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Deploy FreshRSS with Docker

FreshRSS is a self-hosted RSS feed aggregator.

FreshRSS logo

Install Docker

See https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/

Example for Linux Debian / Ubuntu:

# Install default Docker Compose and automatically the corresponding version of Docker
apt install docker-compose-v2

Quick run

Example running FreshRSS (or scroll down to the Docker Compose section instead):

docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --log-opt max-size=10m \
  -p 8080:80 \
  -e TZ=Europe/Paris \
  -e 'CRON_MIN=1,31' \
  -v freshrss_data:/var/www/FreshRSS/data \
  -v freshrss_extensions:/var/www/FreshRSS/extensions \
  --name freshrss \
  freshrss/freshrss
  • Exposing on port 8080
  • With a server timezone (default is UTC)
  • With an automatic cron job to refresh feeds
  • Saving FreshRSS data in a Docker volume freshrss_data and optional extensions in freshrss_extensions
  • Using the default image, which is the latest stable release

Complete installation

Browse to your server https://freshrss.example.net/ to complete the installation via the FreshRSS Web interface, or use the command line described below.

Command line

See the CLI documentation for all the commands, which can be applied like:

docker exec --user www-data freshrss cli/list-users.php

Example of installation via command line:

docker exec --user www-data freshrss cli/do-install.php --default_user freshrss

docker exec --user www-data freshrss cli/create-user.php --user freshrss --password freshrss

ℹ️ You have to replace --user www-data by --user apache when using our images based on Linux Alpine.

Our Docker image variants

The tags correspond to FreshRSS branches and versions:

  • :latest (default) is the latest stable release
  • :edge is the rolling release, same than our git edge branch
  • :x.y.z tags correspond to specific FreshRSS releases, allowing you to target a precise version for deployment
  • :x tags track the latest release within a major version series. For instance, :1 will update to include any 1.x releases, but will exclude versions beyond 2.x
  • *-alpine use Linux Alpine as base-image instead of Debian
  • Our Docker images are designed with multi-architecture support, accommodating a variety of Linux platforms including linux/arm/v7, linux/arm64, and linux/amd64.

Linux: Debian vs. Alpine

Our default image is based on Debian. We offer an alternative based on Alpine (with the *-alpine tag suffix). In our tests (2019), Alpine was slower, while Alpine is smaller on disk (and much faster to build), and with newer packages in general (Apache, PHP).

ℹ️ For some rare systems, one variant might work but not the other, for instance due to kernel incompatibilities.

Environment variables

  • TZ: (default is UTC) A server timezone
  • CRON_MIN: (default is disabled) Define minutes for the built-in cron job to automatically refresh feeds (see below for more advanced options)
  • DATA_PATH: (default is empty, defined by ./constants.local.php or ./constants.php) Defines the path for writeable data.
  • FRESHRSS_ENV: (default is production) Enables additional development information if set to development (increases the level of logging and ensures that errors are displayed) (see below for more development options)
  • COPY_LOG_TO_SYSLOG: (default is On) Copy all the logs to syslog
  • COPY_SYSLOG_TO_STDERR: (default is On) Copy syslog to Standard Error so that it is visible in docker logs
  • LISTEN: (default is 80) Modifies the internal Apache listening address and port, e.g. 0.0.0.0:8080 (for advanced users; useful for Docker host networking)
  • FRESHRSS_INSTALL: automatically pass arguments to command line cli/do-install.php (for advanced users; see example in Docker Compose section). Only executed at the very first run (so far), so if you make any change, you need to delete your freshrss service, freshrss_data volume, before running again.
  • FRESHRSS_USER: automatically pass arguments to command line cli/create-user.php (for advanced users; see example in Docker Compose section). Only executed at the very first run (so far), so if you make any change, you need to delete your freshrss service, freshrss_data volume, before running again.

How to update

# Rebuild an image (see build section below) or get a new online version:
docker pull freshrss/freshrss
# And then
docker stop freshrss
docker rename freshrss freshrss_old
# See the run section above for the full command
docker run ... --name freshrss freshrss/freshrss
# If everything is working, delete the old container
docker rm freshrss_old

Build custom Docker image

Building your own Docker image is especially relevant for platforms not available on our Docker Hub, which is currently limited to x64 (Intel, AMD), arm32v7, arm64.

ℹ️ If you try to run an image for the wrong platform, you might get an error message like exec format error.

