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Get your Halo CMS up and running quickly with Docker. This guide will take you from zero to your first website in just a few minutes.
This quick start method is intended for testing and evaluation purposes. For production deployments, please refer to the Installation Guide.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:
  • Docker installed on your system (Get Docker)
  • At least 2GB of available RAM
  • An available port 8090 (or another port of your choice)

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Quick start with Docker

1

Run the Docker command

Open your terminal and run the following command:
docker run -d --name halo -p 8090:8090 -v ~/.halo2:/root/.halo2 halohub/halo:2.22
This command:
  • Downloads the Halo Docker image (if not already present)
  • Creates a container named halo
  • Maps port 8090 on your machine to port 8090 in the container
  • Persists Halo data to ~/.halo2 on your host machine
2

Verify the container is running

Check that the container started successfully:
docker ps
You should see the halo container in the list with status “Up”.
3

Wait for initialization

Halo needs a minute to initialize on first startup. You can monitor the logs:
docker logs -f halo
Wait until you see a message indicating that Halo has started successfully (look for “Started HaloApplication”).
4

Access Halo

Open your web browser and navigate to:
http://localhost:8090
You should see the Halo setup wizard.
5

Complete the setup wizard

Follow the on-screen instructions to:
  1. Set your site title and description
  2. Create an administrator account (username and password)
  3. Configure basic site settings
Make sure to remember your administrator credentials - you’ll need them to access the console.
6

Access the admin console

After completing the setup, you can access the admin console at:
http://localhost:8090/console
Log in with the administrator credentials you just created.

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What’s next?

Explore the console

Learn how to create posts, pages, and manage your content

Install themes

Browse and install themes to customize your site’s appearance

Add plugins

Extend Halo’s functionality with plugins

Configure settings

Set up users, roles, and system settings

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Container management

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Stop the container

docker stop halo

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Start the container

docker start halo

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Restart the container

docker restart halo

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View container logs

docker logs -f halo

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Remove the container

docker stop halo
docker rm halo
Removing the container does not delete your data, which is stored in ~/.halo2 on your host machine.

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Try the online demo

Want to try Halo before installing? Visit the online demo:

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Alternative deployment options

For quick testing, you can also use:
  • Gitpod: Launch a cloud development environment
  • ClawCloud Run: One-click cloud deployment
See the Installation Guide for complete production deployment instructions.

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Troubleshooting

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Port already in use

If port 8090 is already in use, you can use a different port: 
docker run -d --name halo -p 8080:8090 -v ~/.halo2:/root/.halo2 halohub/halo:2.22
Then access Halo at http://localhost:8080.

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Container won’t start

Check the container logs for errors: 
docker logs halo
Common issues:
  • Insufficient memory (Halo requires at least 2GB RAM)
  • Port conflicts (change the port mapping)
  • Corrupted data directory (remove ~/.halo2 and start fresh)

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Next steps

Now that you have Halo running: Ready to deploy to production? See our Deployment guides for Docker, Kubernetes, and more.

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