Docker Setup

The image is pre-built and requires minimal setup—just download it and start the container.

Requirements

Make sure Docker and Docker Compose are installed on your system. These are usually included in tools like Docker Desktop and Rancher Desktop.

docker compose without the hyphen is now the primary method of using docker-compose, according to the Docker documentation.

Start

Create a New Directory for Formbricks Open a terminal and run the following commands to create and enter a new directory for Formbricks:
```
mkdir formbricks-quickstart && cd formbricks-quickstart
```

Download the Docker-Compose File Get the docker-compose file from the Formbricks repository by running:

curl -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/formbricks/formbricks/stable/docker/docker-compose.yml

Generate NextAuth Secret You need a NextAuth secret for session signing and encryption. Run one of the commands below based on your operating system: For Linux:

sed -i "/NEXTAUTH_SECRET:$/s/NEXTAUTH_SECRET:.*/NEXTAUTH_SECRET: $(openssl rand -hex 32)/" docker-compose.yml

For macOS:

sed -i '' "s/NEXTAUTH_SECRET:.*/NEXTAUTH_SECRET: $(openssl rand -hex 32)/" docker-compose.yml

Generate Encryption Key Next, you need to generate an Encryption Key. This will be used for authenticating and verifying 2 Factor Authentication. Run one of the commands below based on your operating system: For Linux:
```
sed -i "/ENCRYPTION_KEY:$/s/ENCRYPTION_KEY:.*/ENCRYPTION_KEY: $(openssl rand -hex 32)/" docker-compose.yml
```
For macOS:
```
sed -i '' "s/ENCRYPTION_KEY:.*/ENCRYPTION_KEY: $(openssl rand -hex 32)/" docker-compose.yml
```

Generate Cron Secret You require a Cron secret to secure API access for running cron jobs. Run one of the commands below based on your operating system: For Linux:

sed -i "/CRON_SECRET:$/s/CRON_SECRET:.*/CRON_SECRET: $(openssl rand -hex 32)/" docker-compose.yml

For macOS:

sed -i '' "s/CRON_SECRET:.*/CRON_SECRET: $(openssl rand -hex 32)/" docker-compose.yml

Start the Docker Setup Now, you’re ready to run Formbricks with Docker. Use the command below to start Formbricks along with a PostgreSQL database using Docker Compose:
```
docker compose up -d
```
The -d flag runs the containers in the background, so they keep running even after you close the terminal.
Open Formbricks in Your Browser Once the setup is running, open http://localhost:3000 in your browser to access Formbricks. The first time you visit, you’ll see a setup wizard. Follow the steps to create your first user and start using Formbricks.

Update

Please take a look at our migration guide for version specific steps to update Formbricks.

Pull the latest Formbricks image
```
docker compose pull
```
Stop the Formbricks stack
```
docker compose down
```
Re-start the Formbricks stack with the updated image
```
docker compose up -d
```

Optional: Adding RustFS for File Storage

RustFS provides S3-compatible object storage for file uploads in Formbricks. If you want to enable features like image uploads, survey file uploads, or custom logos, you can run RustFS alongside Formbricks while keeping the existing S3_* environment variables.

For a broader overview of file storage options and required environment variables, see our File Uploads Configuration guide.

For production deployments with HTTPS, use the one-click setup script which automatically configures RustFS with Traefik, SSL certificates, a dedicated files. subdomain, and least-privilege service credentials. The examples below are best suited for development, testing, or custom local setups.

The bundled RustFS examples on this page are convenience-oriented single-server setups. They work well for development, evaluation, and smaller self-hosted deployments, but they are not the ideal RustFS architecture for high-availability or larger-scale production storage. For stricter production requirements, use external object storage or run a dedicated RustFS deployment separately.

Quick Start: Using docker-compose.dev.yml

The fastest way to test file uploads locally is to use the included docker-compose.dev.yml, which already starts RustFS and auto-creates the formbricks bucket.

Start the local stack From the repository root:
```
docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d
```
This starts PostgreSQL, Valkey (Redis), Mailhog, RustFS, a permissions helper, and a one-time bucket bootstrap job.
Access the RustFS console Open http://localhost:9001 in your browser and sign in with:
- Username: devrustfs
- Password: devrustfs123

Configure Formbricks Update your .env file or environment variables:

S3_ACCESS_KEY="devrustfs"
S3_SECRET_KEY="devrustfs123"
S3_REGION="us-east-1"
S3_BUCKET_NAME="formbricks"
S3_ENDPOINT_URL="http://localhost:9000"
S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE="1"

Verify uploads After uploading a file in Formbricks, open http://localhost:9001 and navigate to Buckets → formbricks to confirm the object was stored successfully.

