Run it on Coolify

Deploy CareerBot's compose file on Coolify, with self-hosted Convex beside it, click by click.

Coolify deploys a Docker Compose project from a Git repository, gives each service a domain and handles HTTPS. These steps were tested on Coolify v4.3.23, deploying compose.yaml with self-hosted Convex in the same compose, end to end: setup code, owner account, sign out, sign in.

Before you start

  • A server with Coolify installed, or one you're about to install it on. A VPS with Coolify ready to install skips the next section: A VPS with Coolify.
  • DNS records for the hostnames below, pointing at the server: careerbot.example.com, convex.example.com, convex-site.example.com, and optionally convex-dashboard.example.com.

Install Coolify

Terminal (on the server)
curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | sudo bash

Open http://<server address>:8000. Register the root account: Name, Email, and Password twice (Coolify's own rule: upper and lower case, a number and a symbol).

Onboarding: Continue > This machine > Create "My First Project". In the test, its last button, Go to dashboard, failed with a 500 error ("Attempt to read property name on null"). Skip setup reached the dashboard, with the server and the project already made.

Deploy CareerBot

  1. 1

    Add the repository

    Projects > My first project > production > Add Resource > Public Git Repository. Repository URL:

    https://github.com/careerbotdev/careerbot.git

    Check Repository.

  2. 2

    Build configuration

    FieldValue
    Branchmaster
    Build packDocker Compose (change it from Railpack)
    Base directory/
    Compose file/compose.yaml (change it from /docker-compose.yaml)

    Continue. Coolify builds nothing: compose.yaml names CareerBot's release images, which it downloads.

  3. 3

    Load the compose file

    On the resource page, General > Load Compose. Until you do, the compose box is empty.

  4. 4

    Add the domains

    Domains > Add Domain, one row per hostname:

    ServiceProtocolDomainPort
    webhttpscareerbot.example.com3000
    convex-backendhttpsconvex.example.com3210
    convex-backendhttpsconvex-site.example.com3211
    convex-dashboard (optional)httpsconvex-dashboard.example.com6791

    The port is the container's port. Server > Wildcard domain isn't needed.

  5. 5

    Set the environment

    Environment Variables > Developer View. Set these, then Save changes:

    COMPOSE_PROFILES=self-hosted
SITE_URL=https://careerbot.example.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL=https://convex.example.com
CONVEX_SITE_ORIGIN=https://convex-site.example.com
CONVEX_SELF_HOSTED_URL=http://convex-backend:3210

    Coolify lists every variable in compose.yaml, and fills NEXT_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL with the compose file's error text (Set NEXT_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL in .env) as its value. Replace it. Leave the others empty unless you need them (Configuration); Google and GitHub sign-in keys go here too.

    Coolify honours COMPOSE_PROFILES: with self-hosted, it runs the Convex backend, dashboard and admin-key services.

    CAREERBOT_VERSION is in the list too, filled with the release compose.yaml names when Coolify first loads it. Coolify keeps that value when it loads a newer compose.yaml, so updating means changing it: Updates, backups, export.

  6. 6

    Deploy

    Actions (top right) > Deploy. Coolify downloads the images and starts them.

  7. 7

    Find the setup code

    Runtime Logs > expand the convex-setup service (its name starts with convex-setup-) > Setup code: XXXX-XXXX. It is not in the Deployment Logs.

  8. 8

    Create the owner account

    Open https://careerbot.example.com > Create your account: the setup code, a username, and a password twice. You land on Today. To check, sign out from the account menu (bottom left, your username) > Sign out, and sign in again with the username and password.

Commands on the server

new-setup-code and reset-password run in the folder where Coolify keeps the deployed compose project. On the server, as root:

Terminal (on the server)
cd /data/coolify/applications/<uuid>
docker compose run --rm convex-setup new-setup-code
docker compose run --rm convex-setup reset-password <username>

<uuid> is the part after /application/ in the resource's address in Coolify. Tested: new-setup-code answered that the copy already has its owner account.

Deploying again (Redeploy) also prints a new setup code while there's no owner account yet; the earlier code then stops working.

Firewall

compose.yaml publishes 3000 (WEB_PORT), 3210, 3211 and 6791 on the server's loopback address only (BIND_ADDRESS, default 127.0.0.1), so they aren't reachable from the internet; Coolify's proxy reaches the containers over Docker's network. Keep it that way, and let your provider's firewall allow only 22, 80 and 443: Firewall.

Snags seen in the test

These came from the test machine (an emulated amd64 machine on a Mac), not from CareerBot. They're not expected on a VPS, but if you hit one:

  • Docker doesn't start after the installer: the old dockerd process was still running. Stop it, delete /var/run/docker.pid, then systemctl start docker.
  • Every container fails with "unable to apply cgroup configuration … Failed to determine whether process is a kernel thread": add "exec-opts": ["native.cgroupdriver=cgroupfs"] to /etc/docker/daemon.json, restart Docker, and run the installer again.
  • The first deploy (which built the images on the server then) hung until Coolify's one-hour job timeout: restart Docker and click Deploy again.
  • "Git repository URL contains IP address": Coolify wants a hostname in the Git URL, not an IP address.

After this

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