WriteFreely Docker Build

This project builds a Docker image for WriteFreely, a minimalist, privacy-focused, and federated blogging platform. The image is uses on Alpine Linux.

Getting started

To get started, the easiest way to test it out is running the following command:

docker run -p 8080:8080 -it --rm -v /some/path/to/data:/data \
       jrasanen/writefreely

Then point your browser to http://localhost:8080, and you should see WriteFreely up and running.

Setup

The image will perform an initial setup, unless the supplied volume already contains a config.ini. Settings can be tweaked via environment variables, of which you can find a list below. Do note that these environment variables are only used for the initial setup as of this writing! If a configuration file already exists, the environment variables will be blissfully ignored.

Environment variables

The following variables will be used to construct the config.ini on first start. After it has been configured, you can edit it on the volume.

General Configuration

• WRITEFREELY_BIND_PORT: Specifies the port on which the WriteFreely server will listen. Defaults to 8080.
• WRITEFREELY_BIND_HOST: Defines the host IP to bind to. Defaults to 0.0.0.0.
• WRITEFREELY_SITE_NAME: Sets the name of your WriteFreely site. Used to identify the site in federation.
• WRITEFREELY_SITE_DESCRIPTION: Provides a short description of your site. This description may be used in federated networks.

Database Configuration

• WRITEFREELY_DATABASE_DATABASE: Specifies the type of database used, such as mysql or sqlite3.
• WRITEFREELY_SQLITE_FILENAME: (Optional) DB filename if sqlite3 detabase is selected. Defaults to /data/writefreely.db.
• WRITEFREELY_DATABASE_USERNAME: The username for the database.
• WRITEFREELY_DATABASE_PASSWORD: The password for the database.
• WRITEFREELY_DATABASE_NAME: The name of the database to connect to.
• WRITEFREELY_DATABASE_HOST: The hostname or IP address of the database server.
• WRITEFREELY_DATABASE_PORT: The port number on which the database server is running.

Application Settings

• WRITEFREELY_HOST: The full URL where the site will be accessible.
• WRITEFREELY_SINGLE_USER: Set to true to run the instance as a single-user blog, otherwise false.
• WRITEFREELY_OPEN_REGISTRATION: Whether or not anyone can register via the landing page
• WRITEFREELY_MIN_USERNAME_LEN: The minimum length for usernames.
• WRITEFREELY_MAX_BLOG: Maximum number of blogs a single user can create under one account
• WRITEFREELY_FEDERATION: Whether or not federation via ActivityPub is enabled
• WRITEFREELY_PUBLIC_STATS: DWhether or not usage stats are made public via NodeInfo
• WRITEFREELY_PRIVATE: Set to true to make the site private.
• WRITEFREELY_LOCAL_TIMELINE: Whether or not the instance reader (and the Public option on blogs) is enabled
• WRITEFREELY_USER_INVITES: Who is allowed to send user invites, if anyone. A blank value disables invites for all users. Valid choices: empty, user, or admin

Writefreely Users

• WRITEFREELY_ADMIN_USER: Administrator user name. In single user instances is editor too.
• WRITEFREELY_ADMIN_PASSWORD: Administrator password

Volumes

• /data: Directory where WriteFreely stores its data, including database files and configuration.

Using Docker Compose

You can use Docker Compose to set up WriteFreely with different database configurations. The configuration files are already included in this repository. Follow the steps below to start the services.

Clone the Repository

First, clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/writefreely-docker.git
cd writefreely-docker

Prepare the Data Directory

Create the data directory and assign the appropriate permissions:

mkdir data
sudo chown 1000:1000 data

Configure the Environment

Before starting the services, you need to copy the appropriate .env file and edit it to configure the environment variables, especially the passwords.

For MariaDB

Copy the .env.mariadb file to .env:

cp .env.mariadb .env

For SQLite

Copy the .env.sqlite file to .env:

cp .env.sqlite .env

Then, edit the .env file to set the appropriate values for your environment:

nano .env

Ensure to set secure passwords and other necessary configuration options.

Start the Services

MariaDB

To use the MariaDB configuration, run:

docker-compose -f docker-compose.mariadb.yaml up

SQLite

To use the SQLite configuration, run:

docker-compose -f docker-compose.sqlite3.yaml up

Building the Image

If you want to build the image yourself, clone this repository and run the following command inside the repository's directory:

docker build -t yourusername/writefreely .

Replace yourusername with your Docker Hub username or a suitable image name.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please fork this repository and submit pull requests for any enhancements or bug fixes.