Self-hosting

In this article, you will be guided through how to host Lowcoder on your own server using Docker-Compose or Docker.

There are multiple ways of installation. We directly support:

1) Start easy:

For easy setup and deployment, we provide an all-in-one image that bundles frontend, backend, and data persistence services altogether in one single container.

All-in-one image

Prerequisites

Recommended system spec: 1-core CPU and 2 GB RAM.

Windows users are recommended to use PowerShell for running the commands below.

In your working directory, run the following commands to make a directory named Lowcoder to store the data of Lowcoder:

mkdir lowcoder
cd lowcoder

Deploy

Follow the steps below:

  1. Download the configuration file by clicking docker-compose.yml or running the curl command:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lowcoder-org/lowcoder/main/deploy/docker/docker-compose.yaml -o $PWD/docker-compose.yml

  1. Start the Docker container by running this command:

    docker-compose up -d

    The docker image, about 400 MB, is downloaded during the initial start-up.

    After downloading, it usually takes less than 30 seconds to start the service.

  2. Check the logs by running this command:

    docker logs -f lowcoder

    When you see frontend, backend, redis, and mongo entered the RUNNING state, the Lowcoder service has officially started:

  3. Visit http://localhost:3000 and click Sign up. Lowcoder will automatically create a workspace for you, then you can start building your apps and invite members to your workspace.

Update to the latest version

Run the following commands to update to the latest Lowcoder image:

docker-compose pull
docker-compose rm -fsv lowcoder
docker-compose up -d

2) Scale

For bigger expected loads that need scaling in a cluster environment, we provide separate images of backend and frontend services with a customizable Dockerfile.

Separate images: services in stateless containers

For bigger expected loads that need scaling in a cluster environment, we offer separate images for stateless containers of the backend and frontend service with a customizable Dockerfile. A well-functioning Lowcoder deployment consists of below services:

  • api-service: Backend service.

  • node-service: Backend service.

  • frontend: Frontend service.

  • MongoDB: Used for persisting data of users, apps, data sources, etc.

  • Redis: Used for maintaining user sessions, rate-limiter, etc.

Prerequisites

Deploy

  1. In your working directory, run the following commands to make a directory named lowcoder to store the data of Lowcoder:

    mkdir lowcoder
cd lowcoder

  2. Download the configuration file by clicking docker-compose-multi.yml or running the curl command:

    curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lowcoder-org/lowcoder/main/deploy/docker/docker-compose-multi.yaml -o $PWD/docker-compose-multi.yml

  3. Modify service configurations in the downloaded Dockerfile according to your needs:

    • mongodb: Start a new MongoDB instance on your host. You can delete this part and modify the environment variable MONGODB_URI of the api-service to use your own MongoDB.

    • redis: Start a new Redis instance on your host. You can delete this part and modify the environment variable REDIS_URI of the api-service to use your own Redis.

    • api-service: Required.

    • node-service: Required.

    • frontend: Required. Can be optional if you deploy the frontend on CDN.

  4. Start Docker containers by running this command:

    docker-compose -f docker-compose-multi.yml up -d

  5. Visit http://localhost:3000 and click Sign up. Lowcoder will automatically create a workspace for you, then you can start building your apps and invite members to your workspace.

3) Update to the latest version

Run the following commands to update services to the latest in a Docker Compose installation:

Please also have a look at this migration / update guide

docker-compose -f docker-compose-multi.yml pull
docker-compose -f docker-compose-multi.yml up -d

4) Customize the deployment

This section shows how to customize deployment configurations by setting environment variables.

If you have already started Docker containers, you need to restart the containers for new configurations to take effect. For example, the way to restart your container running an all-in-one image is:

One single command:

docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

It picks up configuration changes by stopping containers already in service and recreating new ones.

Below are examples of configuring the all-in-one image by setting environment variables in docker-compose.yml. If you are self-hosting with separate images, modify the lowcoder-api-service part of the docker-compose-multi.yml file instead.

For more information about configurations and environment variables, see Configuration.

Use your own MongoDB and Redis

By default, Lowcoder uses the built-in MongoDB and Redis installed inside the container, and you can replace them with your own MongoDB and Redis clusters.

Add environment variables MONGODB_URI and REDIS_URI in docker-compose.yml downloaded in your working directory.

Run as non-root user

By default, the supervisor will run under the user uid=9001. You can specify the uid by adding a docker environment variable LOCAL_USER_ID and setting its value to a different number, such as 10010.

Add an environment variable LOCAL_USER_ID in docker-compose.yml downloaded in your working directory.

5) Secure your deployment

Install SSL certificate

With an SSL certificate, you can securely visit self-hosted Lowcoder with HTTPS protocol. Here are the steps to install your SSL certificate before starting a container:

  1. Copy fullchain.pem and privkey.pem to the $PWD/stacks/ssl directory.

  2. In $PWD/docker-compose.yml, change the value of ports to "3443:3443".

In cases where you have certificates with names: server.crt and server.key, you need to rename them first as follows: server.crt => fullchain.pem server.key => privkey.pem

6) Configure the Environment

ENV Variables for Helm, Docker Compose, and Docker installations are to find in the most current version on our Github Repository.

ENV Variables for the all-in-one image

This image contains all services needed to run Lowcoder platform in one container.

Environment variableDescriptionDefault-Value

LOWCODER_REDIS_ENABLED

If true redis server is started in the container

true

LOWCODER_MONGODB_ENABLED

If true mongo database is started in the container

true

LOWCODER_MONGODB_EXPOSED

If true mongo database accept connections from outside the docker

false

LOWCODER_API_SERVICE_ENABLED

If true lowcoder api-service is started in the container

true

LOWCODER_NODE_SERVICE_ENABLED

If true lowcoder node-service is started in the container

true

LOWCODER_FRONTEND_ENABLED

If true lowcoder web frontend is started in the container

true

LOWCODER_PUID

ID of user running services. It will own all created logs and data.

