Docker

The official Docker image is available on https://hub.docker.com/r/etherpad/etherpad.

Downloading from Docker Hub

If you are ok downloading a prebuilt image from Docker Hub, these are the commands:

# gets the latest published version
docker pull etherpad/etherpad

# gets a specific version
docker pull etherpad/etherpad:1.8.0

Build a personalized container

If you want to use a personalized settings file, you will have to rebuild your image. All of the following instructions are as a member of the docker group. By default, the Etherpad Docker image is built and run in production mode: no development dependencies are installed, and asset bundling speeds up page load time.

Rebuilding with custom settings

Edit <BASEDIR>/settings.json.docker at your will. When rebuilding the image, this file will be copied inside your image and renamed to settings.json.

Each configuration parameter can also be set via an environment variable, using the syntax "${ENV_VAR}" or "${ENV_VAR:default_value}". For details, refer to settings.json.template.

Rebuilding including some plugins

If you want to install some plugins in your container, it is sufficient to list them in the ETHERPAD_PLUGINS build variable. The variable value has to be a space separated, double quoted list of plugin names (see examples).

Some plugins will need personalized settings. Just refer to the previous section, and include them in your custom settings.json.docker.

Rebuilding including export functionality for DOC/PDF/ODT

If you want to be able to export your pads to DOC/PDF/ODT files, you can install either Abiword or Libreoffice via setting a build variable.

Via Abiword

For installing Abiword, set the INSTALL_ABIWORD build variable to any value.

Also, you will need to configure the path to the abiword executable via setting the abiword property in <BASEDIR>/settings.json.docker to /usr/bin/abiword or via setting the environment variable ABIWORD to /usr/bin/abiword.

Via Libreoffice

For installing Libreoffice instead, set the INSTALL_SOFFICE build variable to any value.

Also, you will need to configure the path to the libreoffice executable via setting the soffice property in <BASEDIR>/settings.json.docker to /usr/bin/soffice or via setting the environment variable SOFFICE to /usr/bin/soffice.

Examples

Build a Docker image from the currently checked-out code:

docker build --tag <YOUR_USERNAME>/etherpad .

Include two plugins in the container:

docker build --build-arg ETHERPAD_PLUGINS="ep_comments_page ep_author_neat" --tag <YOUR_USERNAME>/etherpad .

Running your instance:

To run your instance:

docker run --detach --publish <DESIRED_PORT>:9001 <YOUR_USERNAME>/etherpad

And point your browser to http://<YOUR_IP>:<DESIRED_PORT>

Options available by default

The settings.json.docker available by default allows to control almost every setting via environment variables.

General

Variable	Description	Default
TITLE	The name of the instance	Etherpad
FAVICON	favicon default name, or a fully specified URL to your own favicon	favicon.ico
DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT	The default text of a pad	Welcome to Etherpad! This pad text is synchronized as you type, so that everyone viewing this page sees the same text. This allows you to collaborate seamlessly on documents! Get involved with Etherpad at https://etherpad.org
IP	IP which etherpad should bind at. Change to :: for IPv6	0.0.0.0
PORT	port which etherpad should bind at	9001
ADMIN_PASSWORD	the password for the admin user (leave unspecified if you do not want to create it)
USER_PASSWORD	the password for the first user user (leave unspecified if you do not want to create it)

Database

Variable	Description	Default
DB_TYPE	a database supported by https://www.npmjs.com/package/ueberdb2	not set, thus will fall back to DirtyDB (please choose one instead)
DB_HOST	the host of the database
DB_PORT	the port of the database
DB_NAME	the database name
DB_USER	a database user with sufficient permissions to create tables
DB_PASS	the password for the database username
DB_CHARSET	the character set for the tables (only required for MySQL)
DB_FILENAME	in case DB_TYPE is DirtyDB or sqlite, the database file.	var/dirty.db, var/etherpad.sq3

If your database needs additional settings, you will have to use a personalized settings.json.docker and rebuild the container (or otherwise put the updated settings.json inside your image).

