Running Zulip in Docker

Zulip provides an {doc}official Docker image <docker:index> for deployments that prefer to run services in containers. We recommend using it only if your organization has a preference for deploying this way; the Docker image moderately increases the effort required to install, maintain, and upgrade a Zulip installation, compared with the standard installer.

The Docker image supports two runtimes:

• Docker Compose for single-host deployments. See the {doc}Docker Compose getting started guide <docker:how-to/compose-getting-started>.
• Helm charts for Kubernetes deployments. See the {doc}Helm getting started guide <docker:how-to/helm-getting-started>.

Zulip's backup tool supports migrating between Docker and a standard installation, so you can change your mind later.

For configuration, secrets, networking, upgrades, and other operational topics, see the {doc}Docker documentation <docker:index> in full.