# Discourse&reg; packaged by Bitnami

> Discourse is an open source discussion platform with built-in moderation and governance systems that let discussion communities protect themselves from bad actors even without official moderators.

[Overview of Discourse&reg;](https://www.discourse.org/)
Trademarks: This software listing is packaged by Bitnami. The respective trademarks mentioned in the offering are owned by the respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

## TL;DR

```console
docker run --name discourse bitnami/discourse:latest
```

**Warning**: This quick setup is only intended for development environments. You are encouraged to change the insecure default credentials and check out the available configuration options in the [Environment Variables](#environment-variables) section for a more secure d
eployment.

## Why use Bitnami Secure Images?

Those are hardened, minimal CVE images built and maintained by Bitnami. Bitnami Secure Images are based on the cloud-optimized, security-hardened enterprise [OS Photon Linux](https://vmware.github.io/photon/). Why choose BSI images?

- Hardened secure images of popular open source software with Near-Zero Vulnerabilities
- Vulnerability Triage & Prioritization with VEX Statements, KEV and EPSS Scores
- Compliance focus with FIPS, STIG, and air-gap options, including secure bill of materials (SBOM)
- Software supply chain provenance attestation through in-toto
- First class support for the internet’s favorite Helm charts

Each image comes with valuable security metadata. You can view the metadata in [our public catalog here](https://app-catalog.vmware.com/bitnami/apps). Note: Some data is only available with [commercial subscriptions to BSI](https://bitnami.com/).

![Alt text](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/blob/main/BSI%20UI%201.png?raw=true "Application details")
![Alt text](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/blob/main/BSI%20UI%202.png?raw=true "Packaging report")

If you are looking for our previous generation of images based on Debian Linux, please see the [Bitnami Legacy registry](https://hub.docker.com/u/bitnamilegacy).

## Supported tags and respective `Dockerfile` links

Learn more about the Bitnami tagging policy and the difference between rolling tags and immutable tags [in our documentation page](https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-tanzu/application-catalog/tanzu-application-catalog/services/tac-doc/apps-tutorials-understand-rolling-tags-containers-index.html).

## Get this image

The recommended way to get the Bitnami Discourse Docker Image is to pull the prebuilt image from the [Docker Hub Registry](https://hub.docker.com/r/bitnami/discourse).

```console
docker pull bitnami/discourse:latest
```

To use a specific version, you can pull a versioned tag. You can view the [list of available versions](https://hub.docker.com/r/bitnami/discourse/tags/) in the Docker Hub Registry.

```console
docker pull bitnami/discourse:[TAG]
```

If you wish, you can also build the image yourself by cloning the repository, changing to the directory containing the Dockerfile and executing the `docker build` command. Remember to replace the `APP`, `VERSION` and `OPERATING-SYSTEM` path placeholders in the example command below with the correct values.

```console
git clone https://github.com/bitnami/containers.git
cd bitnami/APP/VERSION/OPERATING-SYSTEM
docker build -t bitnami/APP:latest .
```

## How to use this image

Discourse requires access to a PostgreSQL database to store information. We'll use the [Bitnami Docker Image for PostgreSQL](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/tree/main/bitnami/postgresql) for the database requirements.

### Run the application using Docker Compose

```console
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bitnami/containers/main/bitnami/discourse/docker-compose.yml > docker-compose.yml
docker-compose up -d
```

Please be aware this file has not undergone internal testing. Consequently, we advise its use exclusively for development or testing purposes. For production-ready deployments, we highly recommend utilizing its associated [Bitnami Helm chart](https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/main/bitnami/discourse).

### Troubleshooting discourse

If you need to run discourse administrative commands like [Create admin account from console](https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-admin-account-from-console/17274), you can do so by executing a shell inside the container and running with the proper environment variables.

```console
cd /opt/bitnami/discourse
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake admin:create
```

## Persisting your application

If you remove the container all your data will be lost, and the next time you run the image the database will be reinitialized. To avoid this loss of data, you should mount a volume that will persist even after the container is removed.

For persistence you should mount a directory at the `/bitnami/discourse` path. If the mounted directory is empty, it will be initialized on the first run. Additionally you should [mount a volume for persistence of the PostgreSQL data](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/tree/main/bitnami/postgresql#persisting-your-database).

The above examples define the Docker volumes named `postgresql_data` and `discourse_data`. The Discourse application state will persist as long as volumes are not removed.

To avoid inadvertent removal of volumes, you can [mount host directories as data volumes](https://docs.docker.com/engine/tutorials/dockervolumes/). Alternatively you can make use of volume plugins to host the volume data.

## Configuration

The following section describes how to configure the application

### Configuration files

You can mount your configuration files to the `/opt/bitnami/discourse/mounted-conf` directory. Make sure that your configuration files follow the standardized names used by Discourse. Some of the most common files include:

- `discourse.conf`
- `database.yml`
- `site_settings.yml`

The set of default standard configuration files may be found [here](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/tree/master/config). You may refer to the the Discourse [webpage](https://www.discourse.org/) for further details and specific configuration guides.

### Environment variables

The following tables list the main variables you can set.

