Install Forgejo with Docker on Debian

Introduction

Forgejo is an open-source platform for managing Git repositories. This tutorial shows step-by-step how to install and configure Forgejo via Docker on a cloud server with Debain 13.

Prerequisites

• 1 server (e.g. with Hetzner)
  • Debian 13
  • Access to the root user or a user with sudo permissions

Example terminology

• Username: holu
• Email: email@example.com
• Server: <203.0.113.1>

Step 1 - Connect via SSH

If you don't have an SSH key yet, create one now on your local machine:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "email@example.com"

The key is saved in ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub. Add the content of this file in Hetzner Console in "Security" » "Add SSH key" so that you can use it later to connect to your server.

Now create a server in Hetzner Console. Select Debian 13 as the OS image and the SSH key you just added. After the server is created, you get its IP address.

Now connect to the server. Open a terminal and run the following command. Replace 203.0.113.1 with the actual IP address of your server:

ssh root@203.0.113.1 -p 22

Step 2 - Update the system

Once you're connected to the server, make sure that the system is up-to-date by running these commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

These commands update the package list and install the latest versions of packages on your server.

Step 3 - Install Docker

Forgejo needs Docker to run the application in containers. Install Docker with the following commands as explained in the official documentation:

# Add Docker's official GPG key:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ca-certificates curl
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

# Add the repository to Apt sources:
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources <<EOF
Types: deb
URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/debian
Suites: $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")
Components: stable
Architectures: $(dpkg --print-architecture)
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
EOF

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

After the installation, check if Docker was installed as expected by running this command:

sudo systemctl status docker

If Docker was installed successfully, the output should show that the Docker service is active and running.

Click here to expand an example output

holu@example-server:~$ sudo systemctl status docker
● docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mon 2026-06-16 09:53:17 UTC; 16s ago
 Invocation: 0d4362e8d4fe443b82ab32bb44d415ca
TriggeredBy: ● docker.socket
       Docs: https://docs.docker.com
   Main PID: 5592 (dockerd)
      Tasks: 10
     Memory: 28.5M (peak: 30.6M)
        CPU: 312ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/docker.service
             └─5592 /usr/bin/dockerd -H fd:// --containerd=/run/containerd/containerd.sock

Jun 16 09:53:16 example-server dockerd[5592]: time="2026-06-16T09:53:16.841295340Z" level=info msg="Deleting nftabl>
Jun 16 09:53:16 example-server dockerd[5592]: time="2026-06-16T09:53:16.857299194Z" level=info msg="Deleting nftabl>
Jun 16 09:53:17 example-server dockerd[5592]: time="2026-06-16T09:53:17.258842559Z" level=info msg="Loading contain>
Jun 16 09:53:17 example-server dockerd[5592]: time="2026-06-16T09:53:17.264163432Z" level=info msg="Docker daemon" >
Jun 16 09:53:17 example-server dockerd[5592]: time="2026-06-16T09:53:17.264254553Z" level=info msg="Initializing bu>
Jun 16 09:53:17 example-server dockerd[5592]: time="2026-06-16T09:53:17.273451918Z" level=warning msg="git source c>
Jun 16 09:53:17 example-server dockerd[5592]: time="2026-06-16T09:53:17.278429176Z" level=info msg="Completed build>
Jun 16 09:53:17 example-server dockerd[5592]: time="2026-06-16T09:53:17.288867661Z" level=info msg="Daemon has comp>
Jun 16 09:53:17 example-server dockerd[5592]: time="2026-06-16T09:53:17.288964362Z" level=info msg="API listen on />
Jun 16 09:53:17 example-server systemd[1]: Started docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine.

If Docker isn't running, you can start it with this command:

sudo systemctl start docker

Now add your user to the Docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker holu

End the connection to the server and reconnect afterwards to update your user's groups. You can run groups to check if "docker" is listed.

Step 4 - Install Forgejo

Now that Docker is installed, you can install Forgejo. First, create a directory for Forgejo and change into the new directory:

mkdir forgejo
cd forgejo

The following command downloads version 15 of the Forgejo Docker image.

docker pull codeberg.org/forgejo/forgejo:15

Now create a file called docker-compose.yml to configure the Forgejo instance. Add the following content:

networks:
  forgejo:
    external: false

services:
  server:
    image: codeberg.org/forgejo/forgejo:15
    container_name: forgejo
    environment:
      - USER_UID=1000
      - USER_GID=1000
    restart: always
    networks:
      - forgejo
    volumes:
      - ./forgejo:/data
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    ports:
      - '3000:3000'
      - '222:22'

This configuration creates a Docker container for Forgejo that can be accessed via port 3000 for the web user interface and via port 222 for SSH connections. Forgejo data is stored in ./forgejo on your server so that it is retained even after the container is restarted. USER_UID and USER_GID specify the user IDs and group IDs under which Forgejo runs inside the container.

Save the file and run this command to start the Forgejo container:

docker compose up -d

The command above starts the Forgejo container in the background. You can check the status of the container with the following command:

docker ps -a

If the container was started successfully, it should be listed as a running container.

Step 5 - Access the Forgejo user interface

Now that the Forgejo container is running, you can access the user interface. Open a web browser and enter the IP address of your server followed by :3000, e.g. http://203.0.113.1:3000. You should see the login page of Forgejo.

You can keep the default values because Forgejo automatically uses SQLite as database. Click on the bottom option "Administrator account settings" and create a new admin account by providing a user name, email address and password.

Finally, click on "Install Forgejo" to complete the installation. You will be logged in automatically and can start with managing your Git repositories.

To add more users:

• Klick on the user icon in the top right
• In the drop-down menu that opens, click on "Site administration"
• In the left menu bar, go to "Identity & access" » "User accounts"

Conclusion

You now have a running Forgejo instance. Next, you can set up:

License: MIT