9001

LOWCODER_PGID

ID of group of the user running services.

9001

LOWCODER_MONGODB_URL

Mongo database connection string

mongodb://localhost:27017/lowcoder?authSource=admin

LOWCODER_REDIS_URL

Redis server URL

redis://localhost:6379

LOWCODER_DB_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD

Encryption password

lowcoder.org

LOWCODER_DB_ENCRYPTION_SALT

Salt used for encrypting password

lowcoder.org

LOWCODER_CORS_DOMAINS

CORS allowed domains

*

LOWCODER_MAX_REQUEST_SIZE

Lowcoder max request size

20m

LOWCODER_MAX_QUERY_TIMEOUT

Lowcoder max query timeout (in seconds)

120

LOWCODER_API_SERVICE_URL

Lowcoder API service URL

http://localhost:8080

LOWCODER_NODE_SERVICE_URL

Lowcoder Node service (js executor) URL

http://localhost:6060

LOWCODER_MAX_ORGS_PER_USER

Default maximum organizations per user

100

LOWCODER_MAX_MEMBERS_PER_ORG

Default maximum members per organization

1000

LOWCODER_MAX_GROUPS_PER_ORG

Default maximum groups per organization

100

LOWCODER_MAX_APPS_PER_ORG

Default maximum applications per organization

1000

LOWCODER_MAX_DEVELOPERS

Default maximum developers

100

LOWCODER_WORKSPACE_MODE

SAAS to activate, ENTERPRISE to switch off - Workspaces

SAAS

LOWCODER_EMAIL_SIGNUP_ENABLED

Control if users create their own Workspace automatic when Sign Up

true

LOWCODER_CREATE_WORKSPACE_ON_SIGNUP

IF LOWCODER_WORKSPACE_MODE = SAAS, controls if a own workspace is created for the user after sign up

true

LOWCODER_MARKETPLACE_PRIVATE_MODE

Control if not to show Apps on the local Marketplace to anonymous users

true

Also, you should set the API-KEY secret, whcih should be a string of at least 32 random characters On linux/mac, generate one eg. with: head /dev/urandom | head -c 30 | shasum -a 256

Environment variableDescriptionDefault-Value

LOWCODER_API_KEY_SECRET

String to encrypt/sign API Keys that users may create

ENV Variables for the api-service image

Environment variableDescriptionDefault-Value

LOWCODER_PUID

ID of user running services. It will own all created logs and data.

9001

LOWCODER_PGID

ID of group of the user running services.

9001

LOWCODER_MONGODB_URL

Mongo database connection string

mongodb://localhost:27017/lowcoder?authSource=admin

LOWCODER_REDIS_URL

Redis server URL

redis://localhost:6379

LOWCODER_DB_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD

Encryption password

lowcoder.org

LOWCODER_DB_ENCRYPTION_SALT

Salt used for encrypting password

lowcoder.org

LOWCODER_CORS_DOMAINS

CORS allowed domains

*

LOWCODER_MAX_ORGS_PER_USER

Default maximum organizations per user

100

LOWCODER_MAX_MEMBERS_PER_ORG

Default maximum members per organization

1000

LOWCODER_MAX_GROUPS_PER_ORG

Default maximum groups per organization

100

LOWCODER_MAX_APPS_PER_ORG

Default maximum applications per organization

1000

LOWCODER_MAX_DEVELOPERS

Default maximum developers

100

LOWCODER_MAX_QUERY_TIMEOUT

Lowcoder max query timeout (in seconds)

120

LOWCODER_MAX_REQUEST_SIZE

Lowcoder max request size

20m

LOWCODER_WORKSPACE_MODE

SAAS to activate, ENTERPRISE to switch off - Workspaces

SAAS

LOWCODER_EMAIL_SIGNUP_ENABLED

Control is users can create their own Workspace when Sign Up

true

ENV Variables for the node-service image

Environment variableDescriptionDefault-Value

LOWCODER_PUID

ID of user running services. It will own all created logs and data.

9001

LOWCODER_PGID

ID of group of the user running services.

9001

LOWCODER_API_SERVICE_URL

Lowcoder API service URL

http://localhost:8080

ENV Variables for the web frontend image

Environment variableDescriptionDefault-Value

LOWCODER_PUID

ID of user running services. It will own all created logs and data.

9001

LOWCODER_PGID

ID of group of the user running services.

9001

LOWCODER_MAX_QUERY_TIMEOUT

Lowcoder max query timeout (in seconds)

120

LOWCODER_MAX_REQUEST_SIZE

Lowcoder max request size

20m

LOWCODER_API_SERVICE_URL

Lowcoder API service URL

http://localhost:8080

LOWCODER_NODE_SERVICE_URL

Lowcoder Node service (js executor) URL

http://localhost:6060

Health checks

The API Service has an included health check endpoint from v2.4.1 on.

You can check the health of the running API Service and it's connected MongoDB & Redis by the following HTTP Call:

```
GET /api/status/health HTTP/1.1
```

In response, you will get a 200 Status code if the service is up and running and a JSON like this:

{
    "status": "UP",
    "components": {
        "mongo": {
            "status": "UP",
            "components": {
                "reactiveMongoSlaveTemplate": {
                    "status": "UP"
                },
                "reactiveMongoTemplate": {
                    "status": "UP"
                }
            }
        },
        "ping": {
            "status": "UP"
        },
        "redis": {
            "status": "UP"
        }
    }
}

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