---
title: Installation
category: Getting Started
description: Install Dequel on your own infrastructure.
slug: installation
---

You install Dequel with one command. The installer sets up the control
plane (dashboard, API, builders, databases engine, and monitoring) as
Docker containers on your machine. Your apps can run on that same machine,
or on additional servers you connect later (see
[Servers](/docs/servers)).

## Prerequisites

- **Docker** and **Docker Compose v2** (`docker compose`)
- A Linux server with ports `80` and `443` reachable if you want public
  HTTPS URLs (not needed for local-only use)

## Install

Run the install script:

```bash
curl -fsSL https://dequel.intrep.xyz/install.sh | bash
```

Alternatively, download directly from the latest GitHub release:

```bash
curl -fsSL https://github.com/Lftobs/dequel/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash
```

The script checks for Docker and Compose, creates a config directory at
`~/.dequel`, generates a unique `ENV_ENCRYPTION_KEY`, downloads the
`docker-compose.yml` and monitoring configs, pulls the pre-built images
from GitHub Container Registry, installs the `dequel` CLI, and asks for
an optional admin email (Let's Encrypt notifications) and base domain
(public app URLs).

Then start the platform:

```bash
dequel start
```

Open `https://<the base domain added while installing>` to access the dashboard. If you configured a base
domain during install, the dashboard is also served on it.

![Dequel login page](/screenshots/login.png)

## Create your login user

Dequel authenticates against Linux system users in the `dequel` group.
Create the group and a user after installing:

```bash
sudo groupadd -f dequel
sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash <username>
sudo passwd <username>
sudo usermod -aG dequel <username>
```

Sign in with that username and password. See
[Authentication](/docs/auth) for sessions, API keys, and programmatic
access.

## Production setup

To serve public HTTPS traffic:

1. Set the base domain and contact email in `~/.dequel/.env` (the
   installer already wrote these if you provided them):
   ```bash
   CADDY_BASE_DOMAIN=example.com
   CADDY_EMAIL=admin@example.com
   ```
2. Point a wildcard DNS record (`*.example.com`) at your server's IP.
3. Ensure ports `80` and `443` are open in your firewall.
4. Restart with `dequel restart`.

Deployed apps become reachable at `https://<project-slug>.example.com`
with automatic Let's Encrypt certificates.

## Configuration directory

Dequel stores its state in `~/.dequel` (override with `DEQUEL_HOME`):

```text
~/.dequel/
├── docker-compose.yml
├── .env                    # CADDY_BASE_DOMAIN, CADDY_EMAIL, ENV_ENCRYPTION_KEY
├── data/
│   ├── dequel.json         # File-based platform config (0600)
│   └── ...                 # Postgres data, backups, instance id
├── workspace/              # Build staging area
├── scripts/auth/           # PAM auth server files
└── infra/
    ├── caddy/
    │   ├── Caddyfile
    │   └── routes/         # Generated per-project route files
    └── monitoring/         # Prometheus, Loki, Grafana configs
```

PostgreSQL holds all platform state (projects, deployments, env vars,
databases, users). It runs as the `postgres` container with a persisted
volume — there is no SQLite file to manage.

## The `dequel` CLI

The CLI manages the platform lifecycle. See the full
[CLI reference](/docs/cli) for update channels and backups.

| Command | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| `dequel start` | Start all services |
| `dequel stop` | Stop all services |
| `dequel restart` | Restart all services |
| `dequel status` | Show service status |
| `dequel logs` | Follow service logs |
| `dequel update` | Update to the latest release |
| `dequel backup` | Back up the internal database |
| `dequel uninstall` | Remove everything (prompts first) |

## Manual setup

If the installer does not fit your environment, replicate what it does:
create the directory layout above, download `docker-compose.yml` and the
`infra/` configs from the latest GitHub release, write your `.env` with
`CADDY_BASE_DOMAIN`, `CADDY_EMAIL`, and a generated
`ENV_ENCRYPTION_KEY`, then run
`docker compose -f ~/.dequel/docker-compose.yml up -d`.

To build from source instead, clone the repository and run
`docker compose up -d --build`. For local development of the API and
dashboard directly, see the commands in `AGENTS.md`.

## Updating

```bash
dequel update
```

This pulls the latest images and recreates services with a rolling
restart. Pin a version with `dequel update vX.Y.Z`.

## Next steps

- Follow the [Quickstart](/docs/quickstart) to deploy your first app.
- Connect more machines under [Servers](/docs/servers).