Skip to main content

Deploy using Docker

Docker compose is the easiest way to get started with self-hosted Novu.

Before you begin​

You need the following installed in your system:

Quick Start​

Get the code​

Clone the Novu repo and enter the docker directory locally:

# Get the code
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/novuhq/novu

# Go to the docker folder
cd novu/docker

# Copy the example env file to a solid
cp .env.example .env

# Start
docker-compose up

Now visit http://localhost:4200 to start using Novu.

Securing your setup​

While we provided you with some secret examples for getting started, you should NEVER deploy your Novu setup using the defaults provided.

Update Secrets​

Update the .env file with your own secrets. In particular, these are required:

  • JWT_SECRET: used by the API to generate JWT keys

Configuration​

To keep the setup simple, we made some choices that may not be optimal for production:

  • the database is in the same machine as the servers
  • the storage uses the filesystem backend instead of S3

We strongly recommend that you decouple your database before deploying.

Triggering events with custom installation​

When self-hosting Novu, in order to trigger an event you must first create a new Novu object and configure it with the proper backendUrl.

import { Novu } from '@novu/node';

const config = {
  backendUrl: '<REPLACE_WITH_BACKEND_URL>',
};

const novu = new Novu('<API_KEY>', config);

await novu.trigger('<REPLACE_WITH_EVENT_NAME_FROM_ADMIN_PANEL>', {
  to: {
    subscriberId: '<REPLACE_WITH_DATA>',
  },
  payload: {},
});

Pointing IFrame embed to custom installation​

When using the IFrame embed to attach the notification center rather than the react component, you will need to specify the backendUrl and the socketUrl when initializing the iframe.

<script>
  novu.init(
    '<REPLACE_APPLICATION_ID>',
    {
      unseenBadgeSelector: '#unseen-badge',
      bellSelector: '#notification-bell',
      backendUrl: 'https://api.example.com',
      socketUrl: 'https://ws.example.com',
    },
    {}
  );
</script>

Using React Component with custom installation​

See Use your own backend and socket URL

Next steps​