Self-Hosting Get Started

Self-host Customermates with Docker Compose

This page shows how to run a self-hosted Customermates deployment with Docker Compose and PostgreSQL. If you are still deciding between deployment models, compare Self-Hosted vs Cloud first.

Self-hosted deployments run the community edition by default. Paid Enterprise features (Audit Logging, Single Sign-On, AI Agent, Whitelabeling) are not active in self-hosted deployments.

Prerequisites

Before deploying, make sure you have:

• a VPS with Docker Engine and Docker Compose installed
• a domain you can point to your server
• access to create DNS records
• access to clone this repository on your server

For production usage, use a reverse proxy with HTTPS termination in front of the app container.

Installation flow

From the project root on your server:

cp .env.selfhost.template .env
chmod +x scripts/selfhost-setup.sh
./scripts/selfhost-setup.sh

The setup script:

1. Validate required inputs and environment values.
2. Build the app image and start PostgreSQL.
3. Start the app container with Docker Compose.
4. Run prisma migrate deploy.

If you need to adjust configuration values, update .env and run the setup script again.

Initial startup checks

After setup, verify the containers are running:

docker compose ps

Then follow the application logs until the app reports it is ready:

docker compose logs -f app

For database diagnostics:

docker compose logs -f postgres

First login and signup

Once the app is reachable in the browser:

1. Open your configured domain.
2. Create your first account or sign in.
3. Complete onboarding and initial company setup.

After this first login, continue with Managing Your Installation to handle updates, restarts, and troubleshooting workflows. For the operational trade-offs between deployment models, also see Self-Hosted vs Cloud.