README

README for docker Deployment

Welcome to the new docker directory for deploying Dify using Docker Compose. This README outlines the updates, deployment instructions, and migration details for existing users.

What's Updated

Certbot Container: docker-compose.yaml now contains certbot for managing SSL certificates. This container automatically renews certificates and ensures secure HTTPS connections.
For more information, refer docker/certbot/README.md.
Persistent Environment Variables: Essential startup defaults are provided in .env.example, while local values are stored in .env, ensuring that your configurations persist across deployments.

What is .env? </br> </br> The .env file is the local startup file. Copy it from .env.example for a default deployment. Optional advanced settings live in envs/*.env.example files.
Unified Vector Database Services: All vector database services are now managed from a single Docker Compose file docker-compose.yaml. You can switch between different vector databases by setting the VECTOR_STORE environment variable in your .env file.

How to Deploy Dify with `docker-compose.yaml`

Prerequisites: Ensure Docker and Docker Compose are installed on your system.
Environment Setup:
- Navigate to the docker directory.
- Copy .env.example to .env.
- Customize .env when you need to change essential startup defaults. Copy optional files from envs/ without the .example suffix when you need advanced settings.
- Optional (for advanced deployments): If you maintain a full .env file copied from .env.example, you may use the environment synchronization tool to keep it aligned with the latest .env.example updates while preserving your custom settings. See the Environment Variables Synchronization section below.
Running the Services:
- Execute docker compose up -d from the docker directory to start the services.
- To specify a vector database, set the VECTOR_STORE variable in your .env file to your desired vector database service, such as milvus, weaviate, or opensearch.
bash
```
cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -d
```
SSL Certificate Setup:
- Refer docker/certbot/README.md to set up SSL certificates using Certbot.
OpenTelemetry Collector Setup:
- Change ENABLE_OTEL to true in .env.
- Configure OTLP_BASE_ENDPOINT properly.

How to Deploy Middleware for Developing Dify

Middleware Setup:
- Use the docker-compose.middleware.yaml for setting up essential middleware services like databases and caches.
- Navigate to the docker directory.
- Ensure the middleware.env file is created by running cp envs/middleware.env.example middleware.env (refer to the envs/middleware.env.example file).
Running Middleware Services:
- Navigate to the docker directory.
- Execute docker compose --env-file middleware.env -f docker-compose.middleware.yaml -p dify up -d to start PostgreSQL/MySQL (per DB_TYPE) plus the bundled Weaviate instance.

Compose automatically loads COMPOSE_PROFILES=${DB_TYPE:-postgresql},weaviate from middleware.env, so no extra --profile flags are needed. Adjust variables in middleware.env if you want a different combination of services.

Migration for Existing Users

For users migrating from the docker-legacy setup:

Review Changes: Familiarize yourself with the new .env configuration and Docker Compose setup.
Transfer Customizations:
- If you have customized configurations such as docker-compose.yaml, ssrf_proxy/squid.conf, or nginx/conf.d/default.conf, you will need to reflect these changes in the .env file you create.
Data Migration:
- Ensure that data from services like databases and caches is backed up and migrated appropriately to the new structure if necessary.

Overview of `.env`, `.env.example`, and `envs/`

.env.example contains the essential default configuration for Docker Compose deployments.
.env contains local startup values copied from .env.example and any local changes.
envs/*.env.example files contain optional advanced configuration grouped by theme.

Docker Compose reads envs/*.env files when present, then reads .env last so values in .env take precedence.

Key Modules and Customization

Vector Database Services: Depending on the type of vector database used (VECTOR_STORE), users can set specific endpoints, ports, and authentication details.
Storage Services: Depending on the storage type (STORAGE_TYPE), users can configure specific settings for S3, Azure Blob, Google Storage, etc.
API and Web Services: Users can define URLs and other settings that affect how the API and web frontend operate.

Other notable variables

The root .env.example file contains the essential startup settings. Optional and provider-specific settings are grouped in envs/*.env.example files. Here are some of the key sections and variables:

Common Variables:
- CONSOLE_API_URL, SERVICE_API_URL: URLs for different API services.
- APP_WEB_URL: Frontend application URL.
- FILES_URL: Base URL for file downloads and previews.
Server Configuration:
- LOG_LEVEL, DEBUG, FLASK_DEBUG: Logging and debug settings.
- SECRET_KEY: A key for signing sessions, JWTs, and file URLs. Leave it empty to let Dify generate a persistent key in the storage directory, or set a unique value yourself.
Database Configuration:
- DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD, DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_DATABASE: PostgreSQL database credentials and connection details.
Redis Configuration:
- REDIS_HOST, REDIS_PORT, REDIS_PASSWORD: Redis server connection settings.
- REDIS_KEY_PREFIX: Optional global namespace prefix for Redis keys, topics, streams, and Celery Redis transport artifacts.
Celery Configuration:
- CELERY_BROKER_URL: Configuration for Celery message broker.
Storage Configuration:
- STORAGE_TYPE, OPENDAL_SCHEME, OPENDAL_FS_ROOT: Default local file storage settings. Optional storage backends are configured from the files under envs/.
Vector Database Configuration:
- VECTOR_STORE: Type of vector database (e.g., weaviate, milvus).
- Specific settings for each vector store like WEAVIATE_ENDPOINT, MILVUS_URI.
CORS Configuration:
- WEB_API_CORS_ALLOW_ORIGINS, CONSOLE_CORS_ALLOW_ORIGINS: Settings for cross-origin resource sharing.
OpenTelemetry Configuration:
- ENABLE_OTEL: Enable OpenTelemetry collector in api.
- OTLP_BASE_ENDPOINT: Endpoint for your OTLP exporter.
Other Service-Specific Environment Variables:
- Each service like nginx, redis, db, and vector databases have specific environment variables that are directly referenced in the docker-compose.yaml.

Environment Variables Synchronization

When upgrading Dify or pulling the latest changes, new environment variables may be introduced in .env.example or the optional files under envs/.

If you use the default workflow, review .env.example and keep your .env aligned with essential startup values.

If you maintain a customized .env file copied from .env.example, an optional environment variables synchronization tool is provided.

This tool performs a one-way synchronization from .env.example to .env. Existing values in .env are never overwritten automatically.

`dify-env-sync.sh` (Optional)

This script compares your current .env file with the latest .env.example template and helps safely apply new or updated environment variables.

What it does

Creates a backup of the current .env file before making any changes
Synchronizes newly added environment variables from .env.example
Preserves all existing custom values in .env
Displays differences and variables removed from .env.example for review

Backup behavior

Before synchronization, the current .env file is saved to the env-backup/ directory with a timestamped filename (e.g. env-backup/.env.backup_20231218_143022).

When to use

After upgrading Dify to a newer version with a full .env file
When .env.example has been updated with new environment variables
When managing a large or heavily customized .env file copied from .env.example

Usage

bash

# Grant execution permission (first time only)
chmod +x dify-env-sync.sh

# Run the synchronization
./dify-env-sync.sh

Additional Information

Continuous Improvement Phase: We are actively seeking feedback from the community to refine and enhance the deployment process. As more users adopt this new method, we will continue to make improvements based on your experiences and suggestions.
Support: For detailed configuration options and environment variable settings, refer to the .env.example file and the Docker Compose configuration files in the docker directory.

This README aims to guide you through the deployment process using the new Docker Compose setup. For any issues or further assistance, please refer to the official documentation or contact support.