The development compose file also runs a rustfs-init job so you do not need to create the bucket manually.

Manual RustFS Setup (Custom Configuration)

Recommended: Prefer docker-compose.dev.yml for local development unless you need to fold RustFS into an existing custom Compose stack.

If you want to add RustFS to your own docker-compose.yml, use a pinned RustFS image plus two helper services:

services:
  rustfs-perms:
    image: busybox:1.36.1
    user: "0:0"
    command: ["sh", "-c", "mkdir -p /data && chown -R 10001:10001 /data"]
    volumes:
      - rustfs-data:/data

  rustfs:
    image: rustfs/rustfs:1.0.0-alpha.93
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      rustfs-perms:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
    command: /data
    environment:
      RUSTFS_ACCESS_KEY: "${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_ADMIN_USER}"
      RUSTFS_SECRET_KEY: "${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_ADMIN_PASSWORD}"
      RUSTFS_ADDRESS: ":9000"
      RUSTFS_CONSOLE_ENABLE: "true"
      RUSTFS_CONSOLE_ADDRESS: ":9001"
    ports:
      - "9000:9000"
      - "9001:9001"
    volumes:
      - rustfs-data:/data

  rustfs-init:
    image: minio/mc@sha256:95b5f3f7969a5c5a9f3a700ba72d5c84172819e13385aaf916e237cf111ab868
    depends_on:
      - rustfs
    environment:
      RUSTFS_ADMIN_USER: "${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_ADMIN_USER}"
      RUSTFS_ADMIN_PASSWORD: "${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_ADMIN_PASSWORD}"
      RUSTFS_SERVICE_USER: "${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_SERVICE_USER}"
      RUSTFS_SERVICE_PASSWORD: "${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_SERVICE_PASSWORD}"
      RUSTFS_BUCKET_NAME: "${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_BUCKET_NAME}"
      RUSTFS_POLICY_NAME: "${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_POLICY_NAME}"
    entrypoint:
      - /bin/sh
      - -c
      - |
        set -e
        until mc alias set rustfs http://rustfs:9000 "$RUSTFS_ADMIN_USER" "$RUSTFS_ADMIN_PASSWORD" >/dev/null 2>&1 \
          && mc ls rustfs >/dev/null 2>&1; do
          sleep 2
        done
        mc mb rustfs/"$RUSTFS_BUCKET_NAME" --ignore-existing
        cat > /tmp/formbricks-policy.json << EOF
        {
          "Version": "2012-10-17",
          "Statement": [
            {
              "Effect": "Allow",
              "Action": ["s3:DeleteObject", "s3:GetObject", "s3:PutObject"],
              "Resource": ["arn:aws:s3:::$RUSTFS_BUCKET_NAME/*"]
            },
            {
              "Effect": "Allow",
              "Action": ["s3:ListBucket"],
              "Resource": ["arn:aws:s3:::$RUSTFS_BUCKET_NAME"]
            }
          ]
        }
        EOF
        if ! mc admin policy info rustfs "$RUSTFS_POLICY_NAME" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
          mc admin policy create rustfs "$RUSTFS_POLICY_NAME" /tmp/formbricks-policy.json || \
            mc admin policy add rustfs "$RUSTFS_POLICY_NAME" /tmp/formbricks-policy.json
        fi
        if ! mc admin user info rustfs "$RUSTFS_SERVICE_USER" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
          mc admin user add rustfs "$RUSTFS_SERVICE_USER" "$RUSTFS_SERVICE_PASSWORD"
        fi
        mc admin policy attach rustfs "$RUSTFS_POLICY_NAME" --user "$RUSTFS_SERVICE_USER"

Declare the corresponding volume:

volumes:
  rustfs-data:
    driver: local

Store the generated RustFS credentials in a local .env file next to your docker-compose.yml instead of hardcoding them in Compose:

FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_ADMIN_USER=formbricks-root
FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_ADMIN_PASSWORD=change-this-secure-password
FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_SERVICE_USER=formbricks-service
FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_SERVICE_PASSWORD=change-this-service-password
FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_BUCKET_NAME=formbricks
FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_POLICY_NAME=formbricks-policy
FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_REGION=us-east-1

Then configure Formbricks to use the RustFS service credentials:

S3_ACCESS_KEY="${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_SERVICE_USER}"
S3_SECRET_KEY="${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_SERVICE_PASSWORD}"
S3_REGION="${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_REGION}"
S3_BUCKET_NAME="${FORMBRICKS_RUSTFS_BUCKET_NAME}"
S3_ENDPOINT_URL="http://rustfs:9000"
S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE="1"

Restrict the .env file to 0600 and do not commit it to source control. For production, prefer the one-click setup script, which creates a separate least-privilege service account automatically.

