Coolify is a self-hosted platform that lets you deploy applications, databases and services from a web dashboard — similar to Heroku or Vercel, but running on your own server. Docker, Traefik, PostgreSQL and Redis all come pre-installed and run as containers managed by Coolify itself.
Access your dashboard
Your Coolify dashboard is available at:
http://YOUR_IP_ADDRESS:8000
The dashboard takes around 1-2 minutes to be ready after first boot. If you see a connection error immediately after the server starts, wait a moment and try again.
On first access you'll be prompted to create an admin account. Complete the setup wizard to set your email and password.
Secure your dashboard
After completing initial setup, restrict access to port 8000 using the firewall in your LumaDock control panel. Allow only your own IP address. The Coolify dashboard exposes Docker management and should not be left open to the public internet.
Once you have a domain set up, you can configure Coolify to serve the dashboard over HTTPS on port 443 instead.
Connect a server
Coolify can manage the local server it's installed on or remote servers. To add the local server:
Step 1 – Go to Servers
Click Servers in the left sidebar.
Step 2 – Add the local server
Click Add a new server and select Localhost. Coolify connects to itself via the Docker socket.
Deploy an application
From a Git repository:
Step 1 – Create a project
Go to Projects and create a new project.
Step 2 – Add a resource
Inside the project, click Add a new resource and select Application.
Step 3 – Connect your repository
Choose your Git provider (GitHub, GitLab, Gitea or Bitbucket), then select your repository and branch. Coolify detects your framework automatically.
Step 4 – Deploy
Click Deploy. Build logs are available in real time inside the dashboard.
To deploy from a Docker image instead, select Docker Image when adding a resource, enter the image name and tag, configure ports and environment variables, then deploy. For a Compose file, select Docker Compose and paste or upload your docker-compose.yml.
Add a database
Step 1 – Add a database resource
Inside a project, click Add a new resource and select Database.
Step 2 – Choose your database
Pick from PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB or Redis, set your credentials and deploy.
The database is accessible internally to your other services. You can also expose it on a specific port if needed.
Configure domains and SSL
Coolify uses Traefik to handle routing and SSL via Let's Encrypt automatically.
Step 1 – Open application settings
Go to your application and open the Domains tab.
Step 2 – Add your domain
Enter your domain (e.g. app.yourdomain.com) and save.
Step 3 – Point DNS to your server
Make sure your domain's A record points to your server IP. Coolify requests and renews the SSL certificate automatically once DNS resolves.
Other useful features
Environment variables — set per application under Environment Variables in the application settings.
Persistent storage — mount volumes to your containers under Storages in the application settings.
Scheduled tasks — run cron jobs from the Scheduled Tasks section inside your application.
Backups — configure automated database backups to S3-compatible storage under the database settings.
Webhooks — trigger deployments automatically on git push by copying the webhook URL from the Deployments tab and adding it to your repository settings.
Update Coolify
curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash
The update script detects the existing installation and updates in place with no downtime.
Useful commands
docker ps # Check running containers docker logs coolify # Coolify logs docker logs coolify-proxy # Traefik logs docker restart coolify coolify-db coolify-redis coolify-realtime df -h # Disk usage free -h # Memory usage
Common issues
Dashboard not loading after boot
Wait 1-2 minutes for all containers to start, then check:
docker ps
All four containers (coolify, coolify-db, coolify-redis and coolify-realtime) should show as healthy.
Deployment failing
Check the deployment logs inside the Coolify dashboard. Each deployment has detailed log output showing exactly where it failed. The most common causes are missing environment variables or insufficient RAM during the build phase.
SSL certificate not provisioning
Make sure your domain's DNS A record is pointing to the server IP and has propagated. Traefik requests certificates automatically once the domain resolves correctly.
Learn more
For usage examples, CI/CD integration, and advanced deployment patterns, refer to the official Coolify documentation.