How to install Docmost on a Cloud VPS

Docmost is an open-source collaborative wiki and documentation platform (a Confluence/Notion alternative) with spaces, real-time editing and permissions.

The self-hosted version removes per-user subscriptions: you pay only for the server, no matter how many teammates use the app.

One-click install on cloudlinux.ro

The fastest way: Docmost installs automatically at the first boot of a new server.

1. Create a Cloud VPS from the control panel.
2. In the configuration step, pick Docmost from the app catalog.
3. Start the server. The install runs in the background for a few minutes and its status shows on the server page.
4. Access details and generated passwords are saved on the server in /root/app-credentials.txt. The app will be available on port 3000.

Manual install on any Ubuntu server

If you prefer doing it yourself, below is the exact script our automatic install runs. Execute it as root on a fresh Ubuntu server (24.04 recommended). It stops at the first error, and when it finishes you will find the access details in /root/app-credentials.txt.

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
IP=$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}')
APP_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
DB_PASS=$(openssl rand -base64 24 | tr -dc 'A-Za-z0-9' | cut -c1-20)
mkdir -p /opt/docmost && cd /opt/docmost
cat > docker-compose.yml <<EOF
services:
  docmost:
    image: docmost/docmost:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
    ports:
      - '3000:3000'
    environment:
      APP_URL: "http://${IP}:3000"
      APP_SECRET: "${APP_SECRET}"
      DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://docmost:${DB_PASS}@db:5432/docmost"
      REDIS_URL: "redis://redis:6379"
    volumes:
      - docmost:/app/data/storage
  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: docmost
      POSTGRES_USER: docmost
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "${DB_PASS}"
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - redis_data:/data
volumes:
  docmost:
  db_data:
  redis_data:
EOF
docker compose up -d
printf 'Docmost: http://%s:3000\nCreeaza spatiul de lucru si contul de administrator la prima accesare.\n' "$IP" > /root/app-credentials.txt

You can also save this script as a recipe in your account and reuse it on any new server.