Docker Container
Run Rivet Engine in a single Docker container.
Quick Start
Start the engine
docker run -d \
--name rivet-engine \
-p 6420:6420 \
-v rivet-data:/data \
-e RIVET__FILE_SYSTEM__PATH="/data" \
rivetdev/engine:latest
Verify the engine is running
curl http://localhost:6420/health
Connecting Your Project
Once the engine is running, connect your app to it.
Create your server
Follow the quickstart to create a working server with actors.
Start your app with RIVET_ENDPOINT
Set RIVET_ENDPOINT to tell your app to connect to the engine as a runner instead of running standalone:
RIVET_ENDPOINT="http://default:admin@host.docker.internal:6420" npm start
If running your app outside of Docker, use localhost instead of host.docker.internal:
RIVET_ENDPOINT="http://default:admin@localhost:6420" npm start
See Endpoints for all options.
Register your runner with the engine
- Open the Rivet Engine dashboard at
http://localhost:6420. - Enter your admin token when prompted.
- In the namespace sidebar, click Settings.
- Click Add Provider, then choose Custom.
- Click Next.
- Go to Confirm Connection, enter your app endpoint, then click Add.
Register your runner programmatically via the engine API:
curl -X PUT "http://localhost:6420/runner-configs/default?namespace=default" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"datacenters": {
"default": {
"normal": {}
}
}
}'
Configuration
Environment Variables
Configure Rivet using environment variables:
docker run -d \
--name rivet-engine \
-p 6420:6420 \
-v rivet-data:/data \
-e RIVET__FILE_SYSTEM__PATH="/data" \
-e RIVET__POSTGRES__URL="postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/db" \
rivetdev/engine:latest
Config File
Mount a JSON configuration file:
docker run -d \
--name rivet-engine \
-p 6420:6420 \
-v rivet-data:/data \
-v $(pwd)/rivet-config.json:/etc/rivet/config.json:ro \
rivetdev/engine:latest
Create rivet-config.json in your working directory. See the Configuration docs for all available options and the full JSON Schema.
{
"postgres": {
"url": "postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/db"
}
}
Postgres Setup
PostgreSQL is the recommended backend for multi-node self-hosted deployments today, but it remains experimental. For a production-ready single-node Rivet deployment, use the file system backend (RocksDB-based). Enterprise teams can contact enterprise support about FoundationDB for the most scalable production-ready deployment.
# Create network
docker network create rivet-net
# Run PostgreSQL
docker run -d \
--name postgres \
--network rivet-net \
-e POSTGRES_DB=rivet \
-e POSTGRES_USER=rivet \
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=rivet_password \
-v postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
postgres:15
# Run Rivet Engine
docker run -d \
--name rivet-engine \
--network rivet-net \
-p 6420:6420 \
-e RIVET__POSTGRES__URL="postgresql://rivet:rivet_password@postgres:5432/rivet" \
rivetdev/engine
Next Steps
- Review the Production Checklist before going live
- Use Docker Compose for multi-container setups
- See Configuration for all options