Deploy Mattermost via Docker#

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Important

This deployment method is not recommended for production environments. If you’re looking to deploy a production Mattermost instance, we recommend using managed container services like AWS ECS, Azure Container Apps, or Google Cloud Run. These services provide better scalability, reliability, and maintenance features suited for production workloads.

Install Docker#

If you don’t have Docker installed, follow the instructions below based on your operating system. You’ll need Docker Engine and Docker Compose (release 1.28 or later).

Follow the Install Docker Engine on Mac documentation.

Follow the Install Docker Engine on Windows documentation.

Follow the Install Docker Engine on Ubuntu documentation.

Follow the Install Docker Engine on Fedora documentation.

Deploy Mattermost on Docker (Quick Start)#

This section provides a quick start guide for deploying Mattermost on Docker. Leveraging Docker Compose, this deployment solution is designed to get Mattermost up and running quickly.

Note

  • The deployment configuration results in two separate containers: a container for the database and a container for the application. An optional third container results when using NGINX for reverse proxy.

  • Encountering issues with your Docker deployment? See the Docker deployment troubleshooting documentation for details.

To deploy Mattermost on Docker:

  1. In a terminal window, clone the repository and enter the directory.

    git clone https://github.com/mattermost/docker
cd docker

  2. Create your .env file by copying and adjusting the env.example file.

    cp env.example .env

Important

  • At a minimum, you must edit the DOMAIN value in the .env file to correspond to the domain for your Mattermost server.

  • We recommend configuring the Support Email via MM_SUPPORTSETTINGS_SUPPORTEMAIL. This is the email address your users will contact when they need help.

  1. Create the required directories and set their permissions.

    mkdir -p ./volumes/app/mattermost/{config,data,logs,plugins,client/plugins,bleve-indexes}
sudo chown -R 2000:2000 ./volumes/app/mattermost

  2. (Optional) Configure TLS for NGINX. If you’re not using the included NGINX reverse proxy, you can skip this step.

    If creating a new certificate and key:

    bash scripts/issue-certificate.sh -d <YOUR_MM_DOMAIN> -o ${PWD}/certs

    To include the certificate and key, uncomment the following lines in your .env file and ensure they point to the appropriate files.

    #CERT_PATH=./certs/etc/letsencrypt/live/${DOMAIN}/fullchain.pem
#KEY_PATH=./certs/etc/letsencrypt/live/${DOMAIN}/privkey.pem

    If using a pre-existing certificate and key:

    mkdir -p ./volumes/web/cert
cp <PATH-TO-PRE-EXISTING-CERT>.pem ./volumes/web/cert/cert.pem
cp <PATH-TO-PRE-EXISTING-KEY>.pem ./volumes/web/cert/key-no-password.pem

    To include the certificate and key, ensure the following lines in your .env file points to the appropriate files.

    CERT_PATH=./volumes/web/cert/cert.pem
KEY_PATH=./volumes/web/cert/key-no-password.pem

  3. Deploy Mattermost.

    Without using the included NGINX:

    sudo docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.without-nginx.yml up -d

    To access your new Mattermost deployment, navigate to http://<YOUR_MM_DOMAIN>:8065/ in your browser.

    To shut down your deployment:

    sudo docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.without-nginx.yml down

    Using the included NGINX:

    sudo docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.nginx.yml up -d

    To access your new Mattermost deployment via HTTPS, navigate to https://<YOUR_MM_DOMAIN>/ in your browser.

    To shut down your deployment:

    sudo docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.nginx.yml down

  4. Create your first Mattermost system admin user, invite more users, and explore the Mattermost platform.

Configure SSO With GitLab (Optional)#

If you want to use SSO with GitLab, and you’re using a self-signed certificate, you have to add the PKI chain for your authority. This is required to avoid the Token request failed: certificate signed by unknown authority error.

To add the PKI chain, uncomment this line in your .env file, and ensure it points to your pki_chain.pem file:

#GITLAB_PKI_CHAIN_PATH=<path_to_your_gitlab_pki>/pki_chain.pem

Then uncomment this line in your docker-compose.yml file, and ensure it points to the same pki_chain.pem file:

# - ${GITLAB_PKI_CHAIN_PATH}:/etc/ssl/certs/pki_chain.pem:ro

Upgrade from mattermost-docker#

Visit the mattermost/docker GitHub repository to access the official Docker deployment solution for Mattermost.

Note

The mattermost-docker GitHub repository is deprecated.

To migrate from an existing mattermost/mattermost-prod-app image, we recommend migrating to either mattermost/mattermost-enterprise-edition or mattermost/mattermost-team-edition images, which are the official images supported by Mattermost. These images support PostgreSQL 11+ databases, which we know has been a long-running challenge for the community, and you will not lose any features or functionality by moving to these new images.

For additional help or questions, please refer to this issue.

Install a different version of Mattermost#

  1. Shut down your deployment.

  2. Run git pull to fetch any recent changes to the repository, paying attention to any potential env.example changes.

  3. Adjust the MATTERMOST_IMAGE_TAG in the .env file to point your desired enterprise or team image version.

  4. Redeploy Mattermost.

Troubleshooting deployment#

Docker#

If deploying on an M1 Mac and encountering permission issues in the Docker container, redo the third step and skip this command:

sudo chown -R 2000:2000 ./volumes/app/mattermost

If having issues deploying on Docker generally, ensure the docker daemon is enabled and running:

sudo systemctl enable --now docker

To remove all data and settings for your Mattermost deployment:

sudo rm -rf ./volumes

PostgreSQL#

For quick start deployments, you can change the Postgres username and/or password (recommended) in the .env file. If your database is managed externally, you’ll need to change the password in your database management tool. Then, update the .env file with the new credentials.

TLS & NGINX#

For an in-depth guide to configuring the TLS certificate and key for Nginx, please refer to this document in the repository.

Further help#

If you encounter other problems while installing Mattermost, please refer to our troubleshooting guide.

Trial Mattermost using Docker Preview#

Looking for a way to evaluate Mattermost in using Docker? We recommend using the Mattermost Docker Preview Image to install Mattermost in Preview Mode.

See the trial Mattermost using Docker documentation for details.