Quickstart: Docker, DNS-less, HTTP-only

This walkthrough boots a single-core Pryv.io on one host with Docker, no DNS (dnsLess) and plain HTTP (no Let’s Encrypt). It is the fastest way to try the API end to end. It is not a production setup: for that, add TLS, a real domain and the regular multi-core configuration described in the rest of the setup documentation.

Before you start

• A host with Docker installed and a shell.
• Ports 3000 (API) free on the host.
• No TLS certificate and no DNS zone are required in this mode.

Three things trip people up in this mode, so they are handled explicitly below:

1. Config does not expand environment-variable placeholders. Use literal paths in your override-config.yml; do not rely on ${...} substitution.
2. The image does not bundle PostgreSQL. Pryv.io stores user data in PostgreSQL, so you run a Postgres container alongside it (a “sidecar”).
3. Every storage path must be set. The SQLite, filesystem and rqlite paths have no usable defaults; the template below sets all of them.

1. Create a network

docker network create pryv-net

2. Start a PostgreSQL sidecar

docker run -d --name pryv-pg --network pryv-net \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=pryv-node \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=pryv \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=pryv-secret \
  postgres:16

3. Write override-config.yml

Generate two random secrets and drop them into the template. Replace http://YOUR_HOST:3000 with the URL the API will be reached at (for a local trial, http://localhost:3000 works).

mkdir -p ./pryv/data/{attachments,previews,users,logs} ./pryv/rqlite-data
ADMIN_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 16)
FILES_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 16)

override-config.yml

auth:
  adminAccessKey: REPLACE_WITH_ADMIN_KEY
  filesReadTokenSecret: REPLACE_WITH_FILES_SECRET
  trustedApps: '*@*'

cluster:
  apiWorkers: 1
  hfsWorkers: 0
  previewsWorker: false

dnsLess:
  isActive: true
  publicUrl: http://YOUR_HOST:3000

http:
  ip: 0.0.0.0
  port: 3000

service:
  name: 'Pryv.io QuickStart'
  eventTypes: https://pryv.github.io/event-types/flat.json
  home: http://YOUR_HOST:3000
  support: http://YOUR_HOST:3000
  terms: http://YOUR_HOST:3000

services:
  email:
    enabled:
      welcome: false
      resetPassword: false

logs:
  file:
    active: true
    level: info
    path: /app/data/logs/api-server.log

storages:
  engines:
    postgresql:
      host: pryv-pg
      port: 5432
      database: pryv-node
      user: pryv
      password: pryv-secret
      max: 20
    filesystem:
      attachmentsDirPath: /app/data/attachments
      previewsDirPath: /app/data/previews
    sqlite:
      path: /app/data/users
    rqlite:
      url: http://127.0.0.1:4001
      raftPort: 4002
      dataDir: /app/var-pryv/rqlite-data

Keep override-config.yml readable only by you (chmod 600 override-config.yml) and rotate adminAccessKey before exposing the host.

4. Run Pryv.io

Pick the current release tag for pryvio/open-pryv.io and bind-mount the config and data directories:

docker run -d --name pryv-quickstart --network pryv-net \
  -v $(pwd)/pryv/data:/app/data \
  -v $(pwd)/pryv/rqlite-data:/app/var-pryv/rqlite-data \
  -v $(pwd)/override-config.yml:/app/config/override-config.yml:ro \
  -e NODE_ENV=production \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  pryvio/open-pryv.io:latest

5. Verify

The service descriptor should answer:

curl -sS http://YOUR_HOST:3000/reg/service/info

Create a user and receive its API endpoint:

curl -sS -X POST http://YOUR_HOST:3000/reg/users \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"username":"alice","password":"secretpassword","email":"alice@example.com","appId":"pryv-quickstart"}'

From here, follow Get started to make your first authenticated API calls, and the API reference for the full surface.

Using docker compose

The same setup as a single docker-compose.yml:

services:
  pryv-pg:
    image: postgres:16
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: pryv-node
      POSTGRES_USER: pryv
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: pryv-secret
    networks: [pryv-net]

  pryv:
    image: pryvio/open-pryv.io:latest
    depends_on: [pryv-pg]
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: production
    ports:
      - '3000:3000'
    volumes:
      - ./pryv/data:/app/data
      - ./pryv/rqlite-data:/app/var-pryv/rqlite-data
      - ./override-config.yml:/app/config/override-config.yml:ro
    networks: [pryv-net]

networks:
  pryv-net: