Docmost on GKE Autopilot

Docmost is an open-source, real-time collaborative wiki and documentation platform (a Confluence/Notion alternative) built on NestJS. This module deploys Docmost on GKE Autopilot on top of the App_GKE foundation, which provisions and manages the shared Google Cloud and Kubernetes infrastructure.

This guide focuses on the cloud services Docmost uses and how to explore and operate them from the Google Cloud Console and the command line. For the mechanics that are common to every GKE application — Workload Identity, ingress, autoscaling, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC Service Controls, backups, and the deployment lifecycle — refer to the App_GKE foundation guide rather than repeating them here.

---

1. Overview

Docmost runs as a Node.js (NestJS) web workload on port 3000. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	GKE Autopilot	NestJS pods on port 3000, horizontally autoscaled between 1 and 3 replicas
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Required — Docmost does not support MySQL or other engines
Cache & collaboration	Redis	Required for real-time editing and background queues; enabled by default
File storage	Filestore / NFS	Attachments written to the NFS-backed volume at /app/data/storage
Object storage	Cloud Storage	A data bucket provisioned automatically (unused by the default local driver)
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated APP_SECRET; database password
Ingress	Cloud Load Balancing	External LoadBalancer, optional custom domain + managed certificate

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• PostgreSQL 15 is mandatory. The database engine is fixed by the shared application layer; selecting any other engine breaks startup.
• Redis is required and on by default. Docmost uses Redis for real-time collaborative editing and background job queues. enable_redis = true is the default; leaving redis_host empty co-locates Redis on the NFS server VM.
• NFS is enabled by default (enable_nfs = true, nfs_mount_path = /app/data/storage). Docmost's local storage driver writes uploaded attachments there so they survive pod restarts and are shared across replicas.
• APP_SECRET is generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager (also materialised into a Kubernetes Secret via the explicit-secret-values path). It signs and encrypts sessions and sensitive data and must never be rotated after first boot without a maintenance window.
• The database is reached via the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar on 127.0.0.1 (plaintext loopback, sslmode=disable) — the entrypoint branches on DB_HOST to pick the right connection form and SSL mode per platform.
• A custom image is built via Cloud Build (container_image_source = "custom", base docmost/docmost:latest) wrapping the official image with the entrypoint that assembles DATABASE_URL / REDIS_URL / APP_URL. Rebuilt images deploy with imagePullPolicy=Always.
• Minimum 1 replica is maintained (min_instance_count = 1; GKE does not support scale-to-zero) to keep the wiki and collaboration endpoint always reachable.
• First-run setup is via the UI. Docmost has no default credentials — the first visitor creates the initial workspace and administrator account.

---

2. Google Cloud Services & How to Explore Them

All commands assume you have run gcloud container clusters get-credentials <cluster> --region <region> --project <project> and that PROJECT, REGION, and NAMESPACE are set. The namespace and other identifiers are reported in the deployment Outputs.

A. GKE Autopilot — the Docmost workload

Docmost pods are scheduled on Autopilot, which bills for the CPU/memory the pods actually request. Horizontal Pod Autoscaling sizes the deployment between the minimum and maximum replica counts. Because attachments live on the shared NFS volume, the Deployment uses the Recreate strategy for updates to avoid two pods writing the same NFS/DB state during a rollout.

• Console: Kubernetes Engine → Workloads → select the Docmost workload to see pods, revisions, and events. Kubernetes Engine → Services & Ingress shows the external IP.
• CLI:

  kubectl get pods,svc,hpa -n "$NAMESPACE"
  kubectl logs -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> --tail=100
  kubectl describe hpa -n "$NAMESPACE"          # current vs target utilisation

See App_GKE for how Autopilot, scaling, and the workload type (Deployment vs StatefulSet) are managed.

B. Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15

Docmost stores all application data (spaces, pages, comments, users, permissions) in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. Pods reach it privately through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar over 127.0.0.1 (plaintext loopback); no public IP is exposed. On first deploy an initialization Job creates the application database and user; Docmost then applies its own schema migrations automatically on boot.

• Console: SQL → select the instance for connections, backups, flags, and metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud sql instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql instances describe <instance-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  # Open an interactive shell to inspect schema/data:
  gcloud sql connect <instance-name> --user=<db-user> --database=<db-name> --project "$PROJECT"

The instance name, database (docmost), user (docmost), and the Secret Manager secret holding the password are all surfaced in the Outputs. For the connection model, automated backups, and password rotation, see App_GKE.

