Quick‐Start‐Docker‐Compose.md

Quick Start (Using Docker Compose)

This guide provides the quickest way to get DockFlare running using Docker Compose.

1. Create docker-compose.yml

Create a file named docker-compose.yml with the following content. This defines the DockFlare service, its network, and a volume for persistent state.

version: '3.8'

services:
  dockflare:
    image: alplat/dockflare:stable
    container_name: dockflare
    restart: unless-stopped
    # The Web UI port. You can change the host port if 5000 is in use.
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    # This file contains your Cloudflare credentials and settings.
    environment:
      # Set your local timezone to see correct timestamps in the logs.
      - TZ=Europe/Zurich
    volumes:
      # Required to monitor Docker start/stop events.
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
      # Persistent storage for state.json, which holds manual rules and UI overrides.
      - dockflare_data:/app/data
    networks:
      # This is the network DockFlare uses to communicate with the managed
      # cloudflared agent and any other services you want to expose.
      - cloudflare-net
    # Optional: Expose the DockFlare UI itself through the tunnel.
    # Remember to configure an Access Policy to secure it!
    labels:
      - "dockflare.enable=true"
      - "dockflare.hostname=dockflare.yourdomain.tld" # <-- Update with your domain
      - "dockflare.service=http://dockflare:5000"
      - "dockflare.access.policy=authenticate" # <-- Example: secure with Cloudflare Access

volumes:
  dockflare_data:
    name: dockflare_data

networks:
  cloudflare-net:
    name: cloudflare-net

Note: The labels on the dockflare service are optional but recommended. They demonstrate how to expose a service—in this case, the DockFlare UI itself. Make sure to choose a secure access.policy if you use them.

2. Run DockFlare

Navigate to the directory containing your docker-compose.yml and .env files in your terminal and run:

docker compose up -d

This command will:

• Pull the alplat/dockflare:stable image.
• Create the cloudflare-net network if it doesn't exist.
• Create the dockflare_data volume for persistent state.
• Start the dockflare container in detached mode (-d).

DockFlare will now start up. In the background, it will:

1. Connect to Cloudflare and create (or find) the tunnel named dockflare-tunnel.
2. Create and start a new container named cloudflared-agent-dockflare-tunnel.
3. Begin listening for other containers on your system with the dockflare.enable="true" label.

Next Steps

• Access the Web UI to monitor DockFlare's status.
• Learn how to Label Your Containers to expose them through the tunnel.