Dockge with Docker Compose

March 20, 2026

dockerservicesdockgemanagement

Dockge is a web UI for managing Docker Compose stacks. It watches a directory for docker-compose.yml files, lets you start/stop/edit stacks from the browser, and supports multi-host management — deploy one instance per Docker host, then add remote hosts as agents from the primary UI.

Compose

services:
  dockge:
    image: louislam/dockge:1
    container_name: dockge
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - '5001:5001'
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - /opt/dockge/data:/app/data
      - /opt/stacks:/opt/stacks
    environment:
      - DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR=/opt/stacks
      - TZ=America/New_York

Stacks directory

Dockge watches DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR for subdirectories containing docker-compose.yml files:

/opt/stacks/
  vaultwarden/
    docker-compose.yml
    .env
  uptime-kuma/
    docker-compose.yml

Each subdirectory is one stack. Dockge treats the directory name as the stack name.

The host path (/opt/stacks) and the container path (DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR) must match so Dockge can write compose files correctly.

Multi-host setup

Every Dockge instance uses the same image — there’s no separate agent binary. To manage multiple hosts:

Deploy Dockge on each Docker host using the compose above
On the primary instance: Agents → Add Agent → enter the URL and credentials of the remote instance
All hosts appear in the sidebar; switch between them without leaving the UI

Volumes

Path	Purpose
`/var/run/docker.sock`	Docker engine control — required
`/app/data`	Dockge’s SQLite DB and internal state
`/opt/stacks`	Your compose stack directories

If your stacks directory is elsewhere, update both the host bind mount and DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR to match.

Symlinks to a git repo (optional)

If you manage compose files in a git repo, symlink stacks into /opt/stacks instead of storing them directly:

ln -s /opt/myrepo/compose/vaultwarden /opt/stacks/vaultwarden

Dockge must be able to resolve the symlink target inside the container, so mount the repo directory too:

volumes:
  - /opt/myrepo:/opt/myrepo:ro
  - /opt/stacks:/opt/stacks

Dockge doesn’t pull git changes — sync the repo externally (cron, webhook, Watchtower, etc.).

Port

5001 — web UI. Restrict firewall access; the Docker socket gives Dockge full control over the host’s containers.