Deploy Any App with Dokploy

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Prerequisites
3. Deploying React App on Dokploy
4. Deploying Next.js App on Dokploy
5. Deploying NestJS App on Dokploy
6. Deploying Svelte(SvelteKit) on Dokploy
7. Deploying the Deno App on Dokploy
8. Deploying Remix App on Dokploy
9. Monitoring and Maintenance
10. Troubleshooting Common Issues
11. Conclusion

Introduction

Overview of Dokploy:

Dokploy is a self-hostable, open-source, modern Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that simplifies the deployment and management of applications. It is an open-source alternative to platforms like Vercel, Heroku, and Netlify.

Purpose of the Tutorial

This tutorial aims to guide you through deploying nine different application types using Dokploy — including both frontend and backend frameworks.

Let’s get started!

Prerequisites

Before deploying the applications make sure that both your development and server environments are properly set. Here is what you will need. The requirements of course change depending on which app you are deploying.

🛠️ Development Environment

To follow this tutorial and deploy all supported application types, ensure your local development includes the following:

• Node.js and npm: Required for most JavaScript-based frameworks, such as Next.js, React, NestJS, Vue, Svelte, Remix, and Astro.

You can verify the installation with:

node -v
npm -v

Deno: Required if you are deploying Deno applications. Verify installation with:

deno --version

Framework CLIs(Optional)

• React: npx create-react-app
• Next.js: npx create-next-app
• NestJS: npm i -g @nestjs/cli
• Remix: npx create-remix
• SvelteKit: npm create svelte@latest
• Vue: npm create vue@latest
• Astro: npm create astro@latest

⚙️ Dokploy Setup

You will need a server with Dokploy installed and running. Once set up, you can begin deploying your applications.

🔁 Version Control with Git

Dokploy integrates directly with Git repositories for deployments. Your application should meet the following requirements:

• Be tracked with Git
• Have a remote origin (e.g., GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket)
• Be committed and pushed to a branch

Deploying React App on Dokploy

🛠️ 1. Create a New Project in Dokploy

Log In

Open your Dokploy dashboard: http://your_server_ip:3000

• Log in with your credentials.

Create Project

• Click “Create Project”.

Enter your project name (e.g., React App).

• Click “Create”.

⚙️ 2. Add Your React Application

Create Service

• Inside your project, click “Create Service”.
• Select “Application” as the service type.

Name the service (e.g., react-app).

• Click “Create”.

Configure Git Repository

• Go to the "Git Provider" section of the service.
• Enter your Git repository URL.

Set the deployment branch (e.g., main).

⚒️ 3. Define Build & Publish Settings

Build Command

• Set the build command to:

npm run build

Publish Directory

• Set the publish directory to:

./build

🚀 4. Manual Deployment

• Go to the “Deployments” tab.
• Click “Deploy” to start the process.
• Dokploy will:
  • Clone the repo,
  • Run the build command,
  • Serve your static React files.

🌐 5. Access Your Deployed App

Dokploy provides a default domain (e.g.,http://your_server_ip:3000).

• Use this to view your deployed React app.

🌍 6. Configure Custom Domain (Optional)

Generate Domain

• In the “Deployments” tab, click “Generate Domain” to get a public domain.

Update DNS Settings

• In your DNS provider:
  • Add an A record pointing to your Dokploy server’s IP.

Access Your App

• After DNS propagation, your app will be live on your custom domain.

🔐 7. Set Up SSL Certificate (Optional)

Enable SSL

• Dokploy automatically generates a free SSL cert with Let’s Encrypt.
• Turn on SSL in the app settings.

Verify SSL

• Open your app in the browser using:

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https://your_domain

📈 8. Monitor and Manage Your App

• Logs: Use the real-time logging view to debug or inspect deployments.
• Scaling: Adjust resources like CPU or memory directly from the Dokploy UI.

Deploying Next.js App on Dokploy

🛠️ 1. Create a New Project in Dokploy

Log In

Open your Dokploy dashboard: http://your_server_ip:3000

Log in with your credentials.

Create Project

• Click “Create Project”.

Enter your project name (e.g., Next.js App).

• Click “Create”.

⚙️ 2. Add Your Next.js Application

Create Service

• Inside your project, click “Create Service”.
• Select “Application” as the service type.

Name the service (e.g., nextjs-app).

• Click “Create”.

Configure Git Repository

• Go to the "Git Provider" section of the service.
• Enter your Git repository URL.

Set the deployment branch (e.g., main).

🚀 3. Manual Deployment

• Navigate to the “Deployments” tab of your application.
• Click “Deploy”.
• Dokploy will:
  • Pull your latest code,
  • Run the build process,
  • Deploy your Next.js app.

🌐 4. Access Your Deployed App

After deployment, Dokploy provides a default domain (e.g., http://your_server_ip:3000).

• Visit that URL to access your live Next.js app.

🌍 5. Configure Custom Domain (Optional)

Generate Domain

• In the “Deployments” tab, click “Generate Domain” to assign a public domain to your app.

Update DNS Settings

• In your domain registrar:
  • Add an A record pointing to your server’s IP.

Access Your App

• After DNS propagation, visit your custom domain to access your app.

🔐 6. Set Up SSL Certificate (Optional)

Enable SSL

• Dokploy auto-generates a free SSL certificate using Let’s Encrypt.
• Enable SSL in your app’s settings.

