Run YunCMS with Docker Compose: MySQL 8.4 Included

This guide explains how to run the YunCMS open-source content management system using Docker Compose. YunCMS includes MySQL 8.4 for data storage and runs the CLI, REST API, and React Studio all within the same container image. The Docker Compose configuration creates two services, MySQL and YunCMS, along with two persistent volumes: mysql-data for MySQL tables and yuncms-data for project settings and files.

To get started, ensure you have Docker Engine with Compose plugin or Docker Desktop installed. For production deployments, additional persistent storage and a reverse proxy terminating TLS may be required. Check the required Docker version and ensure the necessary Node.js and npm tools are already inside the YunCMS image.

Download the official Compose files to an empty directory and create a .env file to set strong passwords for the database and root user. Pin a specific YunCMS image version in the .env file to avoid automatic updates. Start MySQL first using docker compose up -d mysql and verify its health status. Initialize YunCMS with the init command, providing the necessary database credentials from the .env file.

Once initialized, start the YunCMS service and verify its readiness using the health and ready endpoints. The image health check will only mark the container as healthy when MySQL and other dependencies are available. Never commit the .env file to version control, as it contains sensitive passwords and configuration.

To stop the YunCMS service without losing data, use docker compose stop yuncms. For backups, create a backup before maintenance by stopping the YunCMS service, running a backup command, and copying the backup files to an external location. When updating to a new YunCMS version, stop the service, create a backup, update the YUNCMS_IMAGE version in the .env file, pull the new image, and start the service again. Verify the updated installation by checking the health status, login, and file permissions.