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Local Deployment

Deploy ekai locally using Docker for testing and development. Perfect for evaluating the platform.

Overview​

Local deployment uses Docker Compose to run ekai's containers:

Deployment Time: 15-30 minutes

System Requirements​

ComponentRequirement
DockerDocker Desktop 20.10+ or Docker Engine with Docker Compose
CPU4 cores minimum (8 recommended)
RAM8 GB minimum (16 GB recommended)
Disk20 GB available space
Ports80, 3000, 5432 must be available

Prerequisites Checklist​

Before starting, ensure you have:

  • Docker installed and running
  • Signed up at the ekai licensing portal
  • Ports 80, 3000, and 5432 are not in use
  • At least 8 GB of available RAM

Installation Steps​

Step 1: Start from the licensing portal​

Go to licensing.ekai.ai and follow the install instructions shown there.

Install command in the licensing portal

Step 2: Authenticate​

  • A browser window will open automatically
  • Log in with your ekai credentials
  • Authorize the deployment
  • Return to the terminal

Step 3: Select Deployment Mode​

When prompted, choose Local deployment:

Choose deployment type:
1) Local (Docker)
2) Cloud

Enter your choice [1-2]: 1

Step 4: Deploy​

The install automatically:

  1. Pulls Docker images
  2. Runs docker-compose up -d
  3. Starts the containers
  4. Performs health checks

Step 5: Verify Installation​

Check that all containers are running:

docker ps

You should see running containers such as:

  • ekai-postgres
  • ekai-backend
  • ekai-frontend

Expected Timeline​

PhaseDuration
Dependency check~1 minute
Sign-in and authorization2–5 minutes
Docker image download8–20 minutes
Container startup~1 minute
Total15–30 minutes
Download time

Image download time depends on your connection. Docker images total may roughly amount to 5 GB.

Accessing Your Local Instance​

Once installation is complete, open http://localhost in your browser and log in with the admin credentials you configured.

Managing Your Local Deployment​

Start/Stop Services​

cd <install-directory>

# Stop services
docker-compose stop

# Start services
docker-compose start

# Restart services
docker-compose restart

# Stop and remove containers
docker-compose down

View Logs​

# All services
docker-compose logs -f

# A specific service
docker-compose logs -f ekai-<service-name>

# Example
docker-compose logs -f ekai-frontend

Update to Latest Version​

# Pull latest images
docker-compose pull

# Recreate containers with new images
docker-compose up -d

Troubleshooting​

Port Already in Use​

If port 80 is already in use:

# Find process using port 80
sudo lsof -i :80

# Stop the conflicting service or edit docker-compose.yml
# Change: "8080:80" instead of "80:80"

Docker Not Running​

# macOS: Start Docker Desktop from Applications

# Linux
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Containers Not Starting​

Check logs for specific errors:

docker-compose logs -f ekai-<service-name>

# Example
docker-compose logs -f ekai-frontend

Common issues:

  • Insufficient memory (increase Docker memory limit)
  • Database connection errors (check credentials in .env)
  • Missing environment variables (re-run the install from the licensing portal)

For more detailed troubleshooting, see Troubleshooting Guide.

Next Steps​