certctl/deploy/ENVIRONMENTS.md

certctl Docker Compose Environments

This guide walks through every Docker Compose file in the deploy/ directory. Each section explains what the environment does, when to use it, every service and environment variable, and the commands to run it. If you've never used Docker before, start with the Prerequisites section. If you're experienced, skip to the environment you need.

Contents

1. Prerequisites
2. How Docker Compose Works (30-Second Version)
3. Base Environment (docker-compose.yml)
4. Demo Overlay (docker-compose.demo.yml)
5. Development Overlay (docker-compose.dev.yml)
6. Test Environment (docker-compose.test.yml)
7. Environment Variable Reference
8. Common Operations

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Prerequisites

You need two things: Docker (the container runtime) and Docker Compose (an orchestration tool that ships with Docker Desktop).

On macOS:

brew install --cask docker

On Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
# Log out and back in for group changes to take effect

Verify the install:

docker --version        # Docker Engine 24+ recommended
docker compose version  # Docker Compose v2+ required (note: no hyphen)

What Docker actually does: Docker packages an application and all its dependencies (OS libraries, runtimes, config files) into an isolated unit called a container. When you run docker compose up, Docker reads a YAML file that describes multiple containers, creates a private network between them, and starts everything in the right order. Each container sees only its own filesystem and network unless you explicitly share volumes or ports.

Why this matters for certctl: Instead of installing PostgreSQL, building Go binaries, configuring the agent, and wiring everything together by hand, one command gives you the complete platform. Each compose file targets a different use case.

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How Docker Compose Works

A compose file defines services (containers), networks (how they talk to each other), and volumes (persistent storage). The key concepts:

Services are named containers. certctl-server is the API and web dashboard. postgres is the database. certctl-agent polls the server for certificate work.

Depends_on + healthchecks control startup order. The server won't start until PostgreSQL reports healthy. The agent won't start until the server reports healthy. This prevents connection errors during boot.

Volumes persist data across restarts. postgres_data keeps your database between docker compose down and docker compose up. Adding -v to down deletes volumes for a clean slate.

Overlay files let you layer changes. Running docker compose -f base.yml -f overlay.yml up merges both files. The overlay can add services, change environment variables, or mount extra volumes without editing the base.

Port mapping ("8443:8443") maps host port (left) to container port (right). After startup, https://localhost:8443 on your machine reaches the certctl server inside its container (HTTPS-only as of v2.2; the certctl-tls-init init container bootstraps a self-signed cert into deploy/test/certs/).

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Base Environment

File: docker-compose.yml When to use: Production deployments, first-time setup, or any time you want a clean dashboard with the onboarding wizard.

What it runs

Three services on a private bridge network:

Service	Image	Purpose	Ports
postgres	postgres:16-alpine	Database. Stores certificates, agents, jobs, audit trail, policies, discovery results.	5432
certctl-server	Built from Dockerfile	API server + web dashboard + background scheduler.	8443
certctl-agent	Built from Dockerfile.agent	Polls server for work, generates keys, deploys certificates, discovers existing certs.	none

Starting it

git clone https://github.com/shankar0123/certctl.git
cd certctl
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml up -d --build

--build compiles the Go server and agent from source, including the React frontend. Without it, Docker may reuse a stale image from a previous build.

-d runs in detached mode (background). Omit it to see logs in your terminal.

Wait about 30 seconds, then verify:

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml ps
# All three services should show "Up (healthy)"

curl --cacert ./deploy/test/certs/ca.crt https://localhost:8443/health
# {"status":"healthy"}

The control plane is HTTPS-only as of v2.2. The certctl-tls-init init container bootstraps a self-signed cert into deploy/test/certs/ on first boot; pin it with --cacert (as above) or pass -k for one-off smoke tests (never in production).

Open https://localhost:8443 in your browser. You'll see the onboarding wizard guiding you through: connecting a CA, deploying an agent, and adding your first certificate. Your browser will flag the self-signed cert as untrusted — accept the warning for local evaluation, or import deploy/test/certs/ca.crt into your OS trust store to make the warning go away.

Service-by-service walkthrough

PostgreSQL

postgres:
  image: postgres:16-alpine
  environment:
    POSTGRES_DB: certctl
    POSTGRES_USER: certctl
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-certctl}

Alpine-based PostgreSQL 16. The ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-certctl} syntax means: use the POSTGRES_PASSWORD environment variable from your shell if set, otherwise default to certctl. For production, create a .env file:

echo 'POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your-secure-password-here' > deploy/.env

The volumes section mounts 10 migration files into PostgreSQL's init directory (/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/). PostgreSQL runs these SQL files in alphabetical order on first boot only. They create the schema (tables, indexes, constraints) and seed the base data (default issuer, default policy). If the postgres_data volume already exists with an initialized database, these scripts are skipped entirely.

