Docker Install

Introduction

The Kavita team offers an official Docker image that is automatically updated based on changes to GitHub.

Docker run

Running your Kavita server in docker is super easy! You can run the :latest stable version with bind mounts using this command:

Important: This command is just a template. Change /your/manga/directory and /kavita/data/directory
Also change the volume bind path in the host
Note: In the volume bind parameter -v, the text after ":" is the virtual directory that will be created inside the docker container. (mind the : in between)

docker run --name kavita -p 5000:5000 \
-v /your/manga/directory:/manga \
-v /kavita/data/directory:/kavita/config \
--restart unless-stopped \
-e TZ=Your/Timezone \
-d kizaing/kavita:latest

Docker compose

Using docker compose lets you save your container config setup.

Also makes it easier to update your container if you don't use a container manager (portainer,watchtower) Create a docker-compose.yml file with the following:

Important: This command is just a template. Change the values to fit your needs

Note: Kavita is under heavy development and is being updated all the time, so the tag for current builds is :nightly. The :latest tag will be the latest stable release.

Note The way volumes work is: <path in your host> : <path inside the container> (mind the : in between)

version: '3.9'
services:
    kavita:
        image: kizaing/kavita:latest    # Change latest to nightly for latest develop builds (can't go back to stable)
        container_name: kavita
        volumes:
            - ./manga:/manga            # Manga is just an example you can have the name you want. See the following
            - ./comics:/comics          # Use as many as you want
            - ./books:/books            #
            - ./data:/kavita/config     # Change './data if you want to have the config files in a different place.
                                        # /kavita/config must not be changed
        environment:
            - TZ=Your/Timezone
        ports:
            - "5000:5000" # Change the public port (the first 5000) if you have conflicts with other services
        restart: unless-stopped

Execute docker-compose up -d in your terminal after moving to the folder where the file is at

You don't need to call it manga, you can name it anything that works for you. Kavita supports more than just Manga.

Important When creating a library, do not select the first manga, comics or epub you see. Navigate to / then you can select manga, comics or epub. Doing otherwise will result in your library being empty

Updating Kavita

IMPORTANT: If you are updating from a really old version you need to upgrade every 2 versions at a time. Doing otherwise you risk to having to restart with a fresh db
To do so use as image tag kizaing/kavita:<version_tag_here>
Check available tags in the dockerhub tags page
Look for stable tags would just be x.y.z

You can run the following commands:

docker pull kizaing/kavita:latest

Then run the command you used to first create docker.

docker run ...

If you used a docker-compose file, in your terminal head to where the file is allocated and run the command again

docker-compose up -d
# New docker versions have compose integrated as a subcommand.
docker compose up -d

Access Kavita

Browse to http://localhost:5000 to start using Kavita from any device inside your network. (change localhost to the host IP where your docker instance is at)

Please continue in first time setup wiki page