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Docker

🐳 Running the bot in Docker​

Docker is the shortest path to a running bot: no Node installation, no build tools for the native SQLite module, and the same image on a VPS, a Raspberry Pi or a home server. Images are published for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64.

ghcr.io/msk-scripts/discord_ticketbot:latest

Tags follow the releases: latest tracks the default branch, 2, 2.15 and 2.15.0 pin as tightly as you want.

1. Prepare the directories​

The bot keeps two things outside the image: its database and its configuration. Both are mounted, so an image update never touches them.

mkdir -p ticketbot/config ticketbot/data
cd ticketbot
The container runs as an unprivileged user

Inside the image the bot runs as uid 1000, not as root. On Linux the two mounted directories have to be writable by that user:

sudo chown -R 1000:1000 config data

Without it the container stops immediately with a message naming the directory it cannot write to. That is deliberate: a bot that starts but cannot save anything is worse than one that refuses to start.

2. Environment​

Create a .env next to the compose file:

TOKEN=your_discord_bot_token
CLIENT_ID=your_application_id
GUILD_ID=your_server_id

# Optional, unlocks the hosted transcript service
MSK_API_KEY=
MSK_API_URL=https://www.msk-scripts.de

# Optional. Empty means SQLite in data/tickets.db
DATABASE_URL=

3. docker-compose.yml​

services:
  ticketbot:
    image: ghcr.io/msk-scripts/discord_ticketbot:latest
    container_name: ticketbot
    restart: unless-stopped
    init: true
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
      - ./config:/app/config

init: true matters as soon as you run the dashboard: it forks the bot as a child process, and without an init process that child is never reaped.

4. First start​

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f

On the first start the container copies config.jsonc and snippets.jsonc into your mounted config/ directory and then stops, because the fresh config still contains placeholders. The log names every field it wants:

[ERROR] Config validation failed:
[ERROR]   - Field "openTicketChannelId" is still the example placeholder ("CHANNEL_ID_HERE").

Fill those in (see Configuration), then start again:

docker compose up -d

5. The web dashboard​

The dashboard is off by default. To use it, add to your .env:

DASHBOARD_ENABLED=true
DASHBOARD_HOST=0.0.0.0
DASHBOARD_PORT=3010
DASHBOARD_PUBLIC_URL=https://tickets.example.com
CLIENT_SECRET=your_discord_oauth_secret

and to the compose service:

    command: node dashboard.js
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3010:3010"
DASHBOARD_HOST has to be 0.0.0.0 in a container

The default 127.0.0.1 is the container's own loopback, which no port mapping can reach. Binding to 0.0.0.0 is safe here because the published port is bound to the host's loopback (127.0.0.1:3010:3010); put a reverse proxy with TLS in front of it, see Dashboard.

6. Updating​

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Your database and config are in the mounts and survive it.

The update button does not work in Docker

The dashboard's update button runs git pull and npm install. There is no checkout inside the container, so in Docker you update by pulling a new image. Everything else in the dashboard works normally.

7. Using MariaDB or PostgreSQL instead of SQLite​

SQLite is the default and needs nothing. For an external database, add a service and point DATABASE_URL at it:

  mariadb:
    image: mariadb:11
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MARIADB_DATABASE: ticketbot
      MARIADB_USER: ticketbot
      MARIADB_PASSWORD: changeme
      MARIADB_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD: "yes"
    volumes:
      - ./data/mariadb:/var/lib/mysql
DATABASE_URL=mysql://ticketbot:changeme@mariadb:3306/ticketbot

The host name is the service name from the compose file, not localhost. See Database for migrating an existing SQLite file.

Building the image yourself​

The repository ships the Dockerfile, so a local build works without the registry:

git clone https://github.com/MSK-Scripts/discord_ticketbot.git
cd discord_ticketbot
docker build -t ticketbot .