Docker Deployment for RefRef

Docker provides the simplest way to deploy RefRef on your infrastructure. This guide walks you through the process of setting up RefRef using Docker containers.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

Docker 20.10+ installed on your host system
Docker Compose for multi-container deployment
At least 2GB of RAM and 2 CPU cores available
Basic understanding of Docker concepts

Quick Start

The fastest way to get RefRef running is using our official Docker images:

# Pull the latest RefRef image
docker pull refref/refref:latest
 
# Create a docker-compose.yml file with the necessary configuration
# Start the containers
docker-compose up -d

Sample Docker Compose Configuration

Create a docker-compose.yml file with the following content:

version: '3.8'
 
services:
  refref:
    image: refref/refref:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@db:5432/refref
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
      # Add other environment variables as needed
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
 
  db:
    image: postgres:14
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
      - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
      - POSTGRES_DB=refref
 
  redis:
    image: redis:7
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - redis_data:/data
 
volumes:
  postgres_data:
  redis_data:

Production Considerations

For production deployments, consider these additional steps:

Use Specific Versions: Pin to specific image versions rather than using latest
External Database: Consider using a managed PostgreSQL service for better reliability
Persistent Storage: Configure proper volume mounts for data persistence
Networking: Set up proper network isolation
Monitoring: Add container monitoring with Prometheus/Grafana
Backups: Implement regular database backups

Upgrading

To upgrade your Docker-based RefRef deployment:

# Pull the latest image (or specific version)
docker pull refref/refref:latest
 
# Restart your containers
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

Always back up your data before upgrading.

Troubleshooting Docker Deployments

Common issues with Docker deployments:

Container fails to start: Check logs with docker-compose logs refref
Database connection issues: Verify network connectivity between containers
Performance problems: Check resource allocation and container limits

For more detailed information on self-hosting RefRef, refer to our main self-hosting documentation.

Docker Setup