Focalboard Project Management

Key Features

• Multiple project views including kanban boards, table view, gallery view, and calendar for versatile project visualization
• PostgreSQL backend with ACID compliance for data integrity and support for complex project queries and analytics
• Real-time collaboration with live updates across team members viewing the same boards
• Customizable card properties and templates for standardizing project workflows across teams
• NGINX reverse proxy setup enabling optimized static asset delivery and SSL termination configuration
• Built-in user management and permissions system for controlling board access and editing rights
• Import/export functionality supporting migration from Trello, Notion, and other project management tools
• Advanced filtering and sorting capabilities leveraging PostgreSQL's query performance for large datasets

Common Use Cases

• 1Software development teams managing sprints and feature development with kanban workflows and custom card properties
• 2Marketing agencies tracking campaign progress, asset creation, and client deliverables across multiple projects
• 3Educational institutions organizing curriculum planning, student projects, and administrative tasks with privacy compliance
• 4Consulting firms managing client projects with time tracking, milestone tracking, and deliverable management
• 5Non-profit organizations coordinating volunteer activities, fundraising campaigns, and event planning
• 6Manufacturing teams tracking production schedules, quality control processes, and inventory management
• 7Research teams organizing studies, publication pipelines, and collaboration with external partners requiring data sovereignty

Prerequisites

• Docker Engine and Docker Compose installed with at least 2GB available RAM for PostgreSQL and Focalboard containers
• Ports 8000 and 80 available on the host system, or alternative ports configured via FB_PORT and NGINX_PORT variables
• Basic understanding of project management concepts like kanban boards, card properties, and team collaboration workflows
• Environment file (.env) with DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD variables configured for PostgreSQL authentication
• Storage space of at least 10GB recommended for PostgreSQL data volume and container images
• Network connectivity for initial Docker image downloads and ongoing Focalboard updates from Mattermost registry

docker-compose.yml

1services: 
2  focalboard: 
3    image: mattermost/focalboard:latest
4    container_name: focalboard
5    restart: unless-stopped
6    ports: 
7      - "${FB_PORT:-8000}:8000"
8    environment: 
9      - FOCALBOARD_PORT=8000
10      - FOCALBOARD_DBTYPE=postgres
11      - FOCALBOARD_DBCONFIG=postgres://${DB_USER}:${DB_PASSWORD}@focalboard-db/focalboard?sslmode=disable
12    depends_on: 
13      - focalboard-db
14
15  focalboard-db: 
16    image: postgres:15-alpine
17    container_name: focalboard-db
18    restart: unless-stopped
19    environment: 
20      - POSTGRES_USER=${DB_USER}
21      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
22      - POSTGRES_DB=focalboard
23    volumes: 
24      - focalboard_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
25
26  nginx: 
27    image: nginx:alpine
28    container_name: focalboard-nginx
29    restart: unless-stopped
30    ports: 
31      - "${NGINX_PORT:-80}:80"
32    volumes: 
33      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
34
35volumes: 
36  focalboard_db_data: 

.env Template

1# Focalboard
2FB_PORT=8000
3DB_USER=focalboard
4DB_PASSWORD=focalboard_password
5NGINX_PORT=80

Usage Notes

Individual Services(3 services)

Copy individual services to mix and match with your existing compose files.

focalboard:
  image: mattermost/focalboard:latest
  container_name: focalboard
  restart: unless-stopped
  ports:
    - ${FB_PORT:-8000}:8000
  environment:
    - FOCALBOARD_PORT=8000
    - FOCALBOARD_DBTYPE=postgres
    - FOCALBOARD_DBCONFIG=postgres://${DB_USER}:${DB_PASSWORD}@focalboard-db/focalboard?sslmode=disable
  depends_on:
    - focalboard-db

focalboard-db:
  image: postgres:15-alpine
  container_name: focalboard-db
  restart: unless-stopped
  environment:
    - POSTGRES_USER=${DB_USER}
    - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
    - POSTGRES_DB=focalboard
  volumes:
    - focalboard_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

nginx:
  image: nginx:alpine
  container_name: focalboard-nginx
  restart: unless-stopped
  ports:
    - ${NGINX_PORT:-80}:80
  volumes:
    - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro

Quick Start

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  focalboard:
5    image: mattermost/focalboard:latest
6    container_name: focalboard
7    restart: unless-stopped
8    ports:
9      - "${FB_PORT:-8000}:8000"
10    environment:
11      - FOCALBOARD_PORT=8000
12      - FOCALBOARD_DBTYPE=postgres
13      - FOCALBOARD_DBCONFIG=postgres://${DB_USER}:${DB_PASSWORD}@focalboard-db/focalboard?sslmode=disable
14    depends_on:
15      - focalboard-db
16
17  focalboard-db:
18    image: postgres:15-alpine
19    container_name: focalboard-db
20    restart: unless-stopped
21    environment:
22      - POSTGRES_USER=${DB_USER}
23      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
24      - POSTGRES_DB=focalboard
25    volumes:
26      - focalboard_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
27
28  nginx:
29    image: nginx:alpine
30    container_name: focalboard-nginx
31    restart: unless-stopped
32    ports:
33      - "${NGINX_PORT:-80}:80"
34    volumes:
35      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
36
37volumes:
38  focalboard_db_data:
39EOF
40
41# 2. Create the .env file
42cat > .env << 'EOF'
43# Focalboard
44FB_PORT=8000
45DB_USER=focalboard
46DB_PASSWORD=focalboard_password
47NGINX_PORT=80
48EOF
49
50# 3. Start the services
51docker compose up -d
52
53# 4. View logs
54docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/focalboard-stack/run | bash

Troubleshooting