Hosting Lemmy with Traefik as a reverse proxy

cross-posted from: https://lmmy.tvdl.dev/post/259

In light of the ongoing Reddit blackout, many users are seeking alternative platforms to host their communities. One popular option is Lemmy, a self-hosted federated link aggregator. However, most of the available documentation on running Lemmy involves using Nginx or Caddy as a reverse proxy. If you're utilizing Traefik with docker-compose and docker labels on your server, this guide will walk you through the process of setting up a working Lemmy instance without the need for Nginx or Caddy.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Docker Compose Configuration: To begin, create a new docker-compose.yml file and include the necessary services for running Lemmy. Here's a sample configuration to get you started:

   version: "3.7"
   
   services:
     web:
       image: dessalines/lemmy:0.17.4
       restart: always
       logging:
         driver: journald
         options:
           tag: "{{.Name}}[{{.ID}}]"
       environment:
         - RUST_LOG="warn,lemmy_server=info,lemmy_api=info,lemmy_api_common=info,lemmy_api_crud=info,lemmy_apub=info,lemmy_db_schema=info,lemmy_db_views=info,lemmy_db_views_actor=info,lemmy_db_views_moderator=info,lemmy_routes=info,lemmy_utils=info,lemmy_websocket=info"
       volumes:
         - ./lemmy.hjson:/config/config.hjson
       depends_on:
         - db
       networks:
         - default
         - reverse_proxy
       labels:
         - traefik.enable=true
         - traefik.http.routers.http_lemmyexamplecom.rule=Host(`lemmy.example.com`) && (PathPrefix(`/api`, `/pictrs`, `/feeds`, `/nodeinfo`, `/.well-known`) || Method(`POST`) || HeadersRegexp(`Accept`, `^[Aa]pplication/.*`))
         - traefik.http.routers.https_lemmyexamplecom.rule=Host(`lemmy.example.com`) && (PathPrefix(`/api`, `/pictrs`, `/feeds`, `/nodeinfo`, `/.well-known`) || Method(`POST`) || HeadersRegexp(`Accept`, `^[Aa]pplication/.*`))
         - traefik.http.routers.http_lemmyexamplecom.entrypoints=http
         - traefik.http.routers.https_lemmyexamplecom.entrypoints=https
         - traefik.http.routers.http_lemmyexamplecom.middlewares=https_redirect@file
         - traefik.http.routers.https_lemmyexamplecom.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt
     web-frontend:
       image: dessalines/lemmy-ui:0.17.4
       environment:
         - LEMMY_UI_LEMMY_INTERNAL_HOST=web:8536
         - LEMMY_UI_LEMMY_EXTERNAL_HOST=localhost:1236
         - LEMMY_HTTPS=true
       depends_on:
         - web
       restart: always
       logging:
         driver: journald
         options:
           tag: "{{.Name}}[{{.ID}}]"
       networks:
         - default
         - reverse_proxy
   labels:
         - traefik.enable=true
         - traefik.http.routers.http_lemmyexamplecom_static.rule=Host(`lemmy.example.com`)
         - traefik.http.routers.https_lemmyexamplecom_static.rule=Host(`lemmy.example.com`)
         - traefik.http.routers.http_lemmyexamplecom_static.entrypoints=http
         - traefik.http.routers.https_lemmyexamplecom_static.entrypoints=https
         - traefik.http.routers.http_lemmyexamplecom_static.middlewares=https_redirect@file
         - traefik.http.routers.https_lemmyexamplecom_static.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt
     db:
       image: postgres:15-alpine
       hostname: db
       environment:
         - POSTGRES_USER=lemmy
         - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
       volumes:
         - db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
       restart: always
       logging:
         driver: journald
         options:
           tag: "{{.Name}}[{{.ID}}]"
       networks:
         - default
   
   networks:
     reverse_proxy:
       external: true
   
   volumes:
     db:
   

2. Adjust Hostname: Remember to replace the placeholder hostname in the configuration with the actual hostname of your server. This ensures that Lemmy is accessible via the correct URL. Start Lemmy: Save the changes to your docker-compose.yml file and execute the following command in the terminal to start Lemmy:

   docker-compose up -d
   

3. Verify Lemmy's Availability: Once the containers are up and running, access your Lemmy instance by navigating to the URL associated with your server's hostname.

Please note that the instructions provided here assume a basic understanding of Docker, Traefik, and server administration. Adjustments may be necessary based on your specific setup and requirements.

edit: Also note that this is for version 0.17.4. In case a new version releases you need to change the tag for both lemmy and lemmy-ui