Anki Sync Server Enhanced

Production-ready Docker image for self-hosted Anki sync server with backups, monitoring, dashboard, and security features.

Why This Image?

The official Anki project provides sync server source code but no pre-built Docker images. This project provides:

Zero build time - Pre-compiled for amd64, arm64, and arm/v7
Auto-updates - Daily builds automatically track the latest Anki release
Enterprise features - Backups, monitoring, alerts, and security out of the box
NAS-ready - Works on TrueNAS SCALE, Unraid, Synology, and any Docker host

Features

Feature	This Image
Pre-built Docker image	✅
Auto-updates (daily builds)	✅
Multi-arch (amd64, arm64, arm/v7)	✅
Automated backups with retention	✅
S3/MinIO backup upload	✅
Prometheus metrics	✅
Web dashboard	✅
Discord/Telegram/Slack/Email alerts	✅
Docker secrets support	✅
Hashed passwords	✅
Fail2ban integration	✅
Rate limiting	✅
Built-in TLS (Let's Encrypt/self-signed)	✅
User management CLI	✅
PUID/PGID support	✅

Quick Start

docker run -d \
  --name anki-sync \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -e SYNC_USER1=user:password \
  -v anki_data:/data \
  chrislongros/anki-sync-server-enhanced:25.09.2-1

Then configure your Anki client to sync to http://your-server:8080/

Docker Compose

services:
  anki-sync-server:
    image: chrislongros/anki-sync-server-enhanced:25.09.2-1
    container_name: anki-sync
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"   # Sync server (HTTP)
      - "8443:8443"   # Sync server (HTTPS, if TLS_ENABLED)
      - "8081:8081"   # Dashboard (optional)
      - "9090:9090"   # Metrics (optional)
    environment:
      - SYNC_USER1=alice:password1
      - SYNC_USER2=bob:password2
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin
      - BACKUP_ENABLED=true
      - METRICS_ENABLED=true
      - DASHBOARD_ENABLED=true
    volumes:
      - anki_data:/data
      - anki_backups:/backups
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  anki_data:
  anki_backups:

Web Dashboard

Enable with DASHBOARD_ENABLED=true and access at http://server:8081/

Features:

Overview - Server status, uptime, user count, data size, sync operations
Users - Per-user statistics with data size and last sync time
Backups - List backups, create new backups with one click
Logs - View sync, auth, and backup logs with color-coded entries
System - Disk usage, memory usage, load average

Protect with basic auth using DASHBOARD_AUTH=admin:password

Configuration Reference

Core

Variable	Description	Default
`SYNC_USER1`-`SYNC_USER99`	User credentials (user:pass)	Required
`SYNC_HOST`	Listen address	`0.0.0.0`
`SYNC_PORT`	Listen port	`8080`
`LOG_LEVEL`	debug/info/warn/error	`info`
`TZ`	Timezone	`UTC`
`PUID` / `PGID`	File permissions	`1000`
`PASSWORDS_HASHED`	Use hashed passwords	`0`

Backups

Variable	Description	Default
`BACKUP_ENABLED`	Enable backups	`false`
`BACKUP_SCHEDULE`	Cron schedule	`0 3 * * *`
`BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS`	Keep days	`7`

S3 Upload

Variable	Description	Default
`S3_BACKUP_ENABLED`	Upload to S3	`false`
`S3_ENDPOINT`	S3 endpoint (MinIO/Garage)	-
`S3_BUCKET`	Bucket name	-
`S3_ACCESS_KEY`	Access key	-
`S3_SECRET_KEY`	Secret key	-
`S3_REGION`	Region	`us-east-1`

Monitoring

Variable	Description	Default
`METRICS_ENABLED`	Prometheus metrics	`false`
`METRICS_PORT`	Metrics port	`9090`
`DASHBOARD_ENABLED`	Web dashboard	`false`
`DASHBOARD_PORT`	Dashboard port	`8081`
`DASHBOARD_AUTH`	Auth (user:pass)	-

