Docker

else-wer ships with a Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml in the else-wer-server repo. If you just want to get running, see Quick start instead — this page is the reference.

What the image contains

A single multi-stage build produces one image with:

• the compiled Rust server
• the built PWA (served at /)
• database migrations, embedded in the binary and applied automatically on startup

Environment variables

Set these in .env.docker (loaded via env_file in docker-compose.yml):

Variable	Required	Default	Notes
JWT_SECRET	Yes	—	Long random string, e.g. openssl rand -hex 32
PORT	No	3000	Port the server listens on inside the container
RUST_LOG	No	—	Log verbosity, e.g. info, debug

Everything else (DATABASE_URL, AUDIOBOOKS_LOCATION, PWA_DIST_LOCATION, JWT_LOC) is already set to sensible paths inside the container and doesn’t need to be touched.

Volumes

Container path	Purpose
/data	SQLite database, cover art, JWT signing key — everything that isn’t your audiobooks
/audiobooks	Your audiobook library (read from here, never written to)

The default docker-compose.yml maps /data to a named Docker volume (else-wer-data) so it survives image rebuilds, and /audiobooks to a plain ./audiobooks folder next to the compose file so you can manage your files directly.

Upgrading

git pull
docker compose up -d --build

Database migrations run automatically on startup — no manual migration step needed.

Backing up

Your entire else-wer state (database, covers, credentials) lives in the else-wer-data volume. To back it up:

docker run --rm -v else-wer-server_else-wer-data:/data -v "$PWD":/backup debian:bookworm-slim \
  tar czf /backup/else-wer-backup.tar.gz -C /data .

(Your audiobook files aren’t included — they’re on your host filesystem already, back those up however you normally back up files.)

Building the image yourself

docker build -t else-wer:latest .

The build has no external dependencies beyond Docker itself — the Rust and Node toolchains are pulled in as build stages and discarded from the final image.