Pad Options

Variable	Description	Default
PAD_OPTIONS_NO_COLORS		false
PAD_OPTIONS_SHOW_CONTROLS		true
PAD_OPTIONS_SHOW_CHAT		true
PAD_OPTIONS_SHOW_LINE_NUMBERS		true
PAD_OPTIONS_USE_MONOSPACE_FONT		false
PAD_OPTIONS_USER_NAME		null
PAD_OPTIONS_USER_COLOR		null
PAD_OPTIONS_RTL		false
PAD_OPTIONS_ALWAYS_SHOW_CHAT		false
PAD_OPTIONS_CHAT_AND_USERS		false
PAD_OPTIONS_LANG		null

Shortcuts

Variable	Description	Default
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_ALT_F9	focus on the File Menu and/or editbar	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_ALT_C	focus on the Chat window	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_S	save a revision	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_Z	undo/redo	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_Y	redo	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_I	italic	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_B	bold	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_U	underline	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_H	backspace	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_5	strike through	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_SHIFT_1	ordered list	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_SHIFT_2	shows a gritter popup showing a line author	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_SHIFT_L	unordered list	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_SHIFT_N	ordered list	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CMD_SHIFT_C	clear authorship	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_DELETE		true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_RETURN		true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_ESC	in mozilla versions 14-19 avoid reconnecting pad	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_TAB	indent	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_CTRL_HOME	scroll to top of pad	true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_PAGE_UP		true
PAD_SHORTCUTS_ENABLED_PAGE_DOWN		true

Skins

You can use the UI skin variants builder at /p/test#skinvariantsbuilder

For the colibris skin only, you can choose how to render the three main containers:

• toolbar (top menu with icons)
• editor (containing the text of the pad)
• background (area outside of editor, mostly visible when using page style)

For each of the 3 containers you can choose 4 color combinations:

• super-light
• light
• dark
• super-dark

For the editor container, you can also make it full width by adding full-width-editor variant (by default editor is rendered as a page, with a max-width of 900px).

Variable	Description	Default
SKIN_NAME	either no-skin, colibris or an existing directory under src/static/skins	colibris
SKIN_VARIANTS	multiple skin variants separated by spaces	super-light-toolbar super-light-editor light-background

Logging

Variable	Description	Default
LOGLEVEL	valid values are DEBUG, INFO, WARN and ERROR	INFO
DISABLE_IP_LOGGING	Privacy: disable IP logging	false

Advanced

Variable	Description	Default
COOKIE_SAME_SITE	Value of the SameSite cookie property.	"Lax"
COOKIE_SESSION_LIFETIME	How long (ms) a user can be away before they must log in again.	864000000 (10 days)
COOKIE_SESSION_REFRESH_INTERVAL	How often (ms) to write the latest cookie expiration time.	86400000 (1 day)
SHOW_SETTINGS_IN_ADMIN_PAGE	hide/show the settings.json in admin page	true
TRUST_PROXY	set to true if you are using a reverse proxy in front of Etherpad (for example: Traefik for SSL termination via Let's Encrypt). This will affect security and correctness of the logs if not done	false
IMPORT_MAX_FILE_SIZE	maximum allowed file size when importing a pad, in bytes.	52428800 (50 MB)
IMPORT_EXPORT_MAX_REQ_PER_IP	maximum number of import/export calls per IP.	10
IMPORT_EXPORT_RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW	the call rate for import/export requests will be estimated in this time window (in milliseconds)	90000
COMMIT_RATE_LIMIT_DURATION	duration of the rate limit window for commits by individual users/IPs (in seconds)	1
COMMIT_RATE_LIMIT_POINTS	maximum number of changes per IP to allow during the rate limit window	10
SUPPRESS_ERRORS_IN_PAD_TEXT	Should we suppress errors from being visible in the default Pad Text?	false
REQUIRE_SESSION	If this option is enabled, a user must have a session to access pads. This effectively allows only group pads to be accessed.	false
EDIT_ONLY	Users may edit pads but not create new ones. Pad creation is only via the API. This applies both to group pads and regular pads.	false
MINIFY	If true, all css & js will be minified before sending to the client. This will improve the loading performance massively, but makes it difficult to debug the javascript/css	true
MAX_AGE	How long may clients use served javascript code (in seconds)? Not setting this may cause problems during deployment. Set to 0 to disable caching.	21600 (6 hours)
ABIWORD	Absolute path to the Abiword executable. Abiword is needed to get advanced import/export features of pads. Setting it to null disables Abiword and will only allow plain text and HTML import/exports.	null
SOFFICE	This is the absolute path to the soffice executable. LibreOffice can be used in lieu of Abiword to export pads. Setting it to null disables LibreOffice exporting.	null
ALLOW_UNKNOWN_FILE_ENDS	Allow import of file types other than the supported ones: txt, doc, docx, rtf, odt, html & htm	true
REQUIRE_AUTHENTICATION	This setting is used if you require authentication of all users. Note: "/admin" always requires authentication.	false
REQUIRE_AUTHORIZATION	Require authorization by a module, or a user with is_admin set, see below.	false
AUTOMATIC_RECONNECTION_TIMEOUT	Time (in seconds) to automatically reconnect pad when a "Force reconnect" message is shown to user. Set to 0 to disable automatic reconnection.	0
FOCUS_LINE_PERCENTAGE_ABOVE	Percentage of viewport height to be additionally scrolled. e.g. 0.5, to place caret line in the middle of viewport, when user edits a line above of the viewport. Set to 0 to disable extra scrolling	0
FOCUS_LINE_PERCENTAGE_BELOW	Percentage of viewport height to be additionally scrolled. e.g. 0.5, to place caret line in the middle of viewport, when user edits a line below of the viewport. Set to 0 to disable extra scrolling	0
FOCUS_LINE_PERCENTAGE_ARROW_UP	Percentage of viewport height to be additionally scrolled when user presses arrow up in the line of the top of the viewport. Set to 0 to let the scroll to be handled as default by Etherpad	0
FOCUS_LINE_DURATION	Time (in milliseconds) used to animate the scroll transition. Set to 0 to disable animation	0
FOCUS_LINE_CARET_SCROLL	Flag to control if it should scroll when user places the caret in the last line of the viewport	false
SOCKETIO_MAX_HTTP_BUFFER_SIZE	The maximum size (in bytes) of a single message accepted via Socket.IO. If a client sends a larger message, its connection gets closed to prevent DoS (memory exhaustion) attacks.	50000
LOAD_TEST	Allow Load Testing tools to hit the Etherpad Instance. WARNING: this will disable security on the instance.	false
DUMP_ON_UNCLEAN_EXIT	Enable dumping objects preventing a clean exit of Node.js. WARNING: this has a significant performance impact.	false
EXPOSE_VERSION	Expose Etherpad version in the web interface and in the Server http header. Do not enable on production machines.	false

