Deploying with Docker

We provide pre-built Docker images that can be used to run FeedbackBin on your own server.

If you don’t need to change the source code and just want the out-of-the-box FeedbackBin experience, this is the easiest way to get started.

You’ll find the latest version of FeedbackBin’s Docker image at ghcr.io/murny/feedbackbin:master.

To run it you’ll need:

A machine that runs Docker
A mounted volume (so that your database persists between restarts)
Some environment variables for configuration

Mounting a Storage Volume

FeedbackBin keeps all of its storage inside /rails/storage. This includes:

SQLite databases (/rails/storage/db/)
File uploads (/rails/storage/files/)

By default, Docker containers don’t persist storage between runs, so you’ll want to mount a persistent volume into that location.

Using Named Volumes (Recommended)

The simplest way is with a named volume:

docker run --volume feedbackbin-storage:/rails/storage ghcr.io/murny/feedbackbin:master

Docker handles permissions automatically with named volumes.

Using Bind Mounts

If you prefer to specify the data location yourself:

# First, set correct ownership on the host (UID 1000)
sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /path/to/host/storage

# Then mount it
docker run --volume /path/to/host/storage:/rails/storage ghcr.io/murny/feedbackbin:master

Important: The FeedbackBin container runs as a non-root user (rails, UID 1000) for security. Host-mounted volumes must be owned by UID 1000.

Environment Variables

Required Variables

SECRET_KEY_BASE

Various features inside FeedbackBin rely on cryptography (such as secure sessions). You need to provide a secret value that will be used as the basis for these secrets.

Generate a secret key:

docker run --rm ghcr.io/murny/feedbackbin:master bin/rails secret

Then set it:

docker run --env SECRET_KEY_BASE=your_generated_secret ...

BASE_URL

The public URL of your instance, used for links in emails (magic links, invitations, notifications). Without it, emails can’t be sent.

docker run --env BASE_URL=https://feedback.example.com ...

SSL

FeedbackBin requires HTTPS in production: cookies are marked secure and HTTP requests are redirected. Choose one of:

Automatic certificates. Set TLS_DOMAIN to your domain and publish ports 80 and 443. Thruster provisions a Let’s Encrypt certificate on first request. The domain’s DNS must already point at the server.
```
docker run --publish 80:80 --publish 443:443 --env TLS_DOMAIN=feedback.example.com ...
```
Your own reverse proxy. Terminate SSL at your proxy or load balancer (Caddy, nginx, Cloudflare, etc.) and forward plain HTTP to port 80 of the container. Leave TLS_DOMAIN unset.

SMTP Email

FeedbackBin sends email for sign-in (magic links), invitations, and notifications. Any SMTP provider works (Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun, SES, etc.).

Variable	Description	Default
`SMTP_ADDRESS`	SMTP server address. Enables SMTP delivery.	-
`SMTP_PORT`	SMTP port	587 (465 with `SMTP_TLS`)
`SMTP_USERNAME`	SMTP username	-
`SMTP_PASSWORD`	SMTP password	-
`SMTP_DOMAIN`	Domain for the HELO command	-
`SMTP_AUTHENTICATION`	`plain`, `login`, or `cram_md5`	`plain`
`SMTP_TLS`	Set to `true` for implicit TLS (port 465). STARTTLS is used automatically otherwise.	`false`
`SMTP_SSL_VERIFY_MODE`	Set to `none` to skip certificate verification	-
`MAILER_FROM_ADDRESS`	Sender for all emails, e.g. `Feedback <[email protected]>`	`FeedbackBin <[email protected]>`

Optional Variables

Variable	Description	Default
`MULTI_TENANT`	Set to `true` to allow anyone to sign up and create a new account. Otherwise only the first account can be created.	`false`
`SOLID_QUEUE_IN_PUMA`	Run background jobs inside the web process. Set to `false` if you run `bin/jobs` separately.	`true`
`JOB_CONCURRENCY`	Number of background job processes	1
`WEB_CONCURRENCY`	Number of Puma worker processes	1
`RAILS_MAX_THREADS`	Threads per Puma worker	3
`RAILS_LOG_LEVEL`	Log level	`info`

Magic-link email sign-in works out of the box. Google and Facebook sign-in read their keys from Rails encrypted credentials, which the pre-built image can’t include. To enable them, build your own image or deploy with Kamal and add google_app_id, google_app_secret, facebook_app_id, and facebook_app_secret with bin/rails credentials:edit.

Quick Start

Using Docker Run

docker run \
  --publish 80:80 \
  --publish 443:443 \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  --volume feedbackbin-storage:/rails/storage \
  --env SECRET_KEY_BASE=your_secret_key_here \
  --env BASE_URL=https://feedback.example.com \
  --env TLS_DOMAIN=feedback.example.com \
  --env SMTP_ADDRESS=smtp.example.com \
  --env SMTP_USERNAME=your_smtp_username \
  --env SMTP_PASSWORD=your_smtp_password \
  --env MAILER_FROM_ADDRESS="Feedback <[email protected]>" \
  --name feedbackbin \
  ghcr.io/murny/feedbackbin:master

Using Docker Compose

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  feedbackbin:
    image: ghcr.io/murny/feedbackbin:master
    container_name: feedbackbin
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - feedbackbin-storage:/rails/storage
    environment:
      SECRET_KEY_BASE: ${SECRET_KEY_BASE}
      BASE_URL: https://feedback.example.com
      TLS_DOMAIN: feedback.example.com
      SMTP_ADDRESS: smtp.example.com
      SMTP_USERNAME: ${SMTP_USERNAME}
      SMTP_PASSWORD: ${SMTP_PASSWORD}
      MAILER_FROM_ADDRESS: "Feedback <[email protected]>"

volumes:
  feedbackbin-storage:

Create a .env file with your secrets:

SECRET_KEY_BASE=your_secret_key_here
SMTP_USERNAME=your_smtp_username
SMTP_PASSWORD=your_smtp_password

Start the application:

docker compose up -d

Check logs:

docker compose logs -f feedbackbin

Building from Source

If you want to build the Docker image yourself:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/murny/feedbackbin.git
cd feedbackbin

# Build the image
docker build -t feedbackbin .

# Run your custom build
docker run \
  --publish 80:80 \
  --volume feedbackbin-storage:/rails/storage \
  --env SECRET_KEY_BASE=your_secret_key_here \
  feedbackbin

Troubleshooting

Permission Errors

If you see permission errors, ensure your volume is owned by UID 1000:

sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /path/to/your/storage

Container Won’t Start

Check the logs:

docker logs feedbackbin

Common issues:

Missing SECRET_KEY_BASE
Missing BASE_URL (sign-in emails fail to send)
Volume permission problems
Port already in use

Database Issues

The SQLite database is stored in /rails/storage/db/. If you need to reset:

docker exec feedbackbin bin/rails db:reset

Next Steps

For more control over deployments, see the Kamal Deployment Guide
For development setup, see the Development Guide