Pick #latest (stable release) or #edge (rolling release) or a specific release number such as #1.21.0 like:

docker build --pull --tag freshrss/freshrss:latest -f Docker/Dockerfile-Alpine https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS.git#latest

ℹ️ See an automated way to do that in our Docker Compose section, leveraging a git build context.

Development mode

To contribute to FreshRSS development, you can use one of the Docker images to run and serve the PHP code, while reading the source code from your local (git) directory, like the following example:

cd ./FreshRSS/
docker run --rm \
  -p 8080:80 \
  -e FRESHRSS_ENV=development \
  -e TZ=Europe/Paris \
  -e 'CRON_MIN=1,31' \
  -v $(pwd):/var/www/FreshRSS \
  -v freshrss_data:/var/www/FreshRSS/data \
  --name freshrss \
  freshrss/freshrss:edge

This will start a server on port 8080, based on your local PHP code, which will show the logs directly in your terminal. Press Control+C to exit.

Special development images

ℹ️ See the custom build section for an introduction

Two special Dockerfile are provided to reproduce the oldest and newest supported platforms (based on Alpine Linux). They need to be compiled manually:

cd ./FreshRSS/
docker build --pull --tag freshrss/freshrss:oldest -f Docker/Dockerfile-Oldest .
docker build --pull --tag freshrss/freshrss:newest -f Docker/Dockerfile-Newest .

# Example of use:
make composer-test
docker run --rm -e FRESHRSS_ENV=development -e TZ=UTC -v $(pwd):/var/www/FreshRSS freshrss/freshrss:oldest bin/composer test

Supported databases

FreshRSS has a built-in SQLite database (easiest and good performance), but more powerful databases are also supported:

Create an isolated network

docker network create freshrss-network
# Run FreshRSS with a `--net freshrss-network` parameter or use the following command:
docker network connect freshrss-network freshrss

PostgreSQL

# If you already have a PostgreSQL instance running, just attach it to the FreshRSS network:
docker network connect freshrss-network postgres

# Otherwise, start a new PostgreSQL instance, remembering to change the passwords:
docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --log-opt max-size=10m \
  -v pgsql_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=freshrss \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=freshrss \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=freshrss \
  --net freshrss-network \
  --name freshrss-db postgres

In the FreshRSS setup, you will then specify the name of the container (freshrss-db) as the host for the database.

See also the section Docker Compose with PostgreSQL below.

MySQL or MariaDB

# If you already have a MySQL or MariaDB instance running, just attach it to the FreshRSS network:
docker network connect freshrss-network mysql

# Otherwise, start a new MySQL instance, remembering to change the passwords:
docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --log-opt max-size=10m \
  -v mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=rootpass \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=freshrss \
  -e MYSQL_USER=freshrss \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=freshrss \
  --net freshrss-network \
  --name freshrss-db mysql \

In the FreshRSS setup, you will then specify the name of the container (freshrss-db) as the host for the database.

More deployment options

Provide default global settings

An optional configuration file can be mounted to /var/www/FreshRSS/data/config.custom.php to provide custom settings before the FreshRSS setup, on the model of config.default.php.

Provide default user settings

An optional configuration file can be mounted to /var/www/FreshRSS/data/config-user.default.php to provide custom user settings before a user is created, on the model of config-user.default.php.

Custom Apache configuration (advanced users)

The FreshRSS Docker image uses the Web server Apache internally. Changes in Apache .htaccess files are applied when restarting the container. In particular, if you want FreshRSS to use HTTP-based login (instead of the easier Web form login), you can mount your own ./FreshRSS/p/i/.htaccess:

docker run ...
  -v /your/.htaccess:/var/www/FreshRSS/p/i/.htaccess \
  -v /your/.htpasswd:/var/www/FreshRSS/data/.htpasswd \
  ...
  --name freshrss freshrss/freshrss

Example of /your/.htaccess referring to /your/.htpasswd:

AuthUserFile /var/www/FreshRSS/data/.htpasswd
AuthName "FreshRSS"
AuthType Basic
Require valid-user

Modify the configuration of a running FreshRSS instance

Some FreshRSS configuration parameters are stored in ./FreshRSS/data/config.php (e.g. base_url, 'environment' => 'development', database parameters, cURL options, etc.) and the following procedure can be used to modify them:

# Verify the name of your FreshRSS volume, typically `freshrss_data`
docker volume ls
# Verify the path of your FreshRSS volume, typically `/var/lib/docker/volumes/freshrss_data/`
docker volume inspect freshrss_data
# Then edit your configuration file
sudo nano /var/lib/docker/volumes/freshrss_data/_data/config.php

Docker Compose

First, put variables such as passwords in your .env file, which can live where your docker-compose.yml should be. See example.env.

