Self-Host the Outline Note App with Docker – A Powerful Collaborative Note Setup

Jeremy Duncan

Jeremy Duncan

— 4 min read
Self-Host the Outline Note App with Docker – A Powerful Collaborative Note Setup
Ginger man sitting down excited about Outline.

If you're looking for a self-hosted, secure, and modern knowledge management tool, Outline is a fantastic choice. It’s like Notion for teams, but open-source and under your full control.

In this tutorial, we’ll walk through setting up Outline with Docker Compose—including PostgreSQL, and Redis —for a complete, powerful deployment.

🧠 Why Outline?

Outline is a beautiful, collaborative knowledge base built for teams. It features:

📁 Drag-and-Drop File Uploads

Attach PDFs, images, and other docs directly inside your notes. Great for:

  • Product spec sheets
  • Design mockups
  • Client documentation

🚀 Build a Private Wiki for Your Team

Create a structured knowledge base with nested documents, organized by collections. Perfect for:

  • Onboarding new team members
  • Documenting SOPs (standard operating procedures)
  • Engineering documentation
  • Company handbooks

🔐 Role-Based Access & Permissions

You can control exactly who sees what:

  • View-only access for guests or contractors
  • Full edit permissions for team members
  • Restrict certain collections to specific groups or individuals

💬 Live Collaborative Editing (Like Google Docs)

Outline supports live collaboration—multiple people can edit a doc at once, and you’ll see changes in real-time.

🧠 Powerful Markdown Editor

Built-in rich markdown editor with:

  • Tables
  • Code blocks
  • Checklists
  • Links
  • Image embeds

You get the simplicity of markdown with the polish of a modern editor.

🌐 Integrations & Auth Providers

Out of the box, Outline supports:

  • Google Login
  • Slack Login
  • OpenID Connect (for self-hosted SSO)
  • Webhooks for automation

You can also build custom integrations with the Outline API.

🧩 Embed Anything (Charts, Videos, etc.)

Use Markdown embeds to drop in:

  • YouTube videos
  • Figma designs
  • Loom recordings
  • Google Maps
  • GitHub Gists

🐳 Prerequisites

Before you begin:

  • Docker and Docker Compose installed
  • A Linux server or NAS (Synology, Unraid, Ubuntu, etc.)
  • A domain name (for HTTPS setup)
  • Basic knowledge of terminal commands

🛠 Docker Compose Setup

Here’s a full docker-compose.yml tailored to run Outline, PostgreSQL, and Redis. This version uses host networking, perfect for local NAS setups.


version: "3"

services:
  outline:
    image: docker.getoutline.com/outlinewiki/outline:latest
    user: "999:100"
    network_mode: "host"
    volumes:
      - /YOUR_SAVE_PATH_DIRECTORY:/var/lib/outline/data
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis
    environment:
      SECRET_KEY: "secret_key_here"
      UTILS_SECRET: "utils_secret_here"
      DATABASE_URL: "postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/outline?sslmode=disable"
      REDIS_URL: "redis://localhost:6379"
      URL: "https://yourdomain.com"
      FORCE_HTTPS: "true"
      PORT: "3333"
      FILE_STORAGE: "local"
      FILE_STORAGE_UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE: "1073741824" #Set Max file upload size
      GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID: "your_google_client_id"  #Needed for google auth
      GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET: "your_google_secret" #Needed for google auth

  redis:
    image: redis
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"
    volumes:
      - ./redis.conf:/redis.conf
    command: ["redis-server", "/redis.conf"]
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 30s
      retries: 3
    networks:
      - outline_stack_net

  postgres:
    image: postgres
    user: "999:100"
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - /YOUR_SAVE_PATH_DIRECTORY:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-d", "outline", "-U", "user"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 20s
      retries: 3
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: "user_name"
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "password"
      POSTGRES_DB: "outline_db"
    networks:
      - outline_stack_net

networks:
  outline_stack_net:
    external: true

⚙️ System User Permissions

Make sure to update:


user: "999:100" #use your user and group id to match your system's

This maps to your system's user and group ID. You can find it with:


id yourusername

Set up a reverse proxy (like NGINX or Caddy) and use Let's Encrypt for a free SSL certificate. Make sure your domain points to your server IP.

🧪 Test Everything


docker compose up -d

Visit: https://yourdomain.com:3333

🧠 Tips & Best Practices

  • Backup your PostgreSQL volume regularly.
  • Use Docker secrets for sensitive info in production.
  • Run behind a firewall and use fail2ban for added security.
  • Monitor container logs with docker logs <container_name>

Final Thoughts

With Outline running in Docker, you've got a secure, scalable, and self-hosted alternative to cloud note apps like Notion or Confluence.

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