Docker Installation (Windows)

Docker Installation (Windows)#

Warning

Experimental feature — Running Allegra on Windows via Docker is experimental. It may work for testing but isn’t part of our regular QA and can vary with your Docker or WSL setup. For production, use a Unix-based system.

This guide describes how to install and run Allegra on Windows 11 (Pro, Enterprise, or Education) using Docker Desktop and a pre-packaged Docker bundle.

This installation method provides a ready-to-run Allegra server (including Java 21 and a PostgreSQL database) inside an isolated Docker container.

Attention

This guide is not intended to make your server secure for public access over the Internet. Additional individual security measures are required for that purpose.

Preparation#

Before starting, ensure the following:

  • Supported Windows edition: Windows 11 (Pro, Enterprise, or Education) with WSL 2 backend enabled (Enable WSL 2)

  • Docker Desktop for Windows installed and running (Download Docker Desktop)

  • At least 20 GB free disk space

  • Sufficient memory (minimum 4 GB RAM available for Docker)

  • Administrator privileges

  • A free network port (default 8080 or as configured)

Note

Windows Server is not supported for this installation method. Allegra requires Docker Desktop with WSL 2 (Linux containers), which is only available on Windows 10/11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions.

Note

Ensure that the drive containing Allegra data (for example, C: or D:) is shared with Docker Desktop. To verify this, open Docker Desktop → Settings → Resources → File Sharing.

Installation Steps#

Follow these steps to install and start Allegra using Docker on Windows.

  1. Create the Allegra home directory

    Create a persistent directory to store Allegra data. This will be referred to throughout this guide as ALLEGRA_HOME.

    Example (PowerShell):

    mkdir C:\allegra-home

  2. Download the Allegra Docker package

    Download the latest Allegra Docker bundle from the Allegra downloads page.

    You can use your browser or PowerShell:

    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://alltena.com/downloads/allegra/latest-dist/allegra-docker.zip -OutFile allegra-docker-latest.zip

  3. Unpack the archive

    Extract the ZIP file to a suitable location, e.g., C:\allegra-docker.

    Expand-Archive allegra-docker-latest.zip -DestinationPath C:\allegra-docker
cd C:\allegra-docker

    The extracted archive contains the following files: - docker-compose.yml - env (environment variable template)

  4. Configure environment variables

    Open the file env in a text editor (such as Notepad) and adjust the settings to match your environment.

    Be sure to set ALLEGRA_HOME_DIR to the absolute Windows path of your persistent data directory (use forward slashes or escaped backslashes).

    Example configuration:

    CONTEXT=demo
ALLEGRA_HOME_DIR=C:/allegra-home  # Use forward slashes on Windows
HTTP_PORT=8080
JAVA_OPTS=-Djava.awt.headless=true -Xmx2048m -Xms1024m
DB_USER=allegra
DB_PASSWORD=tissi189

  5. Rename the file to `.env`

    Docker Compose automatically reads environment variables from a file named .env.

    Rename-Item env .env

  6. Start Allegra

    Launch Allegra in detached mode with Docker Compose:

    docker compose up -d

    This will: - Pull the latest Allegra image (alltena/allegra:latest) - Mount the host directory C:\allegra-home as persistent storage - Map port HTTP_PORT on your host to port 8080 inside the container - Start Allegra automatically (restart: unless-stopped)

  7. Access Allegra

    After a short startup time, open your browser and go to:

    http://localhost:HTTP_PORT

    By default: http://localhost:8080

    Default login credentials:

    • Username: admin

    • Password: tissi

Operation#

To manage Allegra from PowerShell or Command Prompt:

docker compose ps        # Check container status
docker compose logs -f   # View live logs
docker compose stop      # Stop Allegra
docker compose start     # Start again
docker compose down      # Stop and remove container

Updating Allegra#

To upgrade Allegra to a newer version, edit your docker-compose.yml file and update the image tag, for example:

image: alltena/allegra:9.0.0 #You can find the current version in our release notes

Then pull the new image and restart the container:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Uninstall#

To remove Allegra and its data:

Warning

This will permanently delete all Allegra data stored in your ALLEGRA_HOME.

docker compose down
docker rmi alltena/allegra:latest
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force C:\allegra-home

After successful installation, secure your instance by changing the admin password and configuring HTTPS via a reverse proxy (see Nginx Proxy Example or Apache Proxy Example).