Notifications

Variable	Description	Default
`NOTIFY_ENABLED`	Enable webhooks	`false`
`NOTIFY_TYPE`	discord/telegram/slack/ntfy	`discord`
`NOTIFY_WEBHOOK_URL`	Webhook URL	-
`EMAIL_ENABLED`	Enable email	`false`
`EMAIL_HOST`	SMTP host	-
`EMAIL_PORT`	SMTP port	`587`
`EMAIL_USER` / `EMAIL_PASS`	SMTP credentials	-
`EMAIL_FROM` / `EMAIL_TO`	Email addresses	-

Security

Variable	Description	Default
`FAIL2BAN_ENABLED`	Enable fail2ban	`false`
`FAIL2BAN_MAX_RETRIES`	Max failures	`5`
`FAIL2BAN_BAN_TIME`	Ban seconds	`3600`
`RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED`	Enable rate limit	`false`
`RATE_LIMIT_REQUESTS`	Max requests	`100`
`RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW`	Window seconds	`60`

TLS / HTTPS

Built-in TLS support via Caddy reverse proxy. Three modes available:

Variable	Description	Default
`TLS_ENABLED`	Enable TLS	`false`
`TLS_PORT`	HTTPS port	`8443`
`TLS_DOMAIN`	Domain for Let's Encrypt	-
`TLS_EMAIL`	Email for Let's Encrypt	-
`TLS_CERT`	Path to manual certificate	-
`TLS_KEY`	Path to manual private key	-

Mode 1: Let's Encrypt (automatic)

docker run -d \
  -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
  -e SYNC_USER1=user:password \
  -e TLS_ENABLED=true \
  -e TLS_DOMAIN=anki.yourdomain.com \
  -e TLS_EMAIL=you@email.com \
  -v anki_data:/data \
  -v anki_config:/config \
  chrislongros/anki-sync-server-enhanced:25.09.2-1

Mode 2: Manual certificates

docker run -d \
  -p 8443:8443 \
  -e SYNC_USER1=user:password \
  -e TLS_ENABLED=true \
  -e TLS_CERT=/config/certs/fullchain.pem \
  -e TLS_KEY=/config/certs/privkey.pem \
  -v ./certs:/config/certs:ro \
  -v anki_data:/data \
  chrislongros/anki-sync-server-enhanced:25.09.2-1

Mode 3: Self-signed (local/testing)

docker run -d \
  -p 8080:8080 -p 8443:8443 \
  -e SYNC_USER1=user:password \
  -e TLS_ENABLED=true \
  -v anki_data:/data \
  chrislongros/anki-sync-server-enhanced:25.09.2-1

Then configure clients to use https://your-server:8443/

Note: Self-signed certificates will show browser warnings. For local networks, you may prefer using HTTP or a proper certificate.

CLI Tools

# User management
docker exec anki-sync user-manager.sh list
docker exec anki-sync user-manager.sh add john
docker exec anki-sync user-manager.sh add john mypassword
docker exec anki-sync user-manager.sh reset john newpass
docker exec anki-sync user-manager.sh hash mypassword
docker exec anki-sync user-manager.sh stats

# Backup management
docker exec anki-sync backup.sh
docker exec anki-sync restore.sh --list
docker exec anki-sync restore.sh --list-s3
docker exec anki-sync restore.sh backup_file.tar.gz
docker exec anki-sync restore.sh --s3 backup_file.tar.gz

Client Configuration

Desktop (Windows/Mac/Linux)

Open Anki
Go to Tools → Preferences → Syncing
Set custom sync server to: http://your-server:8080/
Click Sync and enter your credentials

AnkiDroid (Android)

Open AnkiDroid
Go to Settings → Sync → Custom sync server
Set sync URL: http://your-server:8080/
Set media URL: http://your-server:8080/msync/
Sync with your credentials

AnkiMobile (iOS)

Open AnkiMobile
Go to Settings → Sync → Custom server
Enter: http://your-server:8080/
Sync with your credentials

Tip: Enable built-in TLS with TLS_ENABLED=true or use a reverse proxy (Traefik, Caddy, nginx) for secure remote access.