C. Redis (real-time collaboration & queues)

Redis is enabled by default and is required for Docmost's real-time collaborative editor and background job processing. When redis_host is left empty and enable_nfs is true, the NFS server VM's IP is used as the Redis endpoint; set redis_host (and optionally redis_auth) to point at a managed/external Redis instead.

• Console: Memorystore → Redis (if using a managed instance).
• CLI:

  redis-cli -h <redis-host> ping
  redis-cli -h <redis-host> info keyspace
  # Confirm REDIS_URL is assembled inside the running pod:
  kubectl exec -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> -- env | grep REDIS_URL

D. Cloud Storage & NFS file storage

Docmost writes uploaded attachments to its local storage driver at /app/data/storage, backed by the NFS volume so files persist across pod restarts and are shared across replicas. A dedicated Cloud Storage data bucket is also provisioned automatically (available if you switch Docmost to an object-storage driver).

• Console: Cloud Storage → Buckets; Filestore → Instances.
• CLI:

  gcloud storage buckets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud filestore instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  kubectl get pvc -n "$NAMESPACE"

See App_GKE for CMEK options and GCS Fuse mounts.

E. Secret Manager

One cryptographic secret is generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager: APP_SECRET (used to sign and encrypt sessions and sensitive data). On GKE it is also materialised into a Kubernetes Secret. The database password is managed separately by the foundation.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT" --filter="name~docmost"
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<secret-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  kubectl get secret -n "$NAMESPACE"

See App_GKE for the Secret Store CSI integration and rotation.

F. Networking & ingress

By default the workload is exposed through an external Cloud Load Balancing IP (service_type = LoadBalancer). A custom domain with a Google-managed certificate can be enabled, and a static IP can be reserved so the address survives redeploys.

• Console: Network services → Load balancing; VPC network → IP addresses.
• CLI:

  kubectl get ingress,svc -n "$NAMESPACE"
  gcloud compute addresses list --project "$PROJECT"

See App_GKE for custom domains, Cloud CDN, and static IP details.

G. Cloud Logging & Monitoring

Pod stdout/stderr flow to Cloud Logging; GKE and Cloud SQL metrics flow to Cloud Monitoring. Optional uptime checks and alert policies are available.

• Console: Logging → Logs Explorer; Monitoring → Dashboards / Alerting.
• CLI:

  gcloud logging read 'resource.type="k8s_container" AND resource.labels.namespace_name="'"$NAMESPACE"'"' \
    --project "$PROJECT" --limit 50

---

3. Docmost Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. An initialization Job runs db-init.sh using postgres:15-alpine. It connects through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy and idempotently creates the application database and user and grants privileges, then signals the proxy sidecar to shut down so the Job can complete. The job is safe to re-run.
• Migrations run automatically on start. Docmost runs its own schema migrations on every boot via its default pnpm start command, so upgrading the application version applies schema changes with no separate migration step.
• APP_SECRET is immutable after first boot. It is generated once and written to Secret Manager (and a Kubernetes Secret). Rotating it invalidates all existing sessions and makes data encrypted under the old value unrecoverable — only rotate in a planned maintenance window.
• APP_URL must match the reachable URL. It is injected as the internal/predicted service URL and used for absolute links and the collaboration WebSocket. After the external LoadBalancer IP (or custom domain) is known, set APP_URL to that external URL via environment_variables (or patch the Deployment):

  kubectl set env deploy/<service-name> -n "$NAMESPACE" APP_URL="https://docmost.example.com"

• Health path. Startup and liveness probes target /api/health — Docmost's public 200 endpoint. Allow ~2 minutes on first boot while migrations run.
• First-run account creation. Docmost ships with no default credentials. Browse to the LoadBalancer IP / domain and complete the setup form to create the first workspace and admin user. Do this promptly after deploy.
• Custom-build rebuilds. Because the image is custom-built, rebuilt images reuse a version tag; App_GKE sets imagePullPolicy=Always so nodes pull the fresh image rather than serving a stale cached layer.

---

4. Configuration Variables

Variables are grouped exactly as they appear on the deployment platform. Only settings specific to or notable for Docmost are listed; every other input is inherited from App_GKE with its standard behaviour and defaults.

