Running nexovue with Docker and Compose

nexovue ships as two public Docker images, and a set of Compose files that run them with the databases they need. You need no account to pull them.

Both are built for amd64 and arm64. Each release is tagged with its version (0.1.0), its minor version (0.1) and latest.

docker pull ghcr.io/nexovue-tech/nexovue:0.1.0
docker pull ghcr.io/nexovue-tech/nexovue-pipeline:0.1.0

Pin a version rather than using latest, so that nothing changes until you choose to upgrade.

Why docker run alone is not enough

One image does nothing by itself. A running nexovue is 11 containers: the services from these two images, plus Kafka, ClickHouse, Postgres, SeaweedFS and a Caddy proxy. Compose starts them in the right order, and a setup step prepares the databases before any service starts.

The quickest way: the kit

The kit is the Compose files and the nexovue command that drives them. On a machine with Docker and 8 GB of memory for it:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/nexovue-tech/nexovue/releases/latest/download/nexovue-0.1.0.tar.gz | tar -xz
cd nexovue-0.1.0
./nexovue quickstart

The command generates every password and key, starts everything, and prints where to sign in:

• The console: http://localhost:8080
• Telemetry from your applications: http://localhost:4318 (OTLP over HTTP)

The quickstart is for trying nexovue, not for production: it has no TLS and no backups, and nothing can reach it from another machine. To run it for real, follow the install guide, which adds certificates, backups and upgrades.

Using Compose directly

The quickstart writes its settings to ~/.nexovue/quickstart/nexovue.env. From the kit's folder, you can then use Docker Compose yourself:

alias nv='docker compose --project-name nexovue-quickstart \
  --env-file ~/.nexovue/quickstart/nexovue.env \
  -f compose/nexovue.yaml -f compose/nexovue.quickstart.yaml'

nv ps                # what is running, and whether it is healthy
nv logs -f api       # follow one service's logs
nv down              # stop everything; your data stays
nv up -d --wait      # start it again

./nexovue quickstart remove deletes the containers and everything they recorded.

On a server, the install keeps its settings in /opt/nexovue/nexovue.env and the files under /opt/nexovue/current. Use sudo nexovue status, upgrade, backup and the other commands rather than Compose: an upgrade backs up first and moves the databases forward in the right order, which docker compose up with a new version does not do for you.

Writing your own settings

Every setting the Compose files need is named in compose/nexovue.yaml, and Compose refuses to start and names the variable if one is missing. The simplest way to get a correct file is to let ./nexovue quickstart write one and copy it. Keep it private: it holds every password. Generate new secrets for each install, never reuse the ones from another.

Changing how it runs

Don't edit the kit's Compose files, because an upgrade replaces them. Put your changes in a Compose file of your own and name it in the settings, as the install guide describes:

NEXOVUE_EXTRA_COMPOSE=/opt/nexovue/my-changes.yaml

Your application in Docker

To send telemetry from your own containers to nexovue, see Docker and Docker Compose.