Docker

Authara is typically run with Docker.

A minimal deployment usually consists of:

• PostgreSQL
• Authara Core
• Authara Gateway
• your application

Authara itself is provided as container images.

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Images

Authara uses separate images for separate concerns.

Typical images include:

• ghcr.io/authara-org/authara-core — main authentication server
• ghcr.io/authara-org/authara-gateway — reverse proxy / gateway
• ghcr.io/authara-org/authara-migrations — database migrations

This separation keeps runtime responsibilities explicit.

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Typical topology

A common Docker setup looks like this:

Client
  ↓
Authara Gateway
  ├── /auth/* → Authara Core
  └── /*      → Application

Authara Core connects to PostgreSQL internally.

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Minimal Docker Compose example

services:

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: authara
      POSTGRES_USER: authara
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: authara

  app:
    image: nginx:alpine

  authara-migrations:
    image: ghcr.io/authara-org/authara-migrations:latest
    env_file:
      - .env
    depends_on:
      - postgres

  authara:
    image: ghcr.io/authara-org/authara-core:latest
    env_file:
      - .env
    depends_on:
      authara-migrations:
        condition: service_completed_successfully

  gateway:
    image: ghcr.io/authara-org/authara-gateway:latest
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      GATEWAY_BIND: :3000
      AUTHARA_UPSTREAM: authara:8080
      APP_UPSTREAM: app:80
    depends_on:
      - authara
      - app

This example shows the network shape only.

Application-specific configuration is intentionally omitted.

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Environment Variables

Authara Core is configured through environment variables.

This is typically done using an .env file:

env_file:
  - .env

The .env file usually contains:

• PostgreSQL connection details
• public URL
• JWT configuration
• session settings
• OAuth settings
• rate limiting settings

See:

• Configuration Overview
• Configuration Reference

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Startup order

A typical startup sequence is:

1. start PostgreSQL
2. run migrations
3. start Authara Core
4. start Authara Gateway
5. start the application

This ensures Authara starts against the expected schema.

See:

• Migrations

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Local development

For local development, Docker Compose is usually the simplest option.

A typical local stack uses:

• a local PostgreSQL container
• Authara Core
• Authara Gateway
• the application container or a local app process

Quick local setup is described in:

• Quickstart

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Summary

Docker is the recommended way to run Authara.

Typical deployments use separate images for:

• Authara Core
• Authara Gateway
• migrations

This keeps the system explicit, predictable, and easy to operate.