Docker Deployment

This guide covers deploying CloakMail with Docker in a production environment.

Prerequisites

Docker 20.10+
Docker Compose 2.0+
A server with a public IP
A domain with DNS configured

Production Docker Compose

Use the official production configuration from the repository:

docker-compose.production.yml

services:
  server:
    image: ghcr.io/dreamshive/cloakmail-server:latest
    ports:
      - "25:25"
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
      - SMTP_PORT=25
      - API_PORT=3000
      - EMAIL_TTL_SECONDS=86400
      - DOMAIN=${DOMAIN:-localhost}
    depends_on:
      - redis
    restart: unless-stopped

  web:
    image: ghcr.io/dreamshive/cloakmail-web:latest
    ports:
      - "5173:5173"
    environment:
      - PUBLIC_API_URL=http://server:3000
      - PUBLIC_APP_NAME=${APP_NAME:-CloakMail}
      - PUBLIC_EMAIL_DOMAIN=${DOMAIN:-localhost}
      - PORT=5173
    depends_on:
      - server
    restart: unless-stopped

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    volumes:
      - redis_data:/data
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  redis_data:

CloakMail uses Redis for email storage. The redis_data volume ensures emails persist across container restarts.

Environment Configuration

Create a .env.production file:

.env.production

DOMAIN=mail.example.com
APP_NAME=CloakMail
EMAIL_TTL_SECONDS=3600

Running in Production

docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml --env-file .env.production up -d

Updating

Update to the latest version:

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

Monitoring

View Logs

# All services
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml logs -f

# Specific service
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml logs -f server

Check Health

docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml ps

Resource Usage

docker stats

Backup

While CloakMail is designed for temporary emails, you might want to backup configuration:

# Backup environment
cp .env.production .env.production.backup

# Backup docker compose
cp docker-compose.prod.yml docker-compose.prod.yml.backup

Scaling

For high-traffic deployments, run multiple instances behind a load balancer:

services:
  server:
    deploy:
      replicas: 3

The SMTP server should only run as a single instance to avoid port conflicts.

Security Considerations

Firewall Rules

Only expose necessary ports:

# Allow SMTP (required for email)
sudo ufw allow 25/tcp

# Allow HTTP/HTTPS (for web UI via reverse proxy)
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

# Block direct access to API (use reverse proxy)
# Port 3000 and 5173 should NOT be exposed publicly

Network Isolation

Use Docker networks to isolate services:

networks:
  frontend:
  backend:

services:
  server:
    networks:
      - backend

  web:
    networks:
      - frontend
      - backend

Next Steps

Production Deployment — Complete production setup
SMTP Settings — Configure email receiving

Docker Deployment

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