#### Customizable environment variables

| Name                                   | Description                                                                                                                     | Default Value                           |
|----------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| `DISCOURSE_DATA_TO_PERSIST`            | Files to persist relative to the Discourse installation directory. To provide multiple values, separate them with a whitespace. | `plugins public/backups public/uploads` |
| `DISCOURSE_ENABLE_HTTPS`               | Whether to enable HTTPS for Discourse by default.                                                                               | `no`                                    |
| `DISCOURSE_EXTERNAL_HTTP_PORT_NUMBER`  | External HTTP port for Discourse.                                                                                               | `80`                                    |
| `DISCOURSE_EXTERNAL_HTTPS_PORT_NUMBER` | External HTTPS port for Discourse.                                                                                              | `443`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_HOST`                       | Discourse host name.                                                                                                            | `www.example.com`                       |
| `DISCOURSE_PORT_NUMBER`                | Port number in which Discourse will run.                                                                                        | `3000`                                  |
| `DISCOURSE_SKIP_BOOTSTRAP`             | Whether to perform initial bootstrapping for the application.                                                                   | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_SITE_NAME`                  | Discourse site name.                                                                                                            | `My site!`                              |
| `DISCOURSE_ENV`                        | Discourse environment mode. Allowed values: *development*, *production*, *test*.                                                | `production`                            |
| `DISCOURSE_PRECOMPILE_ASSETS`          | Whether to precompile assets during the initialization. Required when installing plugins.                                       | `yes`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_ENABLE_CONF_PERSISTENCE`    | Whether to enable persistence of the Discourse `discourse.conf` configuration file.                                             | `no`                                    |
| `DISCOURSE_EXTRA_CONF_CONTENT`         | Extra configuration to append to the `discourse.conf` configuration file.                                                       | `yes`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_PASSENGER_SPAWN_METHOD`     | Passenger method used for spawning application processes. Valid values: direct, smart.                                          | `direct`                                |
| `DISCOURSE_PASSENGER_EXTRA_FLAGS`      | Extra flags to pass to the Passenger start command.                                                                             | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_USERNAME`                   | Discourse user name.                                                                                                            | `user`                                  |
| `DISCOURSE_PASSWORD`                   | Discourse user password.                                                                                                        | `bitnami123`                            |
| `DISCOURSE_EMAIL`                      | Discourse user e-mail address.                                                                                                  | `user@example.com`                      |
| `DISCOURSE_FIRST_NAME`                 | Discourse user first name.                                                                                                      | `UserName`                              |
| `DISCOURSE_LAST_NAME`                  | Discourse user last name.                                                                                                       | `LastName`                              |
| `DISCOURSE_SMTP_HOST`                  | Discourse SMTP server host.                                                                                                     | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT_NUMBER`           | Discourse SMTP server port number.                                                                                              | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER`                  | Discourse SMTP server user.                                                                                                     | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD`              | Discourse SMTP server user password.                                                                                            | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_SMTP_PROTOCOL`              | Discourse SMTP server protocol to use.                                                                                          | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_SMTP_AUTH`                  | Discourse SMTP authentication method. Allowed values: *login*, *plain*, *cram_md5*.                                             | `login`                                 |
| `DISCOURSE_SMTP_OPEN_TIMEOUT`          | Discourse `smtp_open_timeout` configuration override.                                                                           | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_SMTP_READ_TIMEOUT`          | Discourse `smtp_read_timeout` configuration override.                                                                           | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_DATABASE_HOST`              | Database server host.                                                                                                           | `$DISCOURSE_DEFAULT_DATABASE_HOST`      |
| `DISCOURSE_DATABASE_PORT_NUMBER`       | Database server port.                                                                                                           | `5432`                                  |
| `DISCOURSE_DATABASE_NAME`              | Database name.                                                                                                                  | `bitnami_discourse`                     |
| `DISCOURSE_DATABASE_USER`              | Database user name.                                                                                                             | `bn_discourse`                          |
| `DISCOURSE_DATABASE_PASSWORD`          | Database user password.                                                                                                         | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_DB_BACKUP_HOST`             | Database backup server host.                                                                                                    | `$DISCOURSE_DATABASE_HOST`              |
| `DISCOURSE_DB_BACKUP_PORT`             | Database backup server port.                                                                                                    | `$DISCOURSE_DATABASE_PORT_NUMBER`       |
| `DISCOURSE_REDIS_HOST`                 | Redis(R) server host.                                                                                                           | `$DISCOURSE_DEFAULT_REDIS_HOST`         |
| `DISCOURSE_REDIS_PORT_NUMBER`          | Redis(R) server port.                                                                                                           | `6379`                                  |
| `DISCOURSE_REDIS_PASSWORD`             | Redis(R) user password.                                                                                                         | `nil`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_REDIS_USE_SSL`              | Whether to enable SSL for Redis(R).                                                                                             | `no`                                    |
| `DISCOURSE_REDIS_DB`                   | Redis(R) database number.                                                                                                       | `0`                                     |

