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Installation & Setup

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adanb13 edited this page Oct 6, 2025 · 1 revision

Prerequisites

  • Docker 20.10+
  • Docker Compose V2 (docker compose CLI)
  • 2 CPU cores and 2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended for heavy log throughput)
  • Outbound network access for whichever notification channels you plan to use

1. Clone and configure

git clone https://github.com/log-forge/logforge.git
cd logforge
cp .env.example .env  # adjust container names, ports, notification secrets

Key .env values:

Variable Purpose Default
LOGFORGE_FRONTEND_PORT Host port for the core UI 3008
NOTIFIER_WEB_PORT Notifier admin/API port 8087
ALERT_ENGINE_FRONTEND_PORT Alert Engine UI port 3033
AUTO_UPDATE Enables the Watchtower auto-updater true

Verify host exposure (recommended)

The shipping compose file already binds UI services to loopback so only the host can reach them. If you customise ports or add new services, keep the 127.0.0.1:HOST:CONTAINER pattern (or front them with a secured reverse proxy) before exposing them to other networks.

2. Launch the stack

docker compose up -d --build

The build step compiles the frontend applications; omit --build when starting from published images or subsequent restarts.

Verify health:

docker compose ps
docker compose logs logforge-backend --follow

When healthy, browse to http://localhost:3008 (or the loopback port you set) to access the UI.

3. First-time configuration

  1. Discover containers - the backend auto-detects running containers. Use the inventory view to group or ignore services.
  2. Add notification channels - open the Notifier UI and configure SMTP, webhooks, or chat connectors. Store secrets in .env or Docker secrets.
  3. Author rules - visit the Alert Engine UI to create policies from templates (crash detection, log keywords, performance thresholds, etc.).
  4. Test a notification - send a test alert from the Alert Engine to validate delivery.

Production guidance

  • Reverse proxy: Terminate TLS with Traefik, Caddy, or Nginx. Protect the UIs with Basic Auth, OAuth, or your IdP of choice.
  • Secrets management: Replace plain-text credentials with Docker secrets or environment variables injected by your orchestrator.
  • Docker socket access: If the backend needs socket access, place a docker-socket-proxy sidecar in front of /var/run/docker.sock and allow only the capabilities you require.
  • Logging: Persist container logs using a driver (json-file rotation) or forward to an external sink alongside LogForge dashboards.
  • Backups: Persistent data resides in the named volumes logforge_core_data, logforge_notifier_data, and logforge_alert_engine_data. Snapshot them regularly.

Upgrades

  1. Pull the latest repo changes or switch to the desired tag.
  2. Restart with docker compose pull && docker compose up -d (or rebuild from source for development installs).
  3. Watch the Alert Engine and backend logs for schema migration messages.

With AUTO_UPDATE=true, Watchtower automatically tracks published container updates. For controlled rollouts, disable auto-update and perform the manual steps above.

Next steps

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