How to install Outline

katos

In this guide, I will detail how to install Outline. If you’re struggling with a particular section, then you can use the table of contents below to go to that section:

version: "3"
services:

  outline:
    image: docker.getoutline.com/outlinewiki/outline:latest
    env_file: ./docker.env
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis
      - storage

  redis:
    image: redis
    env_file: ./docker.env
    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

  postgres:
    image: postgres
    env_file: ./docker.env
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - database-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 20s
      retries: 3
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: 'user'
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: 'pass'
      POSTGRES_DB: 'outline'

  storage:
    image: minio/minio
    env_file: ./docker.env
    ports:
      - "9000:9000"
    entrypoint: sh
    command: -c 'minio server'
    deploy:
      restart_policy:
        condition: on-failure
    volumes:
      - storage-data:/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:9000/minio/health/live"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 20s
      retries: 3

  https-portal:
    image: steveltn/https-portal
    env_file: ./docker.env
    ports:
      - '80:80'
      - '443:443'
    links:
      - outline
      - storage
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - https-portal-data:/var/lib/https-portal
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "service", "nginx", "status"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 20s
      retries: 3
    environment:
      DOMAINS: 'docs.mycompany.com -> http://outline:3000'
      STAGE: 'production'
      WEBSOCKET: 'true'

volumes:
  https-portal-data:
  storage-data:
  database-data:

Configuring Authentik as an authentication method

Login to your Authentik instance as an administrator
Navigate to Providers and click Create
Create a new Authentication Provider. I have called mine Outline-OID for easy identification.

a. Your configuration should use a redirect of https://yourdomain.tld/auth/oidc.callback

b. You must make a note of your Client ID and Secret to use for your docker.env file
c. Under Advanced Protocol Settings ensure that you select openID and Email

d. The Subject Mode can be set to Based on the user’s Email.
Navigate to Applications and select Create
Create a new Application. I have called mine Outline for easier identification.
The Provider will be the newly created one (Outline-OID in my case)
On your server, navigate to your docker.env file
Scroll down the Authentication section until you reach OIDC
a. Configure your OIDC Client ID and Secret that you took during Step 3a.
b. Your Auth_URI will be https://yourdomain.tld/application/o/authorize
c. Your Token_URI will be https://yourdomain.tld/application/o/token
d. Your USERINFO_URI will be https://yourdomain.tld/application/o/userinfo

Database

Create the database with the following command:
docker-compose run --rm outline yarn db:create --env=production-ssl-disabled

Migrate the new database to add needed tables, indexes, etc:
docker-compose run --rm outline yarn db:migrate --env=production-ssl-disabled

If you get an error

In some instances, you may encounter an error that you are unable to connect to the Postgres database. This appears to be related to the configuration being incorrect - Please adjust your docker.env file as below:


# For production point these at your databases, in development the default
# should work out of the box.
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@postgres:5432/outline
DATABASE_URL_TEST=postgres://user:pass@postgres:5432/outline-test
DATABASE_CONNECTION_POOL_MIN=
DATABASE_CONNECTION_POOL_MAX=
# Uncomment this to disable SSL for connecting to Postgres
PGSSLMODE=disable

# For redis you can either specify an ioredis compatible url like this
REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379

Note that the Database URL is adjusted to @postgres

Running your new instance

Now that your instance is configured, it’s time to run it!
Navigate to your directory (in my case ~/Docker/Outline) and run the command docker-compose up -d

Updating

To update Outline, follow these steps:

Backup your database
Update to the latest image
Use docker pull docker.getoutline.com/outlinewiki/outline:latest to download the image or
If you are using docker-compose then you’d need to update the docker-compose.yml file to point to the latest version.
Run the container

BuhainaBuhaina

I am trying this and still getting the ERROR: connect ECONNREFUSED as with every other attempt i tried.

here are my notes
server is open to the public only on ports 80, 443. It is accessible internally from everywhere.
i have authentik setup exactly as it says here. There were some options not mentioned that I don't know if I did right, like the required field for authorization flow which i set to explicit.
docker-compose as shown gives a ton of errors
docker compose works better it seems but i get the error above always

here are my configs

docker-compose.yml

docker.env

tankerkiller125

@Buhaina-Buhaina I don't see a postgres container in your docker-compse.yml file. Is this on purpose?

