Dokku — The Smallest PaaS Implementation You've Ever Seen

What it is

Dokku is a Docker-powered Platform as a Service (PaaS) that runs on a single server. It provides Heroku-style git push deployments, automatic SSL certificates via Let's Encrypt, a plugin ecosystem for databases and services, and support for Buildpacks, Dockerfiles, and Docker images. It is the smallest PaaS implementation you can deploy on a single VPS.

It targets individual developers, small teams, and side projects that need simple deployment without managing Kubernetes or complex CI/CD pipelines. A $5/month VPS with Dokku can host multiple applications.

How it saves time or tokens

Dokku eliminates the need for manual deployment scripts, Nginx configuration, and SSL certificate management. Push your code with git push dokku main and Dokku builds a container, routes traffic, and provisions an SSL certificate automatically. Adding a database is one command: dokku postgres:create mydb.

For small projects, Dokku replaces the entire DevOps pipeline. There is no CI/CD system to configure, no container registry to manage, and no orchestrator to learn. The operational overhead is minimal.

How to use

1. Install Dokku on a fresh Ubuntu server with the bootstrap script. Point your domain's DNS to the server.
2. Create an app: dokku apps:create myapp. Add a Git remote: git remote add dokku dokku@server:myapp.
3. Push your code: git push dokku main. Dokku detects the language, builds the container, and routes traffic to it.

Example

# Install Dokku on Ubuntu
wget -NP . https://dokku.com/bootstrap.sh
sudo DOKKU_TAG=v0.34.0 bash bootstrap.sh

# Create an app and deploy
dokku apps:create my-api
git remote add dokku dokku@your-server.com:my-api
git push dokku main

# Add a PostgreSQL database
dokku plugin:install https://github.com/dokku/dokku-postgres.git
dokku postgres:create my-db
dokku postgres:link my-db my-api

# Enable automatic HTTPS
dokku letsencrypt:enable my-api

# Set environment variables
dokku config:set my-api API_KEY=secret123

Related on TokRepo

• AI tools for DevOps — Deployment and infrastructure tools
• AI tools for self-hosted — Self-hosted platform alternatives

Common pitfalls

• Running Dokku on a server with less than 1 GB of RAM. Docker builds consume significant memory. Applications plus databases on a 512 MB server will run into OOM kills. Use at least 1 GB RAM with swap configured.
• Not setting up persistent storage for databases. Dokku database plugins store data in Docker volumes by default. If you reinstall Dokku or remove a plugin without exporting data first, database contents are lost. Set up regular backups with dokku postgres:export.
• Deploying stateful applications that write to the local filesystem. Dokku containers are ephemeral and rebuilt on every deploy. Files written inside the container are lost. Use Dokku's persistent storage plugin to mount host directories for file uploads.