Dockpal

Self-hosted Docker management panel — single binary, embedded UI, no dependencies.

Manage containers, deploy compose stacks, monitor resources, control multiple remote Docker hosts from one dashboard.

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Quick Start

Production Install (Debian/Ubuntu)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sdldev/dockpal/main/update.sh | sudo bash

Installs systemd service at /etc/systemd/system/dockpal.service.

Post-install

# Check status
systemctl status dockpal

# Read logs
journalctl -u dockpal -f

# Get admin password (first run only)
journalctl -u dockpal | grep "admin password"

# Set custom password for next restart
DOCKPAL_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD=mypassword systemctl restart dockpal

Update command: same as install.

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Update

Auto-update via update.sh script. Runs manually or via cron.

Daily update (cron):

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add line (daily at 2 AM)
0 2 * * * /opt/dockpal/update.sh >> /var/log/dockpal-update.log 2>&1

Manual update:

/opt/dockpal/update.sh

Optional environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
DOCKPAL_VERSION	latest	Release tag to install
DOCKPAL_REPO	sdldev/dockpal	GitHub repository
DOCKPAL_FORCE	0	Force reinstall even if already up-to-date
DOCKPAL_UPDATE_TEMPLATES	1	Refresh templates from release

Backup automatic on every update. Rollback happens automatically if health check fails.

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Configuration

All via environment variables. No config file needed.

Variable	Default	Description
DOCKPAL_DATA_DIR	/opt/dockpal/data	Root directory for db, log, backups
PORT	3012	Server listen port
DOCKPAL_TLS_DOMAIN	—	Domain for ACME/Let's Encrypt auto-cert
DOCKPAL_BACKUP_INTERVAL	24h	Scheduled backup interval (0 = disabled)
DOCKPAL_BACKUP_RETENTION	168h	Backup retention window (7 days)
DOCKPAL_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD	random	Admin password (only on first startup)

TLS modes

• Let's Encrypt: DOCKPAL_TLS_DOMAIN=panel.example.com DOCKPAL_TLS=true ./dockpal server
• Custom cert: DOCKPAL_TLS=true DOCKPAL_TLS_CERT=/path/cert.crt DOCKPAL_TLS_KEY=/path/key.crt ./dockpal server
• Self-signed: DOCKPAL_TLS=true ./dockpal server (testing only)

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CLI Reference

dockpal <subcommand> [flags]

Subcommands:
  server            Start the HTTP server
  backup            Create a database backup
  restore           Restore database from backup
  reset-password    Reset user password
  version           Print version
  help              Show help

Examples:

# Start server
./dockpal server

# On-demand backup
./dockpal backup --output /tmp/backup.db

# Reset admin password (stop server first)
./dockpal reset-password --username admin --password NewPass123

# View version
./dockpal version

Passwords set via UI are preserved across updates. Only reset-password CLI command changes them.

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Features

Category	Details
Containers	List, start, stop, restart, delete, inspect, logs, stats
Deploy	Compose YAML, Git repo, 5 built-in templates (PostgreSQL 17, MariaDB, Redis 7, Grafana, Adminer)
Images	Pull, updates check, registry auth, prune
Files	Browse, read, write, upload, download inside containers
Domains	Traefik integration, custom routing, SSL
Monitoring	Prometheus metrics, real-time charts, health checks
Multi-host	Manage remote Docker hosts (direct HTTP or edge WebSocket)
Security	RBAC (admin/operator/viewer), JWT auth, audit log
Backup	Scheduled + manual, SHA-256 checksum, retention policy

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Health & Metrics

Endpoints:

Path	Description
/health	Full health report (HTTP 200/503)
/api/metrics	Prometheus metrics (no auth)
/api/docs	API documentation UI

Example metrics:

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: dockpal
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['localhost:3012']
    metrics_path: /api/metrics

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Project Structure

dockpal/
├── main.go                    # Entry point
├── Makefile                   # Build/test targets
├── internal/                  # Go packages
│   ├── server/                # Gin routes, middleware, RBAC
│   ├── docker/                # Moby client wrapper
│   ├── auth/                  # JWT, login, passwords
│   ├── db/                    # BBolt persistence
│   └── ...
├── web/                       # Embedded frontend
├── templates/                 # JSON deploy templates
└── update.sh                  # Self-updater script

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License

MIT