#### Read-only environment variables

| Name                              | Description                                          | Value                                         |
|-----------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| `DISCOURSE_BASE_DIR`              | Discourse installation directory.                    | `${BITNAMI_ROOT_DIR}/discourse`               |
| `DISCOURSE_CONF_FILE`             | Configuration file for Discourse.                    | `${DISCOURSE_BASE_DIR}/config/discourse.conf` |
| `YARN_CACHE_FOLDER`               | Yarn cache folder                                    | `${DISCOURSE_BASE_DIR}/tmp/cache`             |
| `DISCOURSE_VOLUME_DIR`            | Discourse directory for mounted configuration files. | `${BITNAMI_VOLUME_DIR}/discourse`             |
| `DISCOURSE_DAEMON_USER`           | Discourse system user.                               | `discourse`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_DAEMON_GROUP`          | Discourse system group.                              | `discourse`                                   |
| `DISCOURSE_DEFAULT_DATABASE_HOST` | Default database server host.                        | `postgresql`                                  |
| `DISCOURSE_DEFAULT_REDIS_HOST`    | Default Redis(R) server host.                        | `redis`                                       |

When you start the Discourse image, you can adjust the configuration of the instance by passing one or more environment variables either on the docker-compose file or on the `docker run` command line.

#### Examples

##### SMTP configuration

The `DISCOURSE_SMTP_*` environment variables allows you configure the SMTP settings in the application. Please take a look at the environment variables information above for more information.

##### Connect Discourse container to an existing database

The Bitnami Discourse container supports connecting the Discourse application to an external database. In case the database already contains data from a previous Discourse installation, you need to set the variable `DISCOURSE_SKIP_BOOTSTRAP` to `yes`. Otherwise, the container would execute the installation wizard and could modify the existing data in the database. Note that, when setting `DISCOURSE_SKIP_BOOTSTRAP` to `yes`, values for environment variables such as `DISCOURSE_USERNAME`, `DISCOURSE_PASSWORD` or `DISCOURSE_EMAIL` will be ignored.

### FIPS configuration in Bitnami Secure Images

The Bitnami Discourse&reg; Docker image from the [Bitnami Secure Images](https://go-vmware.broadcom.com/contact-us) catalog includes extra features and settings to configure the container with FIPS capabilities. You can configure the next environment variables:

- `OPENSSL_FIPS`: whether OpenSSL runs in FIPS mode or not. `yes` (default), `no`.

## Logging

The Bitnami Discourse Docker image sends the container logs to `stdout`. To view the logs:

```console
docker logs discourse
```

Or using Docker Compose:

```console
docker-compose logs discourse
```

You can configure the containers [logging driver](https://docs.docker.com/engine/admin/logging/overview/) using the `--log-driver` option if you wish to consume the container logs differently. In the default configuration docker uses the `json-file` driver.

## Maintenance

### Backing up your container

To backup your data, configuration and logs, follow these simple steps:

#### Step 1: Stop the currently running container

```console
docker stop discourse
```

Or using Docker Compose:

```console
docker-compose stop discourse
```

#### Step 2: Run the backup command

We need to mount two volumes in a container we will use to create the backup: a directory on your host to store the backup in, and the volumes from the container we just stopped so we can access the data.

```console
docker run --rm -v /path/to/discourse-backups:/backups --volumes-from discourse busybox \
  cp -a /bitnami/discourse /backups/latest
```

### Restoring a backup

Restoring a backup is as simple as mounting the backup as volumes in the containers.

For the PostgreSQL database container:

```diff
 $ docker run -d --name postgresql \
   ...
-  --volume /path/to/postgresql-persistence:/bitnami/postgresql \
+  --volume /path/to/postgresql-backups/latest:/bitnami/postgresql \
   bitnami/postgresql:latest
```

For the Discourse container:

```diff
 $ docker run -d --name discourse \
   ...
-  --volume /path/to/discourse-persistence:/bitnami/discourse \
+  --volume /path/to/discourse-backups/latest:/bitnami/discourse \
   bitnami/discourse:latest
```

## Notable Changes

### 2.7.0-debian-10-r4

- The size of the container image has been decreased.
- The configuration logic is now based on Bash scripts in the *rootfs/* folder.

### 2.4.4-debian-10-r8 release

- Discourse and Sidekiq now make use of the same volume to persist data. This solves issues related to being unable to locate some files generated on-demand by the Sidekiq job scheduler.

### 2.3.2-debian-9-r48 and 2.3.2-ol-7-r47

- The Discourse container now uses Passenger's ['direct' process spawning method](https://www.phusionpassenger.com/docs/advanced_guides/in_depth/ruby/spawn_methods.html) (instead of the default 'smart'), which fixes a bug where settings would randomly revert back to the original values. This setting may cause an increase in memory usage. It is possible to configure the spawning method by setting the `DISCOURSE_PASSENGER_SPAWN_METHOD` environment variable.

### 2.2.5-debian-9-r9 and 2.2.5-ol-7-r8

- It is now possible to import existing Discourse databases from other installations. In order to do this, use the environment variable `DISCOURSE_SKIP_INSTALL`, which forces the container not to run the initial Discourse setup wizard.

## License

Copyright &copy; 2026 Broadcom. The term "Broadcom" refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

<http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0>

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
