Docker Development Guide

This guide provides instructions for building and running the LiteLLM application using Docker and Docker Compose.

Prerequisites

Docker
Docker Compose

Building and Running the Application

To build and run the application, you will use the docker-compose.yml file located in the root of the project. This file is configured to use the Dockerfile.non_root for a secure, non-root container environment.

1. Set the Master Key

The application requires a LITELLM_MASTER_KEY for signing and validating tokens. You must set this key as an environment variable before running the application.

Create a .env file in the root of the project and add the following line:

LITELLM_MASTER_KEY=your-secret-key

Replace your-secret-key with a strong, randomly generated secret.

2. Build and Run the Containers

Once you have set the LITELLM_MASTER_KEY, you can build and run the containers using the following command:

bash

docker compose up -d --build

This command will:

Build the Docker image using Dockerfile.non_root.
Start the litellm, litellm_db, and prometheus services in detached mode (-d).
The --build flag ensures that the image is rebuilt if there are any changes to the Dockerfile or the application code.

3. Verifying the Application is Running

You can check the status of the running containers with the following command:

bash

docker compose ps

To view the logs of the litellm container, run:

bash

docker compose logs -f litellm

4. Stopping the Application

To stop the running containers, use the following command:

bash

docker compose down

Hardened / Offline Testing

To ensure changes are safe for non-root, read-only root filesystems and restricted egress, always validate with the hardened compose file:

bash

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.hardened.yml build --no-cache
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.hardened.yml up -d

This setup:

Builds from docker/Dockerfile.non_root with Prisma engines and Node toolchain baked into the image.
Runs the proxy as a non-root user with a read-only rootfs and only writable tmpfs mounts:
- /app/cache (Prisma/NPM cache; backing PRISMA_BINARY_CACHE_DIR, NPM_CONFIG_CACHE, XDG_CACHE_HOME)
- /app/migrations (Prisma migration workspace; backing LITELLM_MIGRATION_DIR)
Pre-builds and serves the admin UI from read-only paths:
- /var/lib/litellm/ui (pre-restructured Next.js UI with .litellm_ui_ready marker)
- /var/lib/litellm/assets (UI logos and assets)
Routes all outbound traffic through a local Squid proxy that denies egress, so Prisma migrations must use the cached CLI and engines.

You should also verify offline Prisma behaviour with:

bash

docker run --rm --network none --entrypoint prisma ghcr.io/berriai/litellm:main-stable --version

This command should succeed (showing engine versions) even with --network none, confirming that Prisma binaries are available without network access.

Troubleshooting

build_admin_ui.sh: not found: This error can occur if the Docker build context is not set correctly. Ensure that you are running the docker-compose command from the root of the project.
Master key is not initialized: This error means the LITELLM_MASTER_KEY environment variable is not set. Make sure you have created a .env file in the project root with the LITELLM_MASTER_KEY defined.