DevOps

Docker Compose for Production Web Deployments

Author :Liam K.
Date :March 08, 2026
Time :20 minutes

Goal

Deploy an app, a PostgreSQL database, and Nginx reverse proxy using a reproducible Docker Compose setup.

Step 1: Install Docker and Compose Plugin

bash

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo $VERSION_CODENAME) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list >/dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Step 2: Create Project Layout

bash

mkdir -p ~/prod-stack/{app,nginx,db,logs}
cd ~/prod-stack

Step 3: Add Environment File

bash

cat > .env <<'EOF'
APP_PORT=3000
POSTGRES_DB=appdb
POSTGRES_USER=appuser
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=replace_with_long_password
EOF

Step 4: Create docker-compose.yml

yaml

cat > docker-compose.yml <<'EOF'
services:
  app:
    image: node:20-alpine
    working_dir: /app
    command: sh -c "npm ci && npm run start"
    volumes:
      - ./app:/app
[...]

Command truncated. Copy to view full command.

Step 5: Add Nginx Proxy Config

nginx

cat > nginx/default.conf <<'EOF'
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name _;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://app:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
[...]

Command truncated. Copy to view full command.

Step 6: Start Stack and Validate

bash

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
docker compose ps
docker compose logs -f --tail=100

Step 7: Safe Update Procedure

bash

git pull
docker compose build --pull
docker compose up -d --remove-orphans
docker image prune -f

Step 8: Backups for Persistent Data

bash

docker exec -t $(docker compose ps -q db) pg_dump -U appuser appdb > backup_$(date +%F).sql

"Compose is excellent for small and medium production systems if you treat it like infrastructure code and keep updates disciplined."

Technical Author

Liam K.

System administrator and technical writer specializing in server infrastructure, security and deployment. Creating comprehensive guides to help you master server administration.