Group 1 — Project & Identity

Variable	Default	Description
project_id	(required)	Target Google Cloud project.
region	us-central1	Region for the workload and regional resources.

Group 2 — Deployment Environment

Variable	Default	Description
tenant_deployment_id	demo	Short suffix that makes resource names unique per environment.
support_users	[]	Emails granted project access and monitoring alerts.
resource_labels	{}	Labels applied to all resources for cost/ownership tracking.

Group 3 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	docmost	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
application_display_name	Docmost	Human-readable name shown in the Console.
application_version	latest	Docmost image tag (mapped to the DOCMOST_VERSION build ARG); pin to a specific release in production.

Group 4 — Container & Scale

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only.
container_image_source	custom	Docmost is built from a custom Dockerfile wrapping the official image.
container_image	docmost/docmost:latest	Upstream base image the custom build wraps.
container_port	3000	Docmost listens on port 3000.
min_instance_count	1	Minimum replicas; GKE requires ≥ 1 (no scale-to-zero).
max_instance_count	3	Maximum replicas.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar for the loopback connection.
enable_image_mirroring	true	Mirror the built image into Artifact Registry before deployment.

Group 5 — Environment Variables & Secrets

Variable	Default	Description
environment_variables	{}	Extra non-secret settings. Core values (NODE_ENV, STORAGE_DRIVER, APP_URL) are set automatically — do not set APP_SECRET, DATABASE_URL, or REDIS_URL here.
secret_environment_variables	{}	Map of env var → Secret Manager secret name.
secret_propagation_delay	30	Seconds to wait after secret creation before proceeding.
secret_rotation_period	2592000s	Secret Manager rotation notification frequency.

Group 6 — GKE Backend & Cluster

Variable	Default	Description
service_type	LoadBalancer	How the Kubernetes Service is exposed.
workload_type	null	Resolves to Deployment (stateless; state is in Postgres/NFS).
session_affinity	ClientIP	Sticky routing keeps a client's collaboration WebSocket on one pod.
namespace_name	""	Namespace (defaults to the derived per-app namespace).
termination_grace_period_seconds	30	Seconds to wait after SIGTERM before SIGKILL.
enable_network_segmentation	false	Create Kubernetes NetworkPolicy resources.

Group 7 — StatefulSet

Variable	Default	Description
stateful_pvc_enabled	null	Leave off — Docmost keeps state in PostgreSQL and shared NFS, not per-pod PVCs.
stateful_pvc_size	10Gi	Per-pod PVC size (only if a StatefulSet is chosen).

Group 8 — Resource Quota

Variable	Default	Description
enable_resource_quota / quota_memory_requests / quota_memory_limits	false / "" / ""	Not referenced — the whole Group 8 block is declared for interface compatibility only; it has no effect on this module's deployment.

Group 9 — Reliability Policies

Variable	Default	Description
enable_pod_disruption_budget	true	Protect availability during node upgrades.
pdb_min_available	1	Minimum pods available during voluntary disruptions.

Group 10 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe_config	HTTP /api/health 60s delay	Startup probe. Allow ~2 minutes on first boot.
health_check_config	HTTP /api/health	Liveness probe.
uptime_check_config	(set)	Optional Cloud Monitoring uptime check (public endpoint).
alert_policies	[]	Optional metric alert policies.

Group 13 — Filesystem (NFS)

Variable	Default	Description
enable_nfs	true	NFS is on by default — backs the /app/data/storage attachment path.
nfs_mount_path	/app/data/storage	Mount path matching Docmost's local storage driver.

Group 14 — Cloud Storage & Artifact Registry

Variable	Default	Description
create_cloud_storage	true	Create the GCS buckets defined in storage_buckets.
storage_buckets	[]	Additional buckets beyond the auto-provisioned data bucket.
gcs_volumes	[]	GCS Fuse volume mounts via the CSI driver.
max_images_to_retain / delete_untagged_images / image_retention_days	(set)	Artifact Registry cleanup policy.

Group 15 — Redis Cache & Queue

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	true	Required — Docmost uses Redis for real-time editing and queues.
redis_host	""	Redis endpoint. Leave empty to use the NFS server IP.
redis_port	6379	Redis port.
redis_auth	""	Optional Redis auth password (sensitive).