Verify SSL

Access your app at: https://your_domain

Confirm the SSL certificate is active.

📈 7. Monitor and Manage Your App

• Logs: View live logs for deployment and runtime debugging.
• Scaling: Adjust resources (CPU/RAM) as needed to scale your app via the Dokploy UI.

Deploying NestJS App on Dokploy

🛠️ 1. Create a New Project in Dokploy

Log In

Open your Dokploy dashboard: http://your_server_ip:3000

• Log in with your credentials.

Create Project

• Click “Create Project”.

Enter your project name (e.g., NestJS API).

• Click “Create”.

⚙️ 2. Add Your NestJS Application

Create Service

• Inside the project, click “Create Service”.
• Choose “Application”.

Set the service name (e.g., nestjs-api).

• Click “Create”.

Configure Git Repository

• Under the "Git Provider" section:
  • Enter your Git repo URL.

Set the branch to deploy (e.g., main).

⚒️ 3. Define Build & Run Settings

Build Command

If your project uses TypeScript (which is the default for NestJS), set the build command:

npm run build

Start Command

After building, NestJS apps are typically started with:

npm run start:prod

Ensure your package.json includes:

"scripts": {
  "build": "tsc",
  "start:prod": "node dist/main"
}

🔁 4. Environment Variables (Optional)

In the “Environment Variables” section of the service, add any .env values needed by your NestJS app (e.g., DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET, etc.).

🚀 5. Manual Deployment

• Head to the “Deployments” tab.
• Click “Deploy”.
• Dokploy will:
  • Clone your code,
  • Run the build script,
  • Start your NestJS server on the assigned port.

🌐 6. Access Your Deployed API

After deployment, Dokploy assigns a domain (e.g., http://your_server_ip:3000).

• Your NestJS API will be accessible via that domain:

GET http://your_server_ip:3000/api/hello

🌍 7. Configure Custom Domain (Optional)

Generate Domain

• In the “Deployments” tab, click “Generate Domain”.

Update DNS

• Add an A record in your domain provider, pointing to your server IP.

🔐 8. Set Up SSL Certificate (Optional)

Enable SSL

• Dokploy provisions a free SSL certificate via Let’s Encrypt.

Verify

• Access your backend securely:

https://your_domain/api/hello

📈 9. Monitor and Manage Your API

• Logs: Tail logs in real-time to debug your NestJS app.
• Scaling: Adjust server resources as needed via Dokploy UI.

Deploying Svelte(SvelteKit) on Dokploy

Same deployment flow as above.

Adapter: Use @sveltejs/adapter-node for SSR support:

import adapter from '@sveltejs/adapter-node';
export default {
  kit: {
    adapter: adapter()
  }
};

• Build Command:

npm run build

• Start Command:

npm run preview

You may also use node build if exporting a node server manually.

Environment: If you’re using .env files (e.g., VITE_API_URL), configure them in the Dokploy UI.

Deploying the Deno App on Dokploy

Deno apps are also supported via the same steps.

• No Build Step Required
• Start Command Example:

deno run --allow-net mod.ts

Replace mod.ts with your entry file.

Permissions: Grant any required permissions using flags (--allow-env, --allow-read, etc.).

Deno Deploy Tip: If you're using Fresh (a popular Deno framework), serve using:

deno task start

With a deno.json like:

{
  "tasks": {
    "start": "deno run -A main.ts"
  }
}

Deploying Remix App on Dokploy

Follows the same setup process as above (see Next.js or React). Below are Remix-specific configurations.

Build Command:

npm run build

Start Command:

npm run start

Required Package:

Use remix-serve or a custom server (e.g., Express).

Your package.json should include:

"scripts": {
  "build": "remix build",
  "start": "remix-serve build"
}

Port Note: Ensure Remix uses the port provided by Dokploy (typically via process.env.PORT).

Monitoring and Maintenance

Monitoring is the continuous process of observing and tracking an application's performance, availability, and resource usage.

Maintenance refers to the ongoing tasks required to keep an application stable, secure, and up to date.

These are critical steps that follow deployment. They include:

• Log Management: Use Dokploy's built-in logging features to monitor application performance, track errors, and gain visibility into system health in real time.
• Regular Backups: Automate backups for applications and databases to ensure data recovery in case of failures.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

🚫 Deployment Failures

Identify and resolve common deployment errors such as misconfigured environments, missing environment variables, or build failures. Dokploy’s deployment logs and error messages can help pinpoint the root cause quickly.

🐢 Performance Bottlenecks

Optimize application performance post-deployment by monitoring response times, reducing database queries, and enabling caching where appropriate. Use Dokploy’s performance insights or integrate APM tools for deeper analysis.

🔐 Security Concerns

Ensure deployed applications are secure by:

• Applying security updates regularly
• Using HTTPS and secure headers
• Scanning for vulnerabilities in dependencies
• Dokploy supports automated update workflows to keep your app up to date.

Conclusion

In this article, we have covered how to deploy different types of applications: React.js, Next.js, NestJS, Remix, Deno, and Svelte. We have also discussed the essential procedures to follow after deploying an application, such as monitoring and maintenance. With this knowledge, you can effectively deploy applications on Dokploy.

Happy Deployments!

Frequently Asked Questions