Docker Configuration - Pterodactyl Panel

Pterodactyl Panel can be deployed using Docker for simplified installation and management. This guide covers Docker configuration for the Panel.

Official Docker Image

Pterodactyl provides an official Docker image hosted on GitHub Container Registry:

ghcr.io/pterodactyl/panel:latest

Image Details:

Based on PHP 8.3 FPM Alpine
Includes Nginx web server
Node.js 22 for asset compilation
Built-in cron and supervisor
Multi-architecture support (AMD64, ARM)

Docker Compose Setup

Basic Configuration

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

version: '3.8'

x-common:
  database:
    &db-environment
    MYSQL_PASSWORD: &db-password "CHANGE_ME"
    MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: "CHANGE_ME_TOO"
  panel:
    &panel-environment
    APP_URL: "http://example.com"
    APP_TIMEZONE: "UTC"
    APP_SERVICE_AUTHOR: "noreply@example.com"
  mail:
    &mail-environment
    MAIL_FROM: "noreply@example.com"
    MAIL_DRIVER: "smtp"
    MAIL_HOST: "mail"
    MAIL_PORT: "1025"
    MAIL_USERNAME: ""
    MAIL_PASSWORD: ""
    MAIL_ENCRYPTION: "true"

services:
  database:
    image: mariadb:10.5
    restart: always
    command: --default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password
    volumes:
      - "/srv/pterodactyl/database:/var/lib/mysql"
    environment:
      <<: *db-environment
      MYSQL_DATABASE: "panel"
      MYSQL_USER: "pterodactyl"

  cache:
    image: redis:alpine
    restart: always

  panel:
    image: ghcr.io/pterodactyl/panel:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    links:
      - database
      - cache
    volumes:
      - "/srv/pterodactyl/var/:/app/var/"
      - "/srv/pterodactyl/nginx/:/etc/nginx/http.d/"
      - "/srv/pterodactyl/certs/:/etc/letsencrypt/"
      - "/srv/pterodactyl/logs/:/app/storage/logs"
    environment:
      <<: [*panel-environment, *mail-environment]
      DB_PASSWORD: *db-password
      APP_ENV: "production"
      APP_ENVIRONMENT_ONLY: "false"
      CACHE_DRIVER: "redis"
      SESSION_DRIVER: "redis"
      QUEUE_DRIVER: "redis"
      REDIS_HOST: "cache"
      DB_HOST: "database"
      DB_PORT: "3306"

networks:
  default:
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: 172.20.0.0/16

Environment Variables

Application Settings

APP_URL: "https://panel.example.com"
APP_TIMEZONE: "America/New_York"
APP_ENV: "production"
APP_DEBUG: "false"
APP_LOCALE: "en"
APP_SERVICE_AUTHOR: "noreply@example.com"

Database Configuration

DB_HOST: "database"
DB_PORT: "3306"
DB_DATABASE: "panel"
DB_USERNAME: "pterodactyl"
DB_PASSWORD: "secure_password"

MariaDB SSL/TLS (optional):

DB_SSL: "true"
DB_SSL_CA: "/path/to/ca.pem"
DB_SSL_CERT: "/path/to/cert.pem"
DB_SSL_KEY: "/path/to/key.pem"

Cache Configuration

CACHE_DRIVER: "redis"
SESSION_DRIVER: "redis"
QUEUE_DRIVER: "redis"
REDIS_HOST: "cache"
REDIS_PORT: "6379"
REDIS_PASSWORD: "null"

Redis SSL/TLS (optional):

REDIS_SCHEME: "tls"
REDIS_SSL_CA: "/path/to/ca.pem"

Mail Configuration

MAIL_DRIVER: "smtp"
MAIL_HOST: "smtp.example.com"
MAIL_PORT: "587"
MAIL_FROM: "noreply@example.com"
MAIL_USERNAME: "apikey"
MAIL_PASSWORD: "SG.your-sendgrid-key"
MAIL_ENCRYPTION: "tls"

Dockerfile Structure

The official Pterodactyl Dockerfile uses a multi-stage build:

Stage 0: Asset Compilation

FROM --platform=$TARGETOS/$TARGETARCH node:22-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY . ./
RUN yarn install --frozen-lockfile \
    && yarn run build:production

This stage:

Uses Node.js 22 to compile frontend assets
Runs yarn install to get dependencies
Builds production assets with yarn run build:production

Stage 1: Application Container

FROM --platform=$TARGETOS/$TARGETARCH php:8.3-fpm-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY . ./
COPY --from=0 /app/public/assets ./public/assets

RUN apk add --no-cache --update \
    ca-certificates dcron curl git supervisor tar unzip nginx \
    libpng-dev libxml2-dev libzip-dev \
    certbot certbot-nginx

This stage:

Uses PHP 8.3 FPM on Alpine Linux
Copies compiled assets from Stage 0
Installs required system packages
Includes certbot for Let’s Encrypt SSL

PHP Extensions

RUN docker-php-ext-configure zip \
    && docker-php-ext-install bcmath gd pdo_mysql zip

Installed extensions:

bcmath - Arbitrary precision mathematics
gd - Image processing
pdo_mysql - MySQL database driver
zip - Archive handling

Application Setup

RUN curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php -- \
      --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer \
    && cp .env.example .env \
    && mkdir -p bootstrap/cache/ storage/logs \
                 storage/framework/sessions \
                 storage/framework/views \
                 storage/framework/cache \
    && chmod 777 -R bootstrap storage \
    && composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader \
    && chown -R nginx:nginx .