Expert note: The numbered prefix pattern (001_, 002_, ..., 020_) ensures deterministic execution order. All migrations use IF NOT EXISTS and ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING for idempotency, so re-running them against an existing database is safe.

certctl Server

certctl-server:
  depends_on:
    postgres:
      condition: service_healthy
  environment:
    CERTCTL_DATABASE_URL: postgres://certctl:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-certctl}@postgres:5432/certctl?sslmode=disable
    CERTCTL_SERVER_HOST: 0.0.0.0
    CERTCTL_SERVER_PORT: 8443
    CERTCTL_LOG_LEVEL: info
    CERTCTL_AUTH_TYPE: none
    CERTCTL_KEYGEN_MODE: server
    CERTCTL_NETWORK_SCAN_ENABLED: "true"
    CERTCTL_CONFIG_ENCRYPTION_KEY: ${CERTCTL_CONFIG_ENCRYPTION_KEY:-change-me-32-char-encryption-key}

The server is the control plane. It serves the REST API, the React dashboard, runs 7 background scheduler loops (renewal, job processing, health checks, notifications, short-lived cert expiry, network scanning, digest emails), and manages the issuer/target registry.

Key environment variables explained:

• CERTCTL_DATABASE_URL references the postgres service by hostname. Docker's internal DNS resolves postgres to the container's IP on the bridge network. sslmode=disable is appropriate because traffic stays on the private Docker network.
• CERTCTL_AUTH_TYPE: none disables API key authentication so you can explore immediately. For production, set api-key and configure CERTCTL_AUTH_SECRET.
• CERTCTL_KEYGEN_MODE: server means the server generates private keys. This is convenient for demos but insecure for production. In production, set agent so keys are generated on agent machines and never transmitted.
• CERTCTL_CONFIG_ENCRYPTION_KEY enables AES-256-GCM encryption for issuer and target configurations stored in the database (credentials, API keys). Without this, the dynamic configuration GUI (adding issuers/targets from the dashboard) won't encrypt sensitive fields. For production, generate a strong random key.
• CERTCTL_NETWORK_SCAN_ENABLED activates the scheduler loop that probes TLS endpoints on your network to discover certificates you might not be managing.

Expert note: The healthcheck hits GET /health every 10 seconds with 5 retries. The depends_on: condition: service_healthy on the agent means Docker holds agent startup until this check passes. Resource limits (cpus: '1.0', memory: 512M) prevent the server from consuming unbounded resources in shared environments.

certctl Agent

certctl-agent:
  depends_on:
    certctl-server:
      condition: service_healthy
  environment:
    CERTCTL_SERVER_URL: http://certctl-server:8443
    CERTCTL_API_KEY: ${CERTCTL_API_KEY:-change-me-in-production}
    CERTCTL_AGENT_NAME: docker-agent
    CERTCTL_LOG_LEVEL: info
    CERTCTL_DISCOVERY_DIRS: /var/lib/certctl/keys
  volumes:
    - agent_keys:/var/lib/certctl/keys

The agent is a lightweight Go binary that polls the server for pending work (certificate deployments, CSR generation requests), executes that work locally, and reports results back. It also scans configured directories for existing certificates (filesystem discovery).

• CERTCTL_SERVER_URL uses the Docker internal hostname certctl-server. This resolves inside the Docker network only.
• CERTCTL_DISCOVERY_DIRS tells the agent which directories to scan for existing certificates. The agent walks these directories recursively, parses PEM and DER files, and reports findings to the server for triage.
• The agent_keys volume persists private keys generated by the agent across container restarts. Without this volume, keys would be lost when the container stops.

Expert note: The agent's healthcheck uses pgrep because the agent doesn't expose an HTTP endpoint. The restart: unless-stopped policy means Docker automatically restarts the agent on crashes but respects manual docker compose stop commands.

Stopping and cleaning up

# Stop containers but keep data
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml down

# Stop and delete all data (database, keys, volumes)
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml down -v

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Demo Overlay

File: docker-compose.demo.yml When to use: Demos, screenshots, stakeholder presentations, or any time you want a populated dashboard on first boot.

What it adds

One line: mounts seed_demo.sql into PostgreSQL's init directory. This 667-line SQL file inserts 180 days of simulated operational history: teams, owners, certificates across multiple issuers, agents on different platforms, jobs with realistic timestamps, discovery scan results, audit events, policies, and profiles.

