---
title: Docker
description: Deploy Sim with Docker Compose
---

import { Tab, Tabs } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/tabs'
import { Callout } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/callout'
import { FAQ } from '@/components/ui/faq'

## Quick Start

```bash
# Clone and start
git clone https://github.com/simstudioai/sim.git && cd sim
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d
```

Open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000)

## Production Setup

### 1. Configure Environment

```bash
# Generate secrets
cat > .env << EOF
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@db:5432/simstudio
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
INTERNAL_API_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=https://sim.yourdomain.com
BETTER_AUTH_URL=https://sim.yourdomain.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_SOCKET_URL=https://sim.yourdomain.com
EOF
```

### 2. Start Services

```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d
```

### 3. Set Up SSL

<Tabs items={['Caddy (Recommended)', 'Nginx + Certbot']}>
  <Tab value="Caddy (Recommended)">
Caddy automatically handles SSL certificates.

```bash
# Install Caddy
sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https curl
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install caddy
```

Create `/etc/caddy/Caddyfile`:
```
sim.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000

    handle /socket.io/* {
        reverse_proxy localhost:3002
    }
}
```

```bash
sudo systemctl restart caddy
```
  </Tab>
  <Tab value="Nginx + Certbot">
```bash
# Install
sudo apt install nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

# Create /etc/nginx/sites-available/sim
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name sim.yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }

    location /socket.io/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3002;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

# Enable and get certificate
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/sim /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo certbot --nginx -d sim.yourdomain.com
```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Ollama

```bash
# With GPU
docker compose -f docker-compose.ollama.yml --profile gpu --profile setup up -d

# CPU only
docker compose -f docker-compose.ollama.yml --profile cpu --profile setup up -d
```

Pull additional models:
```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.ollama.yml exec ollama ollama pull llama3.2
```

### External Ollama

If Ollama runs on your host machine (not in Docker):

```bash
# macOS/Windows
OLLAMA_URL=http://host.docker.internal:11434 docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

# Linux - use your host IP
OLLAMA_URL=http://192.168.1.100:11434 docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d
```

<Callout type="warning">
  Inside Docker, `localhost` refers to the container, not your host. Use `host.docker.internal` or your host's IP.
</Callout>

## Commands

```bash
# View logs
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml logs -f simstudio

# Stop
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml down

# Update
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml pull && docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

# Backup database
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec db pg_dump -U postgres simstudio > backup.sql
```

<FAQ items={[
  { question: "What containers are started by docker-compose.prod.yml?", answer: "Four services are started: simstudio (main app on port 3000, 8 GB memory limit), realtime (WebSocket server on port 3002, 1 GB memory limit), db (PostgreSQL 17 with pgvector on port 5432), and migrations (runs once to apply database schema changes, then exits)." },
  { question: "How do I configure SSL for production?", answer: "You can use either Caddy (recommended, handles certificates automatically) or Nginx with Certbot. Both need to reverse-proxy port 3000 for the main app and port 3002 for WebSocket connections at the /socket.io/ path." },
  { question: "Why can I not connect to Ollama running on my host from inside Docker?", answer: "Inside a Docker container, localhost refers to the container itself, not your host machine. On macOS and Windows, use http://host.docker.internal:11434. On Linux, use your host machine's actual IP address (e.g., http://192.168.1.100:11434)." },
  { question: "What is the difference between the GPU and CPU Ollama profiles?", answer: "The GPU profile (--profile gpu) configures NVIDIA driver capabilities and reserves GPU devices for accelerated inference. The CPU profile (--profile cpu) runs Ollama without GPU acceleration. Both use the --profile setup flag to automatically pull the gemma3:4b starter model." },
  { question: "How do I update Sim to the latest version?", answer: "Run docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml pull to fetch the latest images, then docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d to restart with the new versions. The migrations container will automatically apply any new database schema changes on startup." },
  { question: "How do I back up and restore the database?", answer: "Back up with: docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec db pg_dump -U postgres simstudio > backup.sql. Restore with: docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec -T db psql -U postgres simstudio < backup.sql. The database data is persisted in a Docker volume named postgres_data." },
  { question: "Can I customize the PostgreSQL credentials?", answer: "Yes. The docker-compose.prod.yml uses environment variable defaults: POSTGRES_USER (default: postgres), POSTGRES_PASSWORD (default: postgres), POSTGRES_DB (default: simstudio), and POSTGRES_PORT (default: 5432). Set these in your .env file to override them." },
]} />

