Docker installation

The official Docker image is the recommended way to run Movary. It includes nginx, PHP-FPM, the background job worker, and automatic database migrations.

Before you start

Install Docker Engine and the Docker Compose plugin, then choose a database:

• SQLite is the simplest option and is recommended for most installations.
• MySQL is available when you prefer a separate database server.

Prepare these settings before starting Movary:

Setting	Requirement
APPLICATION_SECRET	Required. Generate it with openssl rand -hex 32, then keep it stable across restarts and identical across all Movary instances.
TMDB_API_KEY	Required for movie metadata. Get a key from TMDB. It can also be configured in the Web UI after startup.
APPLICATION_URL	Recommended. Set it to the public URL, such as https://movary.example.com. It is required for email verification and password resets.
TIMEZONE	Optional. Defaults to UTC; use a supported PHP timezone.

MySQL additionally requires DATABASE_MYSQL_HOST, DATABASE_MYSQL_NAME, DATABASE_MYSQL_USER, and DATABASE_MYSQL_PASSWORD. See Configuration for every available setting.

Warning

Do not change APPLICATION_SECRET after setup. Movary uses it to derive cryptographic keys.

Database migrations

The Docker image automatically runs missing database migrations when the container starts. Back up your database and storage before updating Movary.

Image tags

• latest: latest stable version and recommended for most users
• nightly: latest development changes; unstable, use with caution
• X.Y.Z: a specific released version

Persistent storage

Movary stores generated files, including logs and cached images, in /app/storage. Persist this directory outside the container.

The examples below use a managed Docker volume. If you use a bind mount instead, create the host directory before starting the container and ensure user and group 3000:3000 can read and write it.

Examples

Replace every value enclosed in angle brackets before starting the container.

SQLite

docker volume create movary-storage
docker run -d \
  --name movary \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 80:8080 \
  -e APPLICATION_SECRET="<application_secret>" \
  -e TMDB_API_KEY="<tmdb_key>" \
  -e APPLICATION_URL="https://movary.example.com" \
  -e TIMEZONE="Europe/Berlin" \
  -e DATABASE_MODE="sqlite" \
  -v movary-storage:/app/storage \
  leepeuker/movary:latest

Existing MySQL server

docker volume create movary-storage
docker run -d \
  --name movary \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 80:8080 \
  -e APPLICATION_SECRET="<application_secret>" \
  -e TMDB_API_KEY="<tmdb_key>" \
  -e APPLICATION_URL="https://movary.example.com" \
  -e TIMEZONE="Europe/Berlin" \
  -e DATABASE_MODE="mysql" \
  -e DATABASE_MYSQL_HOST="<host>" \
  -e DATABASE_MYSQL_NAME="<database_name>" \
  -e DATABASE_MYSQL_USER="<database_user>" \
  -e DATABASE_MYSQL_PASSWORD="<database_password>" \
  -v movary-storage:/app/storage \
  leepeuker/movary:latest

Docker Compose with MySQL

services:
  movary:
    image: leepeuker/movary:latest
    container_name: movary
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:8080"
    environment:
      APPLICATION_SECRET: "<application_secret>"
      TMDB_API_KEY: "<tmdb_key>"
      APPLICATION_URL: "https://movary.example.com"
      TIMEZONE: "Europe/Berlin"
      DATABASE_MODE: "mysql"
      DATABASE_MYSQL_HOST: "mysql"
      DATABASE_MYSQL_NAME: "movary"
      DATABASE_MYSQL_USER: "movary_user"
      DATABASE_MYSQL_PASSWORD: "<database_password>"
    volumes:
      - movary-storage:/app/storage

  mysql:
    image: mysql:8.0
    container_name: movary-db
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: "movary"
      MYSQL_USER: "movary_user"
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: "<database_password>"
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: "<mysql_root_password>"
    volumes:
      - movary-db:/var/lib/mysql

volumes:
  movary-db:
  movary-storage:

Start the services from the directory containing docker-compose.yml:

docker compose up -d

Docker secrets

Every environment variable can be read from a file by appending _FILE to its name. The direct environment variable takes precedence, so do not set both forms.

This Compose example keeps sensitive values in Docker secrets:

services:
  movary:
    image: leepeuker/movary:latest
    container_name: movary
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:8080"
    environment:
      APPLICATION_SECRET_FILE: /run/secrets/application_secret
      TMDB_API_KEY_FILE: /run/secrets/tmdb_key
      APPLICATION_URL: "https://movary.example.com"
      TIMEZONE: "Europe/Berlin"
      DATABASE_MODE: "mysql"
      DATABASE_MYSQL_HOST: "mysql"
      DATABASE_MYSQL_NAME: "movary"
      DATABASE_MYSQL_USER: "movary_user"
      DATABASE_MYSQL_PASSWORD_FILE: /run/secrets/mysql_password
    volumes:
      - movary-storage:/app/storage
    secrets:
      - application_secret
      - tmdb_key
      - mysql_password

  mysql:
    image: mysql:8.0
    container_name: movary-db
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: "movary"
      MYSQL_USER: "movary_user"
      MYSQL_PASSWORD_FILE: /run/secrets/mysql_password
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD_FILE: /run/secrets/mysql_root_password
    volumes:
      - movary-db:/var/lib/mysql
    secrets:
      - mysql_root_password
      - mysql_password

secrets:
  application_secret:
    file: /path/to/docker/secret/application_secret
  mysql_root_password:
    file: /path/to/docker/secret/mysql_root_password
  mysql_password:
    file: /path/to/docker/secret/mysql_password
  tmdb_key:
    file: /path/to/docker/secret/tmdb_key

volumes:
  movary-db:
  movary-storage:

For more information, see the Docker secrets documentation.

Verify the installation

Check that the container is running and review its startup logs:

docker ps --filter name=movary
docker logs movary

Open APPLICATION_URL in a browser and continue with Getting started.