ADMIN_EMAIL[email protected]
ADMIN_PASSWORD=freshrss
ADMIN_API_PASSWORD=freshrss
# Published port if running locally
PUBLISHED_PORT=8080
# Database credentials (not relevant if using default SQLite database)
DB_HOST=freshrss-db
DB_BASE=freshrss
DB_PASSWORD=freshrss
DB_USER=freshrss

See docker-compose.yml

cd ./FreshRSS/Docker/freshrss/
# Update
docker compose pull
# Run
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-local.yml up -d --remove-orphans
# Logs
docker compose logs -f --timestamps
# Stop
docker compose down --remove-orphans

Detailed (partial) example of Docker Compose for FreshRSS:

version: "2.4"

volumes:
  data:
  extensions:

services:
  freshrss:
    image: freshrss/freshrss:edge
    # Optional build section if you want to build the image locally:
    build:
      # Pick #latest (stable release) or #edge (rolling release) or a specific release like #1.21.0
      context: https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS.git#edge
      dockerfile: Docker/Dockerfile-Alpine
    container_name: freshrss
    restart: unless-stopped
    logging:
      options:
        max-size: 10m
    volumes:
      # Recommended volume for FreshRSS persistent data such as configuration and SQLite databases
      - data:/var/www/FreshRSS/data
      # Optional volume for storing third-party extensions
      - extensions:/var/www/FreshRSS/extensions
      # Optional file providing custom global settings (used before a FreshRSS install)
      - ./config.custom.php:/var/www/FreshRSS/data/config.custom.php
      # Optional file providing custom user settings (used before a new user is created)
      - ./config-user.custom.php:/var/www/FreshRSS/data/config-user.custom.php
    ports:
      # If you want to open a port 8080 on the local machine:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      # A timezone http://php.net/timezones (default is UTC)
      TZ: Europe/Paris
      # Cron job to refresh feeds at specified minutes
      CRON_MIN: '2,32'
      # 'development' for additional logs; default is 'production'
      FRESHRSS_ENV: development
      # Optional advanced parameter controlling the internal Apache listening port
      LISTEN: 0.0.0.0:80
      # Optional parameter, remove for automatic settings, set to 0 to disable,
      # or (if you use a proxy) to a space-separated list of trusted IP ranges
      # compatible with https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_remoteip.html#remoteipinternalproxy
      # This impacts which IP address is logged (X-Forwarded-For or REMOTE_ADDR).
      # This also impacts external authentication methods;
      # see https://freshrss.github.io/FreshRSS/en/admins/09_AccessControl.html
      TRUSTED_PROXY: 172.16.0.1/12 192.168.0.1/16
      # Optional parameter, set to 1 to enable OpenID Connect (only available in our Debian image)
      # Requires more environment variables. See https://freshrss.github.io/FreshRSS/en/admins/16_OpenID-Connect.html
      OIDC_ENABLED: 0
      # Optional auto-install parameters (the Web interface install is recommended instead):
      # ⚠️ Parameters below are only used at the very first run (so far).
      # So if changes are made (or in .env file), first delete the service and volumes.
      # ℹ️ All the --db-* parameters can be omitted if using built-in SQLite database.
      FRESHRSS_INSTALL: |-
        --api-enabled
        --base-url ${BASE_URL}
        --db-base ${DB_BASE}
        --db-host ${DB_HOST}
        --db-password ${DB_PASSWORD}
        --db-type pgsql
        --db-user ${DB_USER}
        --default_user admin
        --language en
      FRESHRSS_USER: |-
        --api-password ${ADMIN_API_PASSWORD}
        --email ${ADMIN_EMAIL}
        --language en
        --password ${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
        --user admin

Docker Compose with PostgreSQL

Example including a PostgreSQL database.

See docker-compose-db.yml

cd ./FreshRSS/Docker/freshrss/
# Update
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-db.yml pull
# Run
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-db.yml -f docker-compose-local.yml up -d --remove-orphans
# Logs
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-db.yml logs -f --timestamps

See also the section Migrate database below to upgrade to a major PostgreSQL version with Docker Compose.

