Self-Host Planka (Trello Alternative)

Planka is a fast, open-source Kanban board application that gives you everything Trello offers — cards, lists, labels, attachments, and comments — without the subscription or the data leaving your server. Deploying it with Docker Compose takes under fifteen minutes, and adding a reverse proxy gives you a proper HTTPS URL.

Prerequisites

• A server (VPS or bare metal) with at least 1 GB RAM and Docker Engine installed
• Docker Compose v2 (the docker compose plugin, not the legacy docker-compose binary)
• A domain name or subdomain pointed at your server's IP — needed for the reverse proxy and for Planka's BASE_URL
• Ports 80 and 443 reachable, or whichever port you choose for HTTP-only setups

Step 1 — Install Docker (if not already present)

Debian / Ubuntu

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
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

Fedora / RHEL / Rocky

sudo dnf -y install dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/fedora/docker-ce.repo
sudo dnf install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin
sudo systemctl enable --now docker

Arch

sudo pacman -S docker docker-compose
sudo systemctl enable --now docker

Add your user to the docker group so you can run commands without sudo:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Step 2 — Create the Compose Project

Create a dedicated directory and a docker-compose.yml file:

mkdir -p ~/planka && cd ~/planka

cat > docker-compose.yml <<'EOF'
services:
  planka:
    image: ghcr.io/plankanban/planka:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    ports:
      - "3000:1337"
    environment:
      BASE_URL: https://planka.example.com
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://planka:planka_password@db/planka
      SECRET_KEY: "change_me_to_a_64_char_random_string"
      DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL: [email protected]
      DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD: StrongAdminPass1
      DEFAULT_ADMIN_NAME: Admin
      DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME: admin
    volumes:
      - planka_data:/app/public/user-avatars
      - planka_data:/app/public/project-background-images
      - planka_attachments:/app/private/attachments

  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: planka
      POSTGRES_USER: planka
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: planka_password
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U planka"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  planka_data:
  planka_attachments:
  db_data:
EOF

Before starting, replace every placeholder value:

• BASE_URL — your real domain, including scheme (https://)
• SECRET_KEY — generate a 64-character random string (see below)
• DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD and POSTGRES_PASSWORD — strong unique passwords

openssl rand -hex 32

Paste the output as SECRET_KEY. Keep Postgres credentials consistent between the planka and db service blocks.

Step 3 — Start Planka

docker compose up -d

Watch the logs until the app is ready (look for a line indicating the server is listening):

docker compose logs -f planka

Planka is now reachable on port 3000. Before exposing it to the internet, add the reverse proxy in the next step.

Step 4 — Reverse Proxy with Caddy (HTTPS)

Caddy is the simplest choice for automatic TLS. Install it, then write a minimal Caddyfile.

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https
curl -1sLf https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key \
  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y caddy

Fedora / RHEL / Rocky

sudo dnf install -y 'dnf-command(copr)'
sudo dnf copr enable @caddy/caddy
sudo dnf install -y caddy

Arch

sudo pacman -S caddy

Edit /etc/caddy/Caddyfile:

sudo tee /etc/caddy/Caddyfile <<'EOF'
planka.example.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}
EOF

sudo systemctl enable --now caddy
sudo systemctl reload caddy

Caddy fetches a Let's Encrypt certificate automatically. Your Planka instance is now available at https://planka.example.com.

If you prefer Nginx or Apache, the key settings are: proxy to http://localhost:3000, enable WebSocket upgrade headers (Upgrade and Connection), and set proxy_set_header Host $host. Planka uses WebSockets for real-time board updates.

Step 5 — Open the Firewall

ufw (Debian / Ubuntu)

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw reload

firewalld (Fedora / RHEL / Rocky)

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 6 — Log In and Configure Boards

Open your domain in a browser and sign in with the DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL and password you set. The first screen prompts you to create a Project (the top-level container, equivalent to a Trello workspace).

• Boards — inside a project, create boards for each workflow. Click the + icon next to the project name.
• Lists — within a board, add lists (columns) like To Do, In Progress, Done.
• Cards — add cards to lists. Click a card to open the detail view.
• Comments — in the card detail view, type a comment in the text field at the bottom and press Save.
• Attachments — in the card detail view, click Attachment in the sidebar, then choose a file. Attachments are stored in the planka_attachments Docker volume at /app/private/attachments.
• Labels and Due Dates — also accessible from the card detail sidebar.

Invite other users from Admin panel → Users → Add user, or enable open registration in the environment variables (set ALLOW_ALL_TO_CREATE_PROJECTS=true and restart the container).

Step 7 — Verify the Deployment

docker compose ps

Both planka and db should show Up (or running). Check that HTTPS works and the certificate is valid:

curl -I https://planka.example.com

You should see HTTP/2 200 (or a redirect to the login page). If WebSockets are working correctly, board changes made in one browser tab will appear instantly in another without a page refresh.

Keeping Planka Updated

cd ~/planka
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

This pulls the latest image and recreates the container while leaving your named volumes (data, attachments, database) untouched.

Backup

Back up both the Postgres database and the attachments volume:

# Dump the database
docker compose exec db pg_dump -U planka planka > planka_backup_$(date +%F).sql

# Archive the attachments volume
docker run --rm -v planka_planka_attachments:/data -v $(pwd):/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/attachments_$(date +%F).tar.gz -C /data .

Troubleshooting

• Planka container exits immediately — usually a bad DATABASE_URL or the db healthcheck hasn't passed yet. Run docker compose logs planka and docker compose logs db to confirm Postgres started cleanly.
• Real-time updates not working — WebSocket proxying is likely misconfigured. With Nginx, ensure you have proxy_http_version 1.1, proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade, and proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade" in your location block.
• Attachment uploads fail — verify the planka_attachments volume is mounted correctly and the container has write permission. Check with docker compose exec planka ls -la /app/private/.
• Certificate errors — ensure ports 80 and 443 are open and DNS has propagated. Caddy logs are at journalctl -u caddy -n 50.
• Forgot admin password — reset it via the Admin panel when logged in as another admin, or use docker compose exec planka node ./node_modules/.bin/sails run reset-password --email [email protected].