Starting it

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml -f deploy/docker-compose.demo.yml up -d --build

The -f flags are ordered: base first, overlay second. Docker merges them. The demo overlay adds the seed_demo.sql volume mount to the postgres service defined in the base file.

What you see

The dashboard shows pre-populated charts: expiration heatmap with upcoming renewals, status distribution across Active/Expiring/Expired/Failed states, 30-day job trends, and issuance rates. The sidebar pages (Certificates, Agents, Discovery, Jobs, etc.) all have data to explore.

Resetting demo data

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml -f deploy/docker-compose.demo.yml down -v
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml -f deploy/docker-compose.demo.yml up -d --build

The down -v deletes the postgres_data volume. On next boot, PostgreSQL re-runs all init scripts including the demo seed, giving you a clean starting point.

Expert note: The demo overlay is a pure data layer, not a configuration change. The server, agent, and their environment variables remain identical to the base. This means any behavior you see in the demo is exactly what the base environment produces once you populate data through normal operations.

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Development Overlay

File: docker-compose.dev.yml When to use: When you're contributing to certctl and need debug logging, database inspection, or a debugger attached to the server process.

What it adds

Addition	Purpose
Debug-level logging on server and agent	See every HTTP request, scheduler tick, and connector operation
PgAdmin on port 5050	Visual database browser for inspecting tables, running queries
Delve debugger port 40000	Attach a Go debugger to the running server process

Starting it

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml -f deploy/docker-compose.dev.yml up --build

Omit -d during development so you see logs streaming in your terminal.

Using PgAdmin

Open http://localhost:5050 in your browser. PgAdmin is pre-configured in desktop mode (no login required). To connect to the certctl database:

1. Right-click "Servers" in the left panel, choose "Register" > "Server"
2. Name: certctl
3. Connection tab: Host = postgres, Port = 5432, Username = certctl, Password = certctl (or whatever you set in .env)

From there you can browse all 19 tables, inspect certificate records, view audit events, check the scheduler's job queue, and run arbitrary SQL.

Using the Delve debugger

Port 40000 is exposed for remote debugging. To use it, you'd need to modify the Dockerfile to build with debug symbols and start the server under Delve:

# In Dockerfile, replace the CMD with:
CMD ["dlv", "--listen=:40000", "--headless=true", "--api-version=2", "exec", "/app/server"]

Then attach from your IDE (VS Code, GoLand) using remote debug configuration pointing to localhost:40000.

Hot reload

The dev overlay includes commented-out volume mounts for source code directories. Uncomment them and install air to get automatic recompilation on file changes:

go install github.com/cosmtrek/air@latest

Expert note: The builds: context: .. in the dev overlay overrides the base service's image reference, forcing a local build from the repository root. This means changes to your Go source code are compiled fresh on each docker compose up --build.

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Test Environment

File: docker-compose.test.yml When to use: Integration testing against real CA backends. This is a standalone environment (not an overlay) with 7 containers on a static-IP subnet.

What it runs

Service	IP	Purpose
postgres	10.30.50.2	Database (clean, no demo data)
pebble-challtestsrv	10.30.50.3	DNS/HTTP challenge test server for Pebble
pebble	10.30.50.4	ACME test server (simulates Let's Encrypt)
step-ca	10.30.50.5	Private CA (Smallstep, JWK provisioner)
certctl-server	10.30.50.6	Control plane with all issuers configured
nginx	10.30.50.7	TLS target server for deployment testing
certctl-agent	10.30.50.8	Agent with NGINX volume + discovery

Why static IPs?

Pebble (the ACME test server) validates HTTP-01 challenges by connecting to the challenge URL. It resolves domain names via pebble-challtestsrv, which is configured to return 10.30.50.6 (the certctl server) for all lookups. Without static IPs, container IPs would be assigned randomly on each boot, breaking the challenge validation chain.

The /24 subnet (10.30.50.0/24) provides 254 usable addresses, far more than needed but standard practice for test networks.