Docker Compose for development

Use the local (git) FreshRSS source code instead of the one inside the Docker container, to avoid having to rebuild/restart at each change in the source code.

See docker-compose-development.yml

cd ./FreshRSS/Docker/freshrss/
# Update
git pull --ff-only --prune
docker compose pull
# Run
docker compose -f docker-compose-development.yml -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-local.yml up --remove-orphans
# Stop with [Control]+[C] and purge
docker compose down --remove-orphans --volumes

ℹ️ You can combine it with -f docker-compose-db.yml to spin a PostgreSQL database.

Run in production

For production, it is a good idea to use a reverse proxy on your host server, providing HTTPS. A dedicated solution such as Træfik is recommended (or see alternative options below).

You must first chose a domain (DNS) or sub-domain, e.g. freshrss.example.net, and set it in your .env file:

SERVER_DNS=freshrss.example.net

Use Træfik reverse proxy

Option 1: server FreshRSS as a sub-domain

Use Host() rule, like:

- traefik.http.routers.freshrss.rule=Host(`freshrss.example.net`)

Option 2: serve FreshRSS as a sub-path

Use PathPrefix() rules and StripPrefix middleware, like:

- traefik.http.middlewares.freshrssM3.stripprefix.prefixes=/freshrss
- traefik.http.routers.freshrss.middlewares=freshrssM3
- traefik.http.routers.freshrss.rule=PathPrefix(`/freshrss`)

Full example

Here is the recommended configuration using automatic Let’s Encrypt HTTPS certificates and with a redirection from HTTP to HTTPS.

See docker-compose-proxy.yml

cd ./FreshRSS/Docker/freshrss/
# Update
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-proxy.yml pull
# Run
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-proxy.yml up -d --remove-orphans
# Logs
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-proxy.yml logs -f --timestamps
# Stop
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-proxy.yml down --remove-orphans

ℹ️ You can combine it with -f docker-compose-db.yml to spin a PostgreSQL database.

See more information about Docker and Let’s Encrypt in Træfik.

Alternative reverse proxy configurations

Alternative reverse proxy using Apache

Here is an example of a configuration file for running FreshRSS behind an Apache 2.4 reverse proxy (as a subdirectory). You need a working SSL configuration and the Apache modules proxy, proxy_http and headers installed (depends on your distribution) and enabled (a2enmod proxy proxy_http headers).

ProxyPreserveHost On

<Location /freshrss/>
	ProxyPass http://127.0.0.1:8080/
	ProxyPassReverse http://127.0.0.1:8080/
	RequestHeader set X-Forwarded-Prefix "/freshrss"
	RequestHeader set X-Forwarded-Proto "https"
	Require all granted
	Options none
</Location>

Alternative reverse proxy using nginx

Hosted in a subdirectory

Here is an example of configuration to run FreshRSS behind an nginx reverse proxy (as subdirectory).

upstream freshrss {
	server 127.0.0.1:8080;
	keepalive 64;
}

server {
	listen 80;

	location / {
		return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
	}
}

server {
	server_name mywebsite.example.net;
	listen 443 ssl http2;

	# Other SSL stuff goes here

	location / {
		try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
		index index.htm index.html;
	}

	location /freshrss/ {
		proxy_pass http://freshrss/;
		add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN;
		add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
		proxy_redirect off;
		proxy_buffering off;
		proxy_set_header Host $host;
		proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Prefix /freshrss/;
		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Port $server_port;
		proxy_read_timeout 90;

		# Forward the Authorization header for the Google Reader API.
		proxy_set_header Authorization $http_authorization;
		proxy_pass_header Authorization;
	}
}

Hosted as domain root

Here is an example of configuration to run FreshRSS behind an Nginx reverse proxy (as domain root).

upstream freshrss {
	server 127.0.0.1:8080;
	keepalive 64;
}

server {
	listen 80;

	location / {
		return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
	}
}

server {
	server_name mywebsite.example.net;
	listen 443 ssl http2;

	# Other SSL stuff goes here

	location / {
		# The final `/` is important.
		proxy_pass http://freshrss/;
		add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN;
		add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
		proxy_redirect off;
		proxy_buffering off;
		proxy_set_header Host $host;
		proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
		proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Port $server_port;
		proxy_read_timeout 90;

		# Forward the Authorization header for the Google Reader API.
		proxy_set_header Authorization $http_authorization;
		proxy_pass_header Authorization;
	}
}

Cron job to automatically refresh feeds

We recommend a refresh rate of about twice per hour (see WebSub / PubSubHubbub for real-time updates). There are no less than 3 options. Pick a single one.