Tips & Common Gotchas

Permission denied on /data: Ensure the mounted directory or volume is owned by UID 10001. The rustfs-perms helper handles this for Compose-managed volumes.
Storage medium matters: Prefer local SSD or NVMe storage for rustfs-data, use XFS on dedicated host-managed disks where possible, and avoid NFS or other network filesystems for RustFS data.
Connection refused: Ensure the rustfs container is running and port 9000 is reachable from the Formbricks container.
Bucket not found: Confirm that rustfs-init completed successfully or create the bucket manually with mc.
Auth failed: Confirm that S3_ACCESS_KEY and S3_SECRET_KEY match the RustFS credentials configured on the server.
Backups: Back up the rustfs-data volume regularly, especially for single-server deployments.
Console exposure: Do not expose the RustFS console port publicly in production. Keep it on a private network or behind admin-only controls.

Health check: From the Formbricks container:

docker compose exec formbricks sh -c 'wget -O- http://rustfs:9000/health'

Production Setup with Traefik

For production deployments, use the one-click setup script, which automatically configures:

RustFS behind Traefik on a dedicated files.yourdomain.com subdomain
Automatic SSL certificate generation via Let’s Encrypt
CORS configuration scoped to your Formbricks domain
Rate limiting middleware
Separate RustFS admin and Formbricks service credentials
A rustfs-init job that creates the bucket and access policy

The production setup from formbricks.sh adds the reverse proxy wiring and bootstrap automation needed for long-lived deployments.

Even in the one-click flow, bundled RustFS remains a convenience-oriented single-server deployment. For higher availability, stricter operational requirements, or larger storage footprints, prefer external object storage or a dedicated RustFS deployment managed separately from Formbricks.

Debug

If you encounter any issues, you can check the logs of the container with this command:

docker compose logs -f

In an ideal case, you should see this:

[+] Running 9/16
⠹ formbricks 15 layers [⣿⣤⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀] 29.78MB/47.76MB Pulling                                                           13.3s
✔ 7264a8db6415 Already exists                                                                                                 0.0s
⠋ 751194035c36 Downloading    [===============================>                   ]  29.78MB/47.76...                         8.1s
✔ eff5dce73b38 Download complete                                                                                              1.7s
✔ c8ce5be43019 Download complete                                                                                              1.2s
✔ a2f33c630af5 Download complete                                                                                              5.1s
✔ e3b64e437860 Download complete                                                                                              3.3s
✔ a6551ac5f976 Download complete                                                                                              4.9s
✔ 4f4fb700ef54 Download complete                                                                                              6.0s
✔ 22163889e16b Download complete                                                                                              6.7s
✔ dc647bb9eb13 Download complete                                                                                              7.8s
⠋ 49c2ad494720 Waiting                                                                                                        8.1s
⠋ 5c797a842dcb Waiting                                                                                                        8.1s
⠋ 1f231213db04 Waiting                                                                                                        8.1s
⠋ e407294bdcda Waiting                                                                                                        8.1s
⠋ 6fd8358dca47 Pulling fs layer                                                                                               8.1s

[+] Running 2/2
✔ Container formbricks-quickstart-postgres-1    Created                                                                       0.0s
✔ Container formbricks-quickstart-formbricks-1  Created                                                                       0.0s

And at the tail of the output, you should see this:

formbricks-quickstart-formbricks-1  | All migrations have been successfully applied.
formbricks-quickstart-formbricks-1  |
formbricks-quickstart-formbricks-1  | - info Loaded env from /home/nextjs/apps/web/.env
formbricks-quickstart-formbricks-1  | Listening on port 3000 url: http://<random-string>:3000

You can close the logs again by hitting CTRL + C.

Customizing environment variablesTo edit any of the available environment variables, check out our Configuration section!

If you have any questions or require help, feel free to reach out to us on GitHub Discussions. 😃

Self Hosting

Setup

Configuration

Advanced

Requirements

Start

Update

Optional: Adding RustFS for File Storage

Quick Start: Using docker-compose.dev.yml

Manual RustFS Setup (Custom Configuration)

Tips & Common Gotchas

Production Setup with Traefik

Debug

Self Hosting

Setup

Configuration

Advanced

Documentation Index

​Requirements

​Start

​Update

​Optional: Adding RustFS for File Storage

​Quick Start: Using docker-compose.dev.yml

​Manual RustFS Setup (Custom Configuration)

​Tips & Common Gotchas

​Production Setup with Traefik

​Debug

Requirements

Start

Update

Optional: Adding RustFS for File Storage

Quick Start: Using docker-compose.dev.yml

Manual RustFS Setup (Custom Configuration)

Tips & Common Gotchas

Production Setup with Traefik

Debug