik. Fill in your domain and copy the result. It's a starting point, some apps need their own base URL or extra headers set too.

Proxying outline.example.com to http://outline:3000

Add this to your Caddyfile

outline.example.com {
	reverse_proxy http://outline:3000
}

Check the logs first

Nine times out of ten the logs tell you exactly what went wrong.

  • In Portainer, go to Containers, click the container, then Logs. Or run docker logs <container>
  • Exit codes help too: 137 means killed, usually out of memory. 126 or 127 means the command inside the image is broken.

Port already in use

If deployment fails with "Bind for 0.0.0.0:3000 failed: port is already allocated", something else on your server is using that port.

  • Find what's using it: sudo ss -tlnp | grep :3000
  • Stop the other service, or pick a different host port. In 3000:3000 only the left number is yours to change, the right one belongs to the app.

Running but the page won't load

The container is up but nothing appears in your browser.

  • Use your server's real IP: http://your-server-ip:3000. The 0.0.0.0 link Portainer shows isn't a real address.
  • Give it a minute after first deploy, outline can take a while to initialise.
  • Make sure your firewall allows the port, e.g. sudo ufw allow 3000

Image won't pull

Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull docker.getoutline.com/outlinewiki/outline:latest

  • "manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists. This template uses latest, so try pinning a specific version instead.
  • "toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with docker login to raise it.
  • "no space left on device" means a full disk. Reclaim space with docker system prune

"exec format error"

This means the image was built for a different CPU architecture than your server.

  • Check yours with uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.

Container keeps restarting

The unless-stopped restart policy relaunches the app after every crash, so the real error can scroll past.

  • Check the logs right after a restart, the last few lines before it died are the useful ones.
  • Get the exit code with docker inspect <container> --format '{{.State.ExitCode}}'
  • Still stuck? Redeploy once with the restart policy set to no so the failure stays visible.

Stack won't deploy

Compose stacks fail fast on small mistakes, and Portainer shows the reason just above the editor.

  • YAML only accepts spaces for indentation, a single tab breaks the whole file.

Raise an issue

Found something which isn't working as it should? Here's how to report it.

A Compose stack

Outline is a Compose stack, a set of containers (3 of them) defined in one file and brought up together by Portainer, then started and stopped as a single app.

The services

This stack is built from 3 containers that run side by side. Here's each one, with the image it runs and anything it waits for first:

  • outline runs docker.getoutline.com/outlinewiki/outline:latest, starts after postgres, redis
  • postgres runs postgres:16-alpine
  • redis runs redis:7-alpine

Ports

A port is the door the app answers on. A mapping like 3000:3000 means it's reachable on port 3000 of your server, where the left number is yours to change and the right one belongs to the app. Once it's running, open http://your-server-ip:3000 in a browser. It opens:

  • 3000:3000, likely the web interface

Volumes

A volume is where Outline keeps its files so they survive an update or a restart. Without one, anything it saves would sit inside the container and vanish the moment it's recreated. This template mounts:

  • /var/lib/outline/data kept in the outline-data volume Docker manages
  • /var/lib/postgresql/data kept in the postgres-data volume Docker manages
  • /data kept in the redis-data volume Docker manages

Environment variables

Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. Outline takes 20 of them, all with defaults you can leave alone or tweak:

  • NODE_ENV, defaults to production
  • SECRET_KEY, pulled from your own environment
  • UTILS_SECRET, pulled from your own environment
  • URL, defaults to http://localhost:3000
  • PORT, defaults to 3000
  • DATABASE_URL, defaults to postgres://outline:outline@postgres:5432/outline
  • PGSSLMODE, defaults to disable
  • REDIS_URL, defaults to redis://redis:6379
  • FILE_STORAGE, defaults to local
  • FILE_STORAGE_LOCAL_ROOT_DIR, defaults to /var/lib/outline/data
  • FILE_STORAGE_UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE, defaults to 262144000
  • SMTP_HOST, pulled from your own environment
  • SMTP_PORT, pulled from your own environment
  • SMTP_USERNAME, pulled from your own environment
  • SMTP_PASSWORD, pulled from your own environment
  • SMTP_FROM_EMAIL, pulled from your own environment
  • SMTP_SECURE, defaults to true
  • POSTGRES_USER, defaults to outline
  • POSTGRES_PASSWORD, defaults to outline
  • POSTGRES_DB, defaults to outline

Restart policy

The restart policy here is unless-stopped, so Docker restarts Outline after a crash or reboot, but leaves it off when you stop it on purpose. You can change this on the deploy screen. The choices are no (never restart), on-failure (only after a crash), unless-stopped (restart unless you stop it), and always (bring it back no matter what).

Networking

Portainer puts these services on one shared private network, so they can find each other by name (like outline) while only the ports above are open to you.

Platform

The platform is linux, the kind of system the container is built to run on. Docker and Portainer handle this on a normal Linux server.

Portainer app templates

Zooming out, this whole page comes from a Portainer app template: a short recipe telling Portainer how to set Outline up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying Outline is a click rather than a wall of config.