BuhainaBuhaina

tankerkiller125 No sorry, I don't know how that happened. the compose file i am using is literally exactly the same as yours.

BuhainaBuhaina

i don't understand any of this. If i use the command as written "docker-compose" i get all these errors:

But if i use "docker compose" it doesn't give all those errors, just the one i mentioned above. but always.

tankerkiller125

@Buhaina-Buhaina docker-compose is no longer considered the correct version of the command. They've massively updated and overhauled the compose command (hence why docker compose works). As for the connection issue I'm not entirely sure what's going on there. Maybe katos can assist once he's around later in the morning his time zone.

katos

@Buhaina-Buhaina

It looks like your database isn’t starting before your app.

Let me review the thread properly but I still am not seeing your Postgres in docker-compose.yml — can you paste your entire content of docker-compose.yml into pastebin or something please? (Feel free to redact your site URL)

BuhainaBuhaina

I can paste the files if you still need it. But now, i tried again, and I went ahead and ran the second command for migrate, and it looked like it succeeded. I then went to the address, and it was working! So i clicked on use openid, and I get an error. So this is good progress! I looked at the address of the error and it redirected me to localhost rather than the domain address, so something must be misconfigured somewhere.

tankerkiller125

@Buhaina-Buhaina Change the URL config to be the domain your accessing Outline from. Do not change anything else, and you should be good to go from there.

BuhainaBuhaina

which URL config do you mean? I am a little confused as I have two separate domains: one for authentik, and another for outline like this:
auth.domain1.com
outline.domain2.com

which of these goes where? For the ODIC section, I am using the auth urls. I will pastebin my configs here soon.

katos

@Buhaina-Buhaina said in How to install Outline:

which URL config do you mean? I am a little confused as I have two separate domains: one for authentik, and another for outline like this:
auth.domain1.com
outline.domain2.com

which of these goes where? For the ODIC section, I am using the auth urls. I will pastebin my configs here soon.

You’re very nearly there!
You just need to add your outline.domain2.com address to your docker.env file

URL should point to the fully qualified, publicly accessible URL. If using a
# proxy the port in URL and PORT may be different.
URL=http://localhost:3000
PORT=3000

Change localhost:300 to your domain

BuhainaBuhaina

thanks, yes that gets me closer. Now, I login, and then it redirects me back to outline with this error:

katos

@Buhaina-Buhaina great news, we’re very nearly there! Can you post your Authentik config and your docker.env for OIDC please?

BuhainaBuhaina

here are the two configs:

https://pastebin.com/8dVu2k61
https://pastebin.com/3fFGFawf

BuhainaBuhaina

authentik

katos

@Buhaina-Buhaina said in How to install Outline:

authentik

Looks like your redirect URI might be wrong.
On Authentik, navigate to Providers and select your Outline provider. Scroll down and choose Protocol Settings.

In here configure your Redirect URI to:
https://yourdomain.tld/auth/oidc.callback

BuhainaBuhaina

isn't that what I already have there? I think it is exactly the same. the domain is outline.domain2.com
https://outline.domain2.com/auth/oidc.callback

katos

@Buhaina-Buhaina could it be because of the account you’re logging in with perhaps?

On Authentik go to the Outline application in the admin panel and use Check Access?
If you want you can also DM me your site URL and a test user and I can try it for you?

BuhainaBuhaina

for authentik, does it need a fully qualified domain, or can it work with internal ip addresses?

katos

@Buhaina-Buhaina Please accept my apologies for the delays on this one. Work has been manic!
The It Crowd Moss The It Crowd GIF

Regardless, I believe that the FQDN is required for Outline but not necessarily for Authentik.
With your error, it seems more likely that the Authentik configuration isn't quite right on the docker.env

Please can you DM me with a pastebin link of your full docker.env (you can of course redact passwords) and I will review your configuration for you.