Method 1: Docker

Prerequisites: Docker Engine 24+ with the Compose plugin, and git.

Step 1: Install Docker (skip if docker compose version already works):

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh

Step 2: Get Flock

git clone https://github.com/Pourii83/Flock.git
cd Flock

Step 3: Configure

cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Set at least these values:

Variable	What to put
JWT_SECRET	A long random string: run openssl rand -hex 32 and paste the result
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	A strong database password
DOMAIN	Your domain, e.g. chat.example.com (only for HTTPS in step 4)

Step 4: Start

With HTTPS (recommended; needs DOMAIN, DNS and ports 80/443):

docker compose --profile https up -d --build

Without a domain (for testing on a local network):

docker compose up -d --build

The first build takes a few minutes. Check that everything is running:

docker compose ps        # every service should be "running" or "healthy"

Step 5: Create the admin account. It asks for a password (at least 8 characters); like every password, it’s stored only as a bcrypt hash:

docker compose exec server node src/create-admin.js admin

Step 6: Open it: https://chat.example.com (with HTTPS) or http://<server-ip>:8080 (without), and sign in as admin.

Updating, backups and uninstalling (Docker)

# Update to the latest version
git pull
docker compose --profile https up -d --build      # drop "--profile https" if you don't use it

# Back up the database
docker compose exec db pg_dump -U flock flock > flock-backup.sql

# Restore a backup
docker compose exec -T db psql -U flock flock < flock-backup.sql

# Logs
docker compose logs -f server

# Stop and remove the containers (data volumes are kept)
docker compose --profile https down
# ...and also delete all data (database, uploads, certificates)
docker compose --profile https down -v