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Deploy oForum with Docker for a consistent, isolated environment that works across any platform.

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Quick start

The fastest way to run oForum with Docker: 
docker build -t oforum .
docker run -p 8080:8080 -e DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:pass@host:5432/oforum" oforum
Open http://localhost:8080 to see your forum.

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Understanding the Dockerfile

oForum uses a multi-stage build for a minimal production image:
~/workspace/source/Dockerfile
FROM golang:1.25-alpine AS builder

WORKDIR /app
COPY go.mod go.sum ./
RUN go mod download
COPY . .
RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build -o oforum .
RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build -o seed-prod ./cmd/seed-prod
RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build -o migrate-slugs ./cmd/migrate-slugs

FROM alpine:3.20
RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=builder /app/oforum .
COPY --from=builder /app/seed-prod .
COPY --from=builder /app/migrate-slugs .

ENV GIN_MODE=release
EXPOSE 8080
CMD ["./oforum"]
What this does:
  1. Builder stage: Compiles the Go binary with all dependencies
  2. Final stage: Creates a minimal Alpine image (~10MB) with just the binary
  3. Result: Small, secure container with no build tools or source code

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Docker Compose with PostgreSQL

For a complete setup including the database, use Docker Compose:
1

Create docker-compose.yml

Create a docker-compose.yml file in your project directory:
docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: oforum
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: changeme
      POSTGRES_DB: oforum
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U oforum"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  oforum:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgres://oforum:changeme@postgres:5432/oforum?sslmode=disable
      PORT: 8080
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  postgres_data:
2

Start the services

Launch both oForum and PostgreSQL:
docker-compose up -d
This will:
  • Pull the PostgreSQL image
  • Build the oForum image
  • Start both containers
  • Run migrations automatically
3

Verify it's running

Check the logs:
docker-compose logs -f oforum
You should see:
Migrations applied successfully
Starting server on :8080
Change the default PostgreSQL password in production! Update both POSTGRES_PASSWORD and the password in DATABASE_URL.

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Environment variables

Pass environment variables to the container using the -e flag or in docker-compose.yml: 
docker run -p 8080:8080 \
  -e DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:pass@host:5432/oforum" \
  -e PORT=8080 \
  oforum
Or use an environment file:
.env
DATABASE_URL=postgres://oforum:changeme@postgres:5432/oforum?sslmode=disable
PORT=8080

docker run --env-file .env -p 8080:8080 oforum
See the environment variables reference for all available options.

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Data persistence

To persist data across container restarts, mount a volume for PostgreSQL: 
docker volume create oforum_db

docker run -d \
  --name oforum-postgres \
  -v oforum_db:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme \
  postgres:16-alpine
The oForum container itself is stateless - all data lives in PostgreSQL. No volumes are needed for the oForum container.

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Health checks and monitoring

Add a health check to ensure your container is running properly:
docker-compose.yml
services:
  oforum:
    build: .
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--quiet", "--tries=1", "--spider", "http://localhost:8080"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 40s
Check container health: 
docker ps
View resource usage: 
docker stats oforum

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Using pre-built images

If you don’t want to build from source, you can use pre-built binaries in a simpler Dockerfile:
Dockerfile.prebuilt
FROM alpine:3.20

RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates curl && \
    curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arcten/oforum/main/install.sh | sh

EXPOSE 8080
CMD ["oforum"]

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Updating oForum

To update your Docker deployment:
1

Pull the latest code

git pull origin main
2

Rebuild the image

docker-compose build oforum
3

Restart the service

docker-compose up -d oforum
Migrations run automatically on startup, so your database schema will update automatically.

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Production considerations

For production deployments:
  1. Use SSL: Put oForum behind a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy) with SSL termination
  2. Resource limits: Set memory and CPU limits in docker-compose.yml
  3. Logging: Configure log rotation with Docker’s logging drivers
  4. Backups: Regularly backup the PostgreSQL volume
  5. Secrets: Use Docker secrets or environment files (never commit credentials)
docker-compose.yml
services:
  oforum:
    build: .
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '1.0'
          memory: 512M
    logging:
      driver: "json-file"
      options:
        max-size: "10m"
        max-file: "3"

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Troubleshooting

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Container won’t start

Check the logs: 
docker-compose logs oforum

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Database connection failed

Verify the PostgreSQL container is healthy: 
docker-compose ps
Test the connection: 
docker-compose exec postgres psql -U oforum -d oforum -c "SELECT 1;"

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Port already in use

Change the port mapping in docker-compose.yml: 
ports:
  - "3000:8080"  # Access on port 3000 instead

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Next steps

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