Advanced Deployment
Run AdventureLog as three containers: SvelteKit frontend, Django backend, and PostGIS database. This layout gives full control over environment variables and is the best fit for reverse proxies and custom integrations.
Looking for the simplest setup? See Standard Deployment — one container, one port, two required env vars.
Full env reference: Environment Variables
Prerequisites
- Docker installed on your machine/server. You can learn how to download it here.
- Memory: allocate at least 2 GB RAM for the first boot (world geography data import). Steady-state use typically needs about 1 GB.
Getting Started
Get the docker-compose.advanced.yml and .env.advanced.example files from the AdventureLog repository. You can download them here:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seanmorley15/AdventureLog/main/docker/docker-compose.advanced.yml
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seanmorley15/AdventureLog/main/.env.advanced.example
cp .env.advanced.example .env.advancedTIP
If running on an ARM based machine, you will need to use a different PostGIS image. It is recommended to use the imresamu/postgis:16-3.5-alpine image or a custom version found here. The AdventureLog containers are ARM compatible.
URL mental model
AdventureLog uses several URL-related environment variables. Most installs only need to set the public-facing URLs; keep PUBLIC_SERVER_URL at its default.
| Variable | Who uses it | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
PUBLIC_SERVER_URL | SvelteKit SSR (container-to-container) | http://server:8000 — do not change for Advanced Deployment installs |
ORIGIN | SvelteKit origin when not using HTTPS | Your frontend URL, e.g. http://localhost:8015 |
PUBLIC_URL | Django image and OAuth URLs | Your backend URL, e.g. http://localhost:8016 (or your single domain if using a reverse proxy) |
FRONTEND_URL | Django emails and redirects | Your frontend URL, e.g. http://localhost:8015 |
CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS | Django CORS and CSRF | Comma-separated list of every browser origin, e.g. http://localhost:8015,http://localhost:8016 |
When frontend and backend share one domain behind a reverse proxy, you can set SITE_URL instead of configuring ORIGIN, FRONTEND_URL, PUBLIC_URL, and CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS individually. See .env.advanced.example for details.
To validate your configuration, run:
bash scripts/validate-env.shConfiguration
The .env file contains all configuration for your instance. Below are the most important variables — see Environment Variables for the complete reference.
🌐 Frontend (web)
| Name | Required | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|
PUBLIC_SERVER_URL | Yes | Used by the frontend SSR server to connect to the backend. Almost every user user will never have to change this from default! | http://server:8000 |
ORIGIN | Sometimes | Needed only if not using HTTPS. Set it to the domain or IP you'll use to access the frontend. | http://localhost:8015 |
BODY_SIZE_LIMIT | Yes | Maximum upload size in bytes. | Infinity |
FRONTEND_PORT | Yes | Port that the frontend will run on inside Docker. | 8015 |
🐘 PostgreSQL Database
| Name | Required | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|
PGHOST | Yes | Internal DB hostname. | db |
POSTGRES_DB | Yes | DB name. | database |
POSTGRES_USER | Yes | DB user. | adventure |
POSTGRES_PASSWORD | Yes | DB password. | changeme123 |
🔒 Backend (server)
| Name | Required | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|
SECRET_KEY | Yes | Django secret key. Change this in production! | changeme123 |
DJANGO_ADMIN_USERNAME | Yes | Default Django admin username. | admin |
DJANGO_ADMIN_PASSWORD | Yes | Default Django admin password. | admin |
DJANGO_ADMIN_EMAIL | Yes | Default admin email. | admin@example.com |
PUBLIC_URL | Yes | Publicly accessible URL of the backend. Used for generating image URLs. | http://localhost:8016 |
CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS | Yes | Comma-separated list of frontend/backend URLs that are allowed to submit requests. | http://localhost:8016,http://localhost:8015 |
FRONTEND_URL | Yes | URL to the frontend, used for email generation. | http://localhost:8015 |
BACKEND_PORT | Yes | Port that the backend will run on inside Docker. | 8016 |
DEBUG | No | Should be False in production. | False |
ENABLE_RATE_LIMITS | No | Enable rate limits on the backend. Should be True in production. | False |
Optional Configuration
Running the containers
Validate and start:
bash scripts/validate-env.sh
docker compose --env-file .env.advanced -f docker/docker-compose.advanced.yml up -d --waitOpen http://localhost:8015 (or your configured ORIGIN / SITE_URL).
Default admin login: admin / admin — change this after first login.
Next steps
- Operations & Maintenance — backups, updates, management menu
- Reverse proxy guides — HTTPS on a custom domain
- Configuration — integrations and advanced settings