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MacOS/Docker installation is problematic
Debian/Docker Installation
Install Debian 14 (basic without GUI is sufficient)
Referencing docs.docker.com, install Docker using the apt repository
Extend Docker authority to a non-privileged user
sudo usermod -aG docker jdoe
Log out and back in
Referencing docs.paperless-ngx.com, as a non-privileged user, fetch the Paperless-NGX Docker image and spawn a container from it:
- Database: sqlite
- URL: [blank] (default)
- Accept all other defaults
Add to path
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/libexec/docker/cli-plugins
List active containers
docker-compose ls
Stop, start Paperless-NGX container as daemon
cd /home/jdoe/paperless-ngx docker-compose down docker-compose up -d
Stop, start dockerd service
sudo systemctl stop docker sudo systemctl start docker
Place Paperless-NGX Behind Apache Reverse Proxy
Bind Paperless-NGX exclusively to loopback interface:
In /home/jdoe/paperless-ngx/docker-compose.yml, upsert: - "127.0.0.1:8000:8000" - "[::1]:8000:8000"
Install, start Apache and certbot
sudo apt install apache2 sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache sudo systemctl start apache2
In /etc/apache2/apache2.conf, below the <Direcotry /var/www/html> block, add: Alias /.well-known/acme-challenge/ “/var/www/letsencrypt/.well-known/acme-challenge/” Install Apache modules sudo a2enmod proxy proxy_http ssl sudo systemctl restart apache2 Create vhost directories sudo mkdir -p /var/www/mysite/ sudo mkdir -p /var/www/letsencrypt/.well-known/acme-challenge/ Into /var/www/mysite, write <html> <head> <meta http-equiv=“Refresh” content=“0; url='https://mysite.example.com/'” /> </head> <body> HTTP disabled. Try <a href=“https://mysite.example.com/”>https://mysite.example.com/</a> </body> </html> Discard or comment all lines in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.conf Into /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/mysite.conf, upsert <VirtualHost *:80 [::]:80> ServerAdmin root@example.de DocumentRoot /var/www/mysite ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined ServerName mysite.example.com </VirtualHost> Restart Apache sudo /usr/sbin/apachectl restart Fetch test, production certificate sudo certbot certonly –test-cert –webroot -w /var/www/letsencrypt/ –agree-tos -d mysite.example.com sudo certbot certonly –webroot -w /var/www/letsencrypt/ –agree-tos -d mysite.example.com To /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/mysite.conf, append <VirtualHost *:443 [::]:443> ServerAdmin root@example.com DocumentRoot /var/www/mysite ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined ServerName mysite.example.com SSLEngine On SSLProxyEngine On ProxyPreserveHost On ProxyRequests Off ProxyPass / http://localhost:8000/ ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:8000/ SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/mysite.example.com/cert.pem SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/mysite.example.com/privkey.pem SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/mysite.example.com/chain.pem </VirtualHost> Restart Apache sudo /usr/sbin/apachectl restart