Prometheus Metrics

Available at http://server:9090/metrics when METRICS_ENABLED=true:

Metric	Description
`anki_sync_users_total`	Configured user count
`anki_sync_data_bytes`	Total data size
`anki_sync_backup_count`	Number of backups
`anki_sync_uptime_seconds`	Server uptime
`anki_sync_operations_total`	Total sync operations
`anki_auth_success_total`	Successful logins
`anki_auth_failed_total`	Failed logins

Docker Secrets

For secure credential management:

services:
  anki-sync-server:
    image: chrislongros/anki-sync-server-enhanced:25.09.2-1
    environment:
      - SYNC_USER1_FILE=/run/secrets/anki_user1
    secrets:
      - anki_user1

secrets:
  anki_user1:
    file: ./secrets/user1.txt  # Contains: username:password

Image Sources

Registry	Image
Docker Hub	`chrislongros/anki-sync-server-enhanced:25.09.2-1`

NAS Installation

TrueNAS SCALE: See truenas/README.md
Unraid: Use unraid/anki-sync-server.xml

Troubleshooting

Can't connect to server:

Ensure port 8080 is exposed and not blocked by firewall
Check container logs: docker logs anki-sync
Verify the sync URL ends with / (e.g., http://server:8080/)

Sync fails with large collections:

If using a reverse proxy, increase client_max_body_size (nginx) or equivalent
Set MAX_SYNC_PAYLOAD_MEGS environment variable if needed

Authentication issues:

Ensure username doesn't contain special characters
Check auth log: docker exec anki-sync cat /var/log/anki/auth.log
Try resetting password: docker exec anki-sync user-manager.sh reset username newpassword

Dashboard not loading:

Ensure DASHBOARD_ENABLED=true is set
Check port 8081 is exposed
View logs: docker logs anki-sync | grep dashboard

Building Locally

# Auto-detect latest Anki version
docker build -t anki-sync-server-enhanced .

# Specify Anki version
docker build --build-arg ANKI_VERSION=25.09.2 -t anki-sync-server-enhanced:25.09.2-1 .

Credits

Built from the official Anki sync server by Ankitects.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 36 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
docs		docs
fail2ban		fail2ban
scripts		scripts
truenas		truenas
unraid		unraid
.gitignore		.gitignore
COMMUNITY.md		COMMUNITY.md
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
backup.sh		backup.sh
docker-compose.full.yml		docker-compose.full.yml
docker-compose.secrets.yml		docker-compose.secrets.yml
docker-compose.tls.yml		docker-compose.tls.yml
docker-compose.traefik.yml		docker-compose.traefik.yml
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml
entrypoint.sh		entrypoint.sh
healthcheck.sh		healthcheck.sh

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Repository files navigation

Anki Sync Server Enhanced

Why This Image?

Features

Quick Start

Docker Compose

Web Dashboard

Configuration Reference

Core

Backups

S3 Upload

Monitoring

Notifications

Security

TLS / HTTPS

CLI Tools

Client Configuration

Desktop (Windows/Mac/Linux)

AnkiDroid (Android)

AnkiMobile (iOS)

Prometheus Metrics

Docker Secrets

Image Sources

NAS Installation

Troubleshooting

Building Locally

Credits

License

About

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Releases 2

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Repository files navigation

Anki Sync Server Enhanced

Why This Image?

Features

Quick Start

Docker Compose

Web Dashboard

Configuration Reference

Core

Backups

S3 Upload

Monitoring

Notifications

Security

TLS / HTTPS

CLI Tools

Client Configuration

Desktop (Windows/Mac/Linux)

AnkiDroid (Android)

AnkiMobile (iOS)

Prometheus Metrics

Docker Secrets

Image Sources

NAS Installation

Troubleshooting

Building Locally

Credits

License

About

Topics

Resources

License

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