​
Overview

camelAI uses Docker Compose to manage multiple services:

  • camel: The main application (hosted on Amazon ECR)
  • nginx: Reverse proxy
  • pgvector: PostgreSQL with pgvector extension
  • memcached: Caching layer

​
Prerequisites

Before setting up Docker Compose, ensure you have:

  1. Docker and Docker Compose installed
  2. AWS CLI installed and configured
  3. AWS ECR authentication set up: 
    aws ecr get-login-password --region us-west-2 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin 904534089871.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
  4. Required IAM permissions:
    • AmazonEC2ContainerRegistryReadOnly policy
    • Or custom policy with ecr:GetAuthorizationToken and ecr:BatchCheckLayerAvailability permissions

​
Installation Steps

​
1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/qaml-ai/camelAI-docker-compose.git
cd camelAI-docker-compose

​
2. Review the Docker Compose File

The main Docker Compose configuration is in docker-compose.prod.yml. Here’s a breakdown of the services:

services:
  camel:
    image: 904534089871.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/camel-app:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - media_volume:/app/media
      - static_volume:/app/staticfiles
    env_file:
      - .env.docker
    environment:
      - DB_HOST=pgvector
      - DB_USER=postgres
      - MEDIA_ROOT=/app/media
      - MEMCACHED_SERVER=memcached:11211
    depends_on:
      - memcached
      - pgvector

  nginx:
    image: nginx:alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8000:80"
    volumes:
      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
      - media_volume:/app/media
      - static_volume:/app/staticfiles
    depends_on:
      - camel

  memcached:
    image: memcached:alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: memcached -m 64

  pgvector:
    image: pgvector/pgvector:pg17
    restart: unless-stopped
    env_file:
      - .env.docker
    volumes:
      - pgvector_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  media_volume:
  static_volume:
  pgvector_data:

​
3. Environment Variables

The repository includes a .env.docker template file. Copy it and update the values:

cp .env.docker .env.docker.local

Edit .env.docker.local with your configuration:

  • Set a secure DJANGO_SECRET_KEY
  • Update POSTGRES_PASSWORD with a secure password
  • Configure your AWS credentials if using Bedrock
  • Set up API keys if using OpenAI or Anthropic

See our Environment Variables guide for details.

​
4. Start the Services

Run the following command to start all services:

docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

​
5. Verify Installation

Check that all services are running:

docker compose ps

You should see all services with a status of “running”.

​
Common Issues

​
ECR Authentication

If you see errors related to ECR authentication:

  1. Verify AWS CLI is configured correctly:

    aws configure list

  2. Check ECR authentication:

    aws ecr get-login-password --region us-west-2 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin 904534089871.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com

  3. Verify IAM permissions:

    • Check if you have the AmazonEC2ContainerRegistryReadOnly policy
    • Or verify custom policy permissions

​
Port Conflicts

If you see port conflicts, make sure:

  • Port 8000 is not in use by another application

​
Volume Permissions

If you encounter permission issues with volumes:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER .

​
Service Health Checks

You can check the health of individual services:

docker compose logs camel
docker compose logs nginx
docker compose logs pgvector
docker compose logs memcached

​
Next Steps

After setting up Docker Compose:

  1. Create a Superuser
  2. Configure Your Environment
  3. Start Using camelAI