Group 16 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Fixed — Docmost requires PostgreSQL 15.
application_database_name	docmost	PostgreSQL database name. Immutable after first deploy.
application_database_user	docmost	Application database user. Immutable after first deploy.
database_password_length	32	Generated password length.

All other inputs follow standard App_GKE behaviour.

---

5. Outputs

These values are returned on a successful deployment and are the quickest way to locate and explore the running resources.

Output	Description
service_name	Kubernetes Service name.
namespace	Namespace the workload runs in.
service_cluster_ip	In-cluster ClusterIP.
stage_service_cluster_ips	Map of ClusterIPs for stage-specific services.
service_external_ip	External LoadBalancer IP (when a static IP is reserved).
service_url	URL to reach Docmost.
database_instance_name	Cloud SQL instance name.
database_name	Application database name.
database_user	Application database user.
database_password_secret	Secret Manager secret holding the DB password.
database_host / database_port	DB endpoint (127.0.0.1 via the Auth Proxy) / port.
storage_buckets	Created Cloud Storage buckets.
network_name / network_exists / regions	VPC network, presence, available regions.
container_image / container_registry	Deployed image and Artifact Registry repo.
monitoring_enabled / monitoring_notification_channels	Monitoring status and channels.
initialization_jobs / db_import_job	Names of the setup and (optional) import jobs.
deployment_id / tenant_id / resource_prefix	Naming identifiers.
project_id / project_number	Project identifiers.
cicd_enabled / cicd_configuration	CI/CD status and details (repo, trigger, registry).
github_repository_url / github_repository_owner / github_repository_name	CI/CD GitHub details.
artifact_registry_repository / cloudbuild_trigger_name / cloudbuild_trigger_id	Registry and build trigger.
kubernetes_ready	Whether the cluster/workload is ready.
vpc_sc_enabled / vpc_sc_perimeter_name / vpc_sc_dry_run_mode	VPC-SC status.
audit_logging_enabled / artifact_registry_cmek_enabled	Audit logging and CMEK status.

---

6. Configuration Pitfalls & Sensible Defaults

Risk: Critical (data loss / outage / security) — High (service degraded) — Medium (cost or partial degradation) — Low (minor).

Inherited plan-time validation. This module passes its configuration through the App_GKE foundation engine, which validates values and combinations at plan time — a read replica without its primary, IAP with no authorized identities, a gen1 runtime with NFS/GCS mounts, a database_type that does not match an enabled extension, an out-of-range redis_port/backup_retention_days, a bare-integer memory quota. Invalid configuration fails the plan with a clear, named error before any resource is created, so most mistakes below are caught up front rather than at apply or runtime.

Setting	Sensible value	Risk	Consequence if wrong
APP_SECRET (auto-generated)	Never rotate after first boot	Critical	Rotating it invalidates all sessions and makes data encrypted under the old value unrecoverable.
application_database_name / application_database_user	Set once	Critical	Immutable after first deploy; renaming recreates the DB/user and destroys all data.
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Critical	Docmost requires PostgreSQL 15; any other engine breaks startup.
enable_redis	true	Critical	Docmost's real-time editor and job queues need Redis; disabling it prevents the app from working correctly.
enable_nfs	true	High	With NFS off, uploaded attachments land on ephemeral pod disk and are lost on restart / not shared across replicas.
APP_URL	External LoadBalancer / domain URL	High	A wrong URL breaks absolute links and the collaboration WebSocket endpoint.
session_affinity	ClientIP	High	Without stickiness, a client's collaboration WebSocket can reconnect to a different pod.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	High	The Auth Proxy sidecar is required for the loopback PostgreSQL connection.
min_instance_count	1	High	GKE requires min ≥ 1; keeping 1 ensures the wiki is always reachable.
stateful_pvc_enabled	leave off	Medium	Per-pod PVCs are unnecessary — Docmost keeps state in Postgres/NFS; enabling adds cost/complexity.
enable_pod_disruption_budget	true	Medium	Disabling allows GKE to evict all pods simultaneously during maintenance.

---

For the foundation behaviour referenced throughout — IAM and Workload Identity, autoscaling, ingress and certificates, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC-SC, backups, and image mirroring — see App_GKE. Docmost-specific application configuration shared with the Cloud Run variant is described in Docmost_Common.