Starting it

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.test.yml up --build

Wait for all health checks to pass (about 60 seconds for step-ca's first-run bootstrap). Then:

# Dashboard with auth enabled (HTTPS-only as of v2.2; browser will warn on the self-signed cert —
# accept the warning or trust `deploy/test/certs/ca.crt` in your OS keychain)
open https://localhost:8443
# API key: test-key-2026

# NGINX serving a self-signed placeholder
curl -k https://localhost:8444

What's different from the base

The test environment is configured for production-like behavior:

• API key auth enabled (CERTCTL_AUTH_TYPE: api-key, CERTCTL_AUTH_SECRET: test-key-2026). Every API request needs Authorization: Bearer test-key-2026.
• Agent-side key generation (CERTCTL_KEYGEN_MODE: agent). The agent generates ECDSA P-256 keys locally and submits only the CSR to the server. Private keys never leave the agent container.
• Three real issuers configured:
  • Local CA (self-signed) for instant issuance testing
  • ACME via Pebble for Let's Encrypt-compatible flow testing (HTTP-01 challenges validated through the challenge test server)
  • step-ca for private CA testing with JWK provisioner authentication
• EST server enabled (CERTCTL_EST_ENABLED: "true") for RFC 7030 enrollment testing
• Post-deployment verification enabled (CERTCTL_VERIFY_DEPLOYMENT: "true") so the agent probes NGINX after deploying a cert and confirms the TLS fingerprint matches
• Dynamic config encryption enabled (CERTCTL_CONFIG_ENCRYPTION_KEY) so issuer/target configs added through the GUI are encrypted at rest
• TLS trust bootstrapping: The server runs a setup-trust.sh entrypoint that fetches Pebble's root CA from its management API and copies step-ca's root cert from a shared volume, then runs update-ca-certificates before starting the server binary. This is necessary because both CAs use self-signed roots that aren't in Alpine's default trust store.

Running the Go integration tests

The test environment is designed to support the Go integration test suite at deploy/test/integration_test.go:

# Start the environment
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.test.yml up --build -d

# Wait for health checks
sleep 30

# Run integration tests (from repo root)
go test -tags integration -v ./deploy/test/...

The integration tests exercise 12 phases: health, agent heartbeat, Local CA issuance, ACME issuance, renewal, step-ca issuance, revocation + CRL + OCSP, EST enrollment, S/MIME issuance, discovery, network scan, and deployment verification. PostgreSQL port 5432 is exposed so the test binary can query the database directly for assertions.

See docs/test-env.md for the full walkthrough and manual QA procedures.

Stopping and cleaning up

# Stop but keep data (volumes persist)
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.test.yml down

# Full reset (delete step-ca bootstrap, database, agent keys, NGINX certs)
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.test.yml down -v

Expert note: The step-ca container auto-bootstraps on first run: generates a root CA, creates a JWK provisioner named "admin" with password "password123", and writes everything to the stepca_data volume. Subsequent starts reuse this volume. If you down -v, the next boot generates a new root CA, which means all previously issued step-ca certs become untrusted.

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Environment Variable Reference

Every CERTCTL_* environment variable is read by the server's internal/config/config.go via os.Getenv. If the prefix is missing, the variable is silently ignored.

Server

Variable	Default	Description
CERTCTL_DATABASE_URL	(required)	PostgreSQL connection string
CERTCTL_SERVER_HOST	0.0.0.0	Listen address
CERTCTL_SERVER_PORT	8443	Listen port
CERTCTL_LOG_LEVEL	info	Log verbosity: debug, info, warn, error
CERTCTL_AUTH_TYPE	api-key	Auth mode: api-key or none
CERTCTL_AUTH_SECRET	(none)	API key(s), comma-separated for rotation
CERTCTL_KEYGEN_MODE	agent	Key generation: agent (production) or server (demo)
CERTCTL_CONFIG_ENCRYPTION_KEY	(none)	AES-256-GCM key for encrypting issuer/target configs in DB
CERTCTL_NETWORK_SCAN_ENABLED	false	Enable network TLS scanning scheduler loop
CERTCTL_NETWORK_SCAN_INTERVAL	6h	How often the network scanner runs
CERTCTL_MAX_BODY_SIZE	1048576	Max request body size in bytes (1MB)
CERTCTL_CORS_ORIGINS	(empty)	Allowed CORS origins, comma-separated. Empty = deny all cross-origin
CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_RPS	10	Requests per second per client
CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_BURST	20	Burst allowance above RPS

Agent

Variable	Default	Description
CERTCTL_SERVER_URL	(required)	Server API URL
CERTCTL_API_KEY	(none)	API key for authenticating with server
CERTCTL_AGENT_NAME	(hostname)	Display name in dashboard
CERTCTL_AGENT_ID	(auto-generated)	Stable agent identifier
CERTCTL_KEYGEN_MODE	agent	Must match server setting
CERTCTL_LOG_LEVEL	info	Log verbosity
CERTCTL_KEY_DIR	/var/lib/certctl/keys	Directory for private key storage (0600 perms)
CERTCTL_DISCOVERY_DIRS	(none)	Comma-separated paths to scan for existing certs

Issuers (Server)