Add plugin configurations

It is possible to add arbitrary configurations for plugins by setting the EP__PLUGIN__<PLUGIN_NAME>__<CONFIG_NAME> environment variable. It is important to separate paths with a double underscore __.

For example, to configure the ep_comments plugin to use the comments database, you can set the following environment variables:

The original config looks like this:

"ep_comments_page": {
  "highlightSelectedText": true
},

We have two paths ep_comments_page and highlightSelectedText, so we need to set the following environment variable:

EP__ep_comments_page__highlightSelectedText=true

Examples

Use a Postgres database, no admin user enabled:

docker run -d \
	--name etherpad         \
	-p 9001:9001            \
	-e 'DB_TYPE=postgres'   \
	-e 'DB_HOST=db.local'   \
	-e 'DB_PORT=4321'       \
	-e 'DB_NAME=etherpad'   \
	-e 'DB_USER=dbusername' \
	-e 'DB_PASS=mypassword' \
	etherpad/etherpad

Run enabling the administrative user admin:

docker run -d \
	--name etherpad \
	-p 9001:9001 \
	-e 'ADMIN_PASSWORD=supersecret' \
	etherpad/etherpad

Run a test instance running DirtyDB on a persistent volume:

docker run -d \
	-v etherpad_data:/opt/etherpad-lite/var \
	-p 9001:9001 \
	etherpad/etherpad

Ready to use Docker Compose

services:
  app:
    user: "0:0"
    image: etherpad/etherpad:latest
    tty: true
    stdin_open: true
    volumes:
      - plugins:/opt/etherpad-lite/src/plugin_packages
      - etherpad-var:/opt/etherpad-lite/var
    depends_on:
      - postgres
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: production
      ADMIN_PASSWORD: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_ADMIN_PASSWORD:-admin}
      DB_CHARSET: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DB_CHARSET:-utf8mb4}
      DB_HOST: postgres
      DB_NAME: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DATABASE:-etherpad}
      DB_PASS: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-admin}
      DB_PORT: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_PORT:-5432}
      DB_TYPE: "postgres"
      DB_USER: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_USER:-admin}
      # For now, the env var DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT cannot be unset or empty; it seems to be mandatory in the latest version of etherpad
      DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT:- }
      DISABLE_IP_LOGGING: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DISABLE_IP_LOGGING:-false}
      SOFFICE: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_SOFFICE:-null}
      TRUST_PROXY: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_TRUST_PROXY:-true}
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_PORT_PUBLISHED:-9001}:${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_PORT_TARGET:-9001}"

  postgres:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DATABASE:-etherpad}
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-admin}
      POSTGRES_PORT: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_PORT:-5432}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_USER:-admin}
      PGDATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata
    restart: always
    # Exposing the port is not needed unless you want to access this database instance from the host.
    # Be careful when other postgres docker container are running on the same port
    # ports:
    #   - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata

volumes:
  postgres_data:
  plugins:
  etherpad-var: