Shadows Over Westgate Wiki.js Deployment Guide

This repository is a Wiki.js 2.x application checkout with the custom westgate theme built into client/themes/westgate.

The important deployment detail: Wiki.js custom themes are compiled into the application bundle. You cannot deploy the stock ghcr.io/requarks/wiki:2 image and expect this theme to appear. Build this repository into a custom Wiki.js image, then run that image with PostgreSQL.

Official references:

• Wiki.js install overview: https://docs.requarks.io/s/en/install
• Wiki.js Docker install guide: https://docs.requarks.io/s/en/install/docker
• Wiki.js requirements: https://docs.requarks.io/s/en/install/requirements

Recommended VPS Shape

For a small wiki, use a VPS with:

• Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS.
• 2 CPU cores if possible. Wiki.js can run on 1 core, but 2 is better.
• At least 1 GB RAM; 2 GB is more comfortable.
• Enough disk for uploaded assets and database backups.
• A DNS record such as wiki.example.com pointed at the VPS.

Wiki.js requires a real domain or subdomain. It is not designed to live under a subpath such as example.com/wiki.

Install Docker On The VPS

Use Docker Compose so Wiki.js and PostgreSQL are managed together.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl git
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list >/dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Optional, but convenient:

sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"
newgrp docker

Clone This Repository

sudo mkdir -p /opt/westgate
sudo chown "$USER":"$USER" /opt/westgate
cd /opt/westgate
git clone <YOUR_REPO_URL> wiki
cd wiki

Use the private Shadows Over Westgate repository URL in place of <YOUR_REPO_URL>.

Create Production Compose Files

Create a deployment directory outside the checkout:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/westgate/deploy
sudo chown "$USER":"$USER" /opt/westgate/deploy
cd /opt/westgate/deploy

Create .env:

cat > .env <<'EOF'
POSTGRES_DB=wiki
POSTGRES_USER=wikijs
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=change-this-long-random-password
WIKI_IMAGE=westgate-wikijs:latest
WIKI_HTTP_PORT=3000
EOF

Create docker-compose.yml:

services:
  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  wiki:
    image: ${WIKI_IMAGE}
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - db
    environment:
      DB_TYPE: postgres
      DB_HOST: db
      DB_PORT: 5432
      DB_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
      DB_PASS: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      DB_NAME: ${POSTGRES_DB}
    ports:
      - "${WIKI_HTTP_PORT}:3000"
    volumes:
      - wiki-content:/wiki/data/content

volumes:
  db-data:
  wiki-content:

This keeps PostgreSQL data and Wiki.js local content in Docker volumes.

Build The Custom Westgate Image

From the repository checkout:

cd /opt/westgate/wiki
docker build -f dev/build/Dockerfile -t westgate-wikijs:latest .

That Dockerfile runs the application build, including:

• client/themes/westgate/scss/app.scss
• client/themes/westgate/js/app.js
• client/themes/westgate/components/
• shared Wiki.js client components and generated server views

This is the step that makes the custom theme exist in production.

Start Wiki.js

cd /opt/westgate/deploy
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f wiki

Open:

http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3000

Complete the first-run Wiki.js setup in the browser.

Put It Behind HTTPS

For a public VPS, put a reverse proxy in front of Wiki.js. Caddy is the simplest:

sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https curl
curl -1sLf https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y caddy

Create /etc/caddy/Caddyfile:

wiki.example.com {
  reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:3000
}

Reload Caddy:

sudo systemctl reload caddy

Caddy will request and renew TLS certificates automatically. Replace wiki.example.com with the real wiki hostname.

If using Caddy, keep the compose port bound to localhost only:

ports:
  - "127.0.0.1:3000:3000"

Then restart:

cd /opt/westgate/deploy
docker compose up -d

Select The Westgate Theme

After the first run, sign into Wiki.js as an administrator.

In the admin interface, choose the Westgate theme if it appears in the theme settings. If the admin UI does not expose it cleanly, set it directly in the database.

Enter PostgreSQL:

cd /opt/westgate/deploy
docker compose exec db psql -U wikijs -d wiki

Inspect the theming setting:

SELECT key, value FROM settings WHERE key = 'theming';

The value column is JSON. Make sure its theme property is westgate, then restart Wiki.js:

docker compose restart wiki

The exact JSON shape can vary with Wiki.js settings, so inspect before updating. Do not blindly overwrite unrelated theming settings.

Updating The Site

When this repository changes:

cd /opt/westgate/wiki
git pull
docker build -f dev/build/Dockerfile -t westgate-wikijs:latest .
cd /opt/westgate/deploy
docker compose up -d

If the database schema changes during a Wiki.js upgrade, watch the logs:

docker compose logs -f wiki

Backups

Back up PostgreSQL:

cd /opt/westgate/deploy
docker compose exec db pg_dump -U wikijs wiki > wiki-$(date +%F).sql

Back up Docker volumes if you use local file storage:

docker run --rm \
  -v deploy_wiki-content:/data:ro \
  -v "$PWD":/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/wiki-content-$(date +%F).tar.gz -C /data .

Keep backups off the VPS as well as on it.

Development Notes

Inside the development container, use:

yarn dev

yarn dev live-reloads theme and client changes. During visual iteration, do not repeatedly run yarn build. Use yarn build for production-style validation or when building the deploy image.

Troubleshooting

If the site loads but does not look like Westgate:

• Confirm the deployed image was built from this repository.
• Confirm the active theme setting is westgate.
• Confirm the browser is not serving stale assets.
• Rebuild the image after theme changes.

If Wiki.js cannot connect to the database:

• Confirm DB_HOST matches the compose service name, usually db.
• Confirm POSTGRES_USER, POSTGRES_PASSWORD, and POSTGRES_DB match the Wiki.js environment variables.
• Check docker compose logs db and docker compose logs wiki.

If HTTPS does not work:

• Confirm DNS points to the VPS.
• Confirm ports 80 and 443 are open in the VPS firewall/security group.
• Check sudo journalctl -u caddy -f.