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Dharini

Administrator Guide

This guide covers deploying Dharini on your own server, from preparing the database and file storage to running the application behind a reverse proxy.

Dharini runs as a set of Docker Compose services (backend, web frontend, Redis, and optionally Postgres, Garage, pgAdmin and the mobile web app). You choose where the database and file storage live:

  • Managed cloud services. Use AWS RDS PostgreSQL (with PostGIS) for the database and an AWS S3 bucket for files.
  • Self-hosted. Use the bundled PostgreSQL 16 + PostGIS container and the bundled Garage container, which provides S3-compatible storage. Nothing leaves your own server. This also works on a Windows server through WSL 2 (see deploy-readme.md in the repository root).

You can mix the two, for example RDS with Garage.

Deploying Dharini requires:

  • A Linux server (Ubuntu 24.04 recommended) with Docker and Docker Compose
  • PostgreSQL 16 with PostGIS (managed, or the bundled container)
  • S3-compatible object storage (AWS S3, or the bundled Garage container), with a CORS rule for browser uploads
  • Nginx as a reverse proxy, and SSL certificates via Certbot
  • An SMTP email server or an SMS provider (Twilio), because users sign in with a one-time password

The backend applies database migrations and loads its reference data automatically when it starts, so there is no separate migration step.

Where to start

Section titled “Where to start”
  1. Short version: the README has the four steps: download two files, fill in .env, run ./deploy.sh production, put it behind HTTPS.
  2. Full version: follow Production Setup from top to bottom. It covers the database, file storage, .env, Nginx, SSL and DNS.
  3. Keep it running: Updating and rolling back, CI/CD with GitHub Actions, Troubleshooting.
  4. Phones: Mobile App for the Android app and its download link.

All pages

Section titled “All pages”