Variable	Description
CERTCTL_ACME_DIRECTORY_URL	ACME CA directory (e.g., Let's Encrypt, Pebble)
CERTCTL_ACME_EMAIL	ACME account email
CERTCTL_ACME_CHALLENGE_TYPE	http-01, dns-01, or dns-persist-01
CERTCTL_ACME_INSECURE	Skip TLS verification for ACME CA (test only)
CERTCTL_ACME_EAB_KID / CERTCTL_ACME_EAB_HMAC	External Account Binding for ZeroSSL, Google Trust Services
CERTCTL_ACME_ARI_ENABLED	Enable RFC 9773 Renewal Information
CERTCTL_ACME_PROFILE	ACME profile (tlsserver, shortlived)
CERTCTL_STEPCA_URL	step-ca server URL
CERTCTL_STEPCA_ROOT_CERT	Path to step-ca root CA cert
CERTCTL_STEPCA_PROVISIONER	Provisioner name
CERTCTL_STEPCA_PASSWORD	Provisioner password
CERTCTL_STEPCA_KEY_PATH	Path to provisioner key
CERTCTL_CA_CERT_PATH / CERTCTL_CA_KEY_PATH	Sub-CA mode: load CA cert+key from disk
CERTCTL_VAULT_ADDR	Vault server address
CERTCTL_VAULT_TOKEN	Vault auth token
CERTCTL_VAULT_MOUNT	PKI secrets engine mount (default: pki)
CERTCTL_VAULT_ROLE	PKI role name
CERTCTL_DIGICERT_API_KEY	DigiCert CertCentral API key
CERTCTL_DIGICERT_ORG_ID	DigiCert organization ID
CERTCTL_SECTIGO_CUSTOMER_URI / _LOGIN / _PASSWORD	Sectigo SCM auth
CERTCTL_GOOGLE_CAS_PROJECT / _LOCATION / _CA_POOL / _CREDENTIALS	Google CAS config

EST Server

Variable	Default	Description
CERTCTL_EST_ENABLED	false	Enable RFC 7030 EST endpoints
CERTCTL_EST_ISSUER_ID	iss-local	Which issuer processes EST enrollments
CERTCTL_EST_PROFILE_ID	(none)	Optional profile constraint

Post-Deployment Verification

Variable	Default	Description
CERTCTL_VERIFY_DEPLOYMENT	false	Agent probes TLS after deploying
CERTCTL_VERIFY_TIMEOUT	10s	TLS probe timeout
CERTCTL_VERIFY_DELAY	2s	Wait before probing (let service reload)

Notifications

Variable	Description
CERTCTL_SMTP_HOST / _PORT / _USERNAME / _PASSWORD / _FROM_ADDRESS / _USE_TLS	SMTP email
CERTCTL_SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL / _CHANNEL / _USERNAME	Slack notifications
CERTCTL_TEAMS_WEBHOOK_URL	Microsoft Teams
CERTCTL_PAGERDUTY_ROUTING_KEY / _SEVERITY	PagerDuty alerts
CERTCTL_OPSGENIE_API_KEY / _PRIORITY	OpsGenie alerts
CERTCTL_DIGEST_ENABLED / _INTERVAL / _RECIPIENTS	Scheduled digest email

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Common Operations

Viewing logs

# All services
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml logs -f

# Single service
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml logs -f certctl-server

# Last 100 lines
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml logs --tail 100 certctl-server

Rebuilding after code changes

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml up -d --build

Docker only rebuilds images that have changed source files. The --build flag is essential after editing Go code or frontend files.

Connecting to the database directly

docker exec -it certctl-postgres psql -U certctl -d certctl

Useful queries:

-- Certificate inventory
SELECT id, common_name, status, expires_at FROM managed_certificates ORDER BY expires_at;

-- Recent jobs
SELECT id, type, status, certificate_id, created_at FROM jobs ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 20;

-- Audit trail
SELECT event_type, actor, resource_id, created_at FROM audit_events ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 20;

-- Issuer configurations (encrypted_config is AES-256-GCM)
SELECT id, type, source, enabled, test_status FROM issuers;

Checking container resource usage

docker stats --no-stream

Upgrading

git pull
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml up -d --build

Migrations are idempotent (IF NOT EXISTS), so upgrading to a version with new schema changes is safe. PostgreSQL only runs init scripts on first boot of a fresh volume, so new migrations in an upgrade require running them manually:

docker exec -i certctl-postgres psql -U certctl -d certctl < migrations/000011_new_feature.up.sql

Or, for a clean upgrade: down -v and up --build (loses existing data).