Option 1) Cron inside the FreshRSS Docker image

Easiest, built-in solution, also used already in the examples above (but your Docker instance will have a second process in the background, without monitoring). Just pass the environment variable CRON_MIN to your docker run command, containing a valid cron minute definition such as '13,43' (recommended) or '*/20'. Not passing the CRON_MIN environment variable – or setting it to empty string – will disable the cron daemon.

docker run ... \
  -e 'CRON_MIN=13,43' \
  --name freshrss freshrss/freshrss

Option 2) Cron on the host machine

Traditional solution. Set a cron job up on your host machine, calling the actualize_script.php inside the FreshRSS Docker instance. Remember not pass the CRON_MIN environment variable to your Docker run, to avoid running the built-in cron daemon of option 1.

Example on Debian / Ubuntu: Create /etc/cron.d/FreshRSS with:

7,37 * * * * root docker exec --user www-data freshrss php ./app/actualize_script.php > /tmp/FreshRSS.log 2>&1

Option 3) Cron as another instance of the same FreshRSS Docker image

For advanced users. Offers good logging and monitoring with auto-restart on failure. Watch out to use the same run parameters than in your main FreshRSS instance, for database, networking, and file system. See cron option 1 for customising the cron schedule.

For the Debian image (default)

docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --log-opt max-size=10m \
  -v freshrss_data:/var/www/FreshRSS/data \
  -v freshrss_extensions:/var/www/FreshRSS/extensions \
  -e 'CRON_MIN=17,47' \
  --net freshrss-network \
  --name freshrss_cron freshrss/freshrss \
  cron -f

For the Debian image (default) using a custom cron.d fragment

This method gives most flexibility to execute various FreshRSS CLI commands.

docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --log-opt max-size=10m \
  -v freshrss_data:/var/www/FreshRSS/data \
  -v freshrss_extensions:/var/www/FreshRSS/extensions \
  -v ./freshrss_crontab:/etc/cron.d/freshrss \
  --net freshrss-network \
  --name freshrss_cron freshrss/freshrss \
  cron -f

For the Alpine image

docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --log-opt max-size=10m \
  -v freshrss_data:/var/www/FreshRSS/data \
  -v freshrss_extensions:/var/www/FreshRSS/extensions \
  -e 'CRON_MIN=27,57' \
  --net freshrss-network \
  --name freshrss_cron freshrss/freshrss:alpine \
  crond -f -d 6

Migrate database

Our CLI offers commands to back-up and migrate user databases, with cli/db-backup.php and cli/db-restore.php in particular.

Here is an example (assuming our Docker Compose example) intended for migrating to a newer major version of PostgreSQL, but which can also be used to migrate between other databases (e.g. MySQL to PostgreSQL).

# Stop FreshRSS container (Web server + cron) during maintenance
docker compose down freshrss

# Optional additional pre-upgrade back-up using PostgreSQL own mechanism
docker compose -f docker-compose-db.yml \
  exec freshrss-db pg_dump -U freshrss freshrss | gzip -9 > freshrss-postgres-backup.sql.gz
# ------↑ Name of your PostgreSQL Docker container
# -----------------------------↑ Name of your PostgreSQL user for FreshRSS
# --------------------------------------↑ Name of your PostgreSQL database for FreshRSS

# Back-up all users’ respective tables to SQLite files
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-db.yml \
  run --rm freshrss cli/db-backup.php

# Remove old database (PostgreSQL) container and its data volume
docker compose -f docker-compose-db.yml \
  down --volumes freshrss-db

# Edit your Compose file to use new database (e.g. newest postgres:xx)
nano docker-compose-db.yml

# Start new database (PostgreSQL) container and its new empty data volume
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-db.yml \
  up -d freshrss-db

# Restore all users’ respective tables from SQLite files
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-db.yml \
  run --rm freshrss cli/db-restore.php --delete-backup

# Restart a new FreshRSS container after maintenance
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-db.yml up -d freshrss