Volume Mounts

Persistent Data

Mount these directories to persist data across container restarts:

volumes:
  # Application data and uploaded files
  - "/srv/pterodactyl/var/:/app/var/"
  
  # Nginx configuration
  - "/srv/pterodactyl/nginx/:/etc/nginx/http.d/"
  
  # SSL certificates
  - "/srv/pterodactyl/certs/:/etc/letsencrypt/"
  
  # Application logs
  - "/srv/pterodactyl/logs/:/app/storage/logs"

Directory Permissions

Ensure proper permissions on mounted directories:

sudo mkdir -p /srv/pterodactyl/{var,nginx,certs,logs}
sudo chown -R 82:82 /srv/pterodactyl  # nginx user UID in Alpine

SSL/TLS Configuration

Let’s Encrypt (Automatic)

Set the LE_EMAIL environment variable:

environment:
  LE_EMAIL: "admin@example.com"
  APP_URL: "https://panel.example.com"

The container will automatically:

Request a certificate from Let’s Encrypt
Configure Nginx to use HTTPS
Set up auto-renewal via cron (runs at 11 PM daily)

Custom Certificates

Mount your certificates to /etc/letsencrypt/:

volumes:
  - "/path/to/certs/:/etc/letsencrypt/live/panel.example.com/"

Certificate files needed:

fullchain.pem - Certificate chain
privkey.pem - Private key

Networking

Port Exposure

ports:
  - "80:80"    # HTTP
  - "443:443"  # HTTPS

Custom Network

networks:
  default:
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: 172.20.0.0/16

Reverse Proxy

When using a reverse proxy (Nginx, Traefik, Caddy):

Don’t expose ports 80/443
Set APP_URL to your domain
Configure proxy to pass headers:

proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

Cron Jobs

The container automatically sets up cron jobs:

# Laravel scheduler (every minute)
* * * * * /usr/local/bin/php /app/artisan schedule:run

# Let's Encrypt renewal (daily at 11 PM)
0 23 * * * certbot renew --nginx --quiet

Supervisor Configuration

The container uses Supervisor to manage processes:

[supervisord]
nodaemon=true

[program:php-fpm]
command=php-fpm

[program:nginx]
command=nginx -g "daemon off;"

[program:cron]
command=crond -f

Starting the Stack

# Start containers
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f panel

# Access container shell
docker-compose exec panel sh

Initial Setup

After starting the containers, run the setup:

# Generate application key
docker-compose exec panel php artisan key:generate --force

# Run migrations
docker-compose exec panel php artisan migrate --force --seed

# Create admin user
docker-compose exec panel php artisan p:user:make

Maintenance Commands

Clear Cache

docker-compose exec panel php artisan config:clear
docker-compose exec panel php artisan cache:clear
docker-compose exec panel php artisan view:clear

Update Panel

# Pull latest image
docker-compose pull panel

# Restart container
docker-compose up -d panel

# Run migrations
docker-compose exec panel php artisan migrate --force

Troubleshooting

Container Won’t Start

Check logs:

docker-compose logs panel

Common issues:

Database not ready (wait a few seconds)
Permission errors on volumes
Port conflicts

Database Connection Failed

Verify:

Database container is running
Credentials match in both services
Database has been created

Permission Errors

sudo chown -R 82:82 /srv/pterodactyl

Best Practices

Use environment files for sensitive data
Enable HTTPS for production
Regular backups of mounted volumes
Monitor logs for errors
Keep images updated for security
Use Redis for cache and sessions
Configure proper memory limits for PHP-FPM

​Official Docker Image

​Docker Compose Setup

​Basic Configuration

​Environment Variables

​Application Settings

​Database Configuration

​Cache Configuration

​Mail Configuration

​Dockerfile Structure

​Stage 0: Asset Compilation

​Stage 1: Application Container

​PHP Extensions

​Application Setup

​Volume Mounts

​Persistent Data

​Directory Permissions

​SSL/TLS Configuration

​Let’s Encrypt (Automatic)

​Custom Certificates

​Networking

​Port Exposure

​Custom Network

​Reverse Proxy

​Cron Jobs

​Supervisor Configuration

​Starting the Stack

​Initial Setup

​Maintenance Commands

​Clear Cache

​Update Panel

​Troubleshooting

​Container Won’t Start

​Database Connection Failed

​Permission Errors

​Best Practices