Deploy PostHog

🦔 PostHog is an all-in-one developer platform for building successful products. We offer product analytics, web analytics, session replay, error tracking, feature flags, experimentation, surveys, data warehouse, a CDP, and an AI product assistant to help debug your code, ship features faster, and keep all your usage and customer data in one stack.

⭐ 31.2k stars📜 Other🔴 Advanced⏱ ~20 minutes

What You’ll Get

A fully working PostHog instance running on your server. Your data stays on your hardware — no third-party access, no usage limits, no surprise invoices.

Prerequisites

A server with Docker and Docker Compose installed (setup guide)
A domain name pointed to your server (optional but recommended)
Basic terminal access (SSH)

The Config

Create a directory for PostHog and add this docker-compose.yml:


# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 🚀 Created and distributed by The AltStack
# 🌍 https://thealtstack.com
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
version: '3.8'
 
services:
  db:
    image: postgres:14-alpine
    container_name: posthog-db
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=posthog
      - POSTGRES_DB=posthog
      - POSTGRES_USER=posthog
    volumes:
      - posthog_postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
 
  redis:
    image: redis:6-alpine
    container_name: posthog-redis
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - posthog_redis_data:/data
 
  clickhouse:
    image: clickhouse/clickhouse-server:22.3-alpine
    container_name: posthog-clickhouse
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - CLICKHOUSE_DB=posthog
      - CLICKHOUSE_USER=default
      - CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD=
    volumes:
      - posthog_clickhouse_data:/var/lib/clickhouse
 
  kafka:
    image: confluentinc/cp-kafka:7.5.3
    container_name: posthog-kafka
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - zookeeper
    environment:
      - KAFKA_ZOOKEEPER_CONNECT=zookeeper:2181
      - KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://kafka:9092
      - KAFKA_OFFSETS_TOPIC_REPLICATION_FACTOR=1
 
  zookeeper:
    image: confluentinc/cp-zookeeper:7.5.3
    container_name: posthog-zookeeper
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - ZOOKEEPER_CLIENT_PORT=2181
      - ZOOKEEPER_TICK_TIME=2000
 
  posthog:
    image: posthog/posthog:release-1.40.0
    container_name: posthog
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
      - clickhouse
      - kafka
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://posthog:posthog@db:5432/posthog
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379/
      - CLICKHOUSE_HOST=clickhouse
      - KAFKA_HOSTS=kafka:9092
      - SECRET_KEY=please-change-this-secret-key-in-production-12345
      - SKIP_SERVICE_VERSION_REQUIREMENTS=1
    volumes:
      - ./uploads:/app/static/uploads
 
volumes:
  posthog_postgres_data:
  posthog_redis_data:
  posthog_clickhouse_data:

Let’s Ship It


# Create a directory
mkdir -p /opt/posthog && cd /opt/posthog
 
# Create the docker-compose.yml (paste the config above)
nano docker-compose.yml
 
# Pull images and start
docker compose up -d
 
# Watch the logs
docker compose logs -f

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Required
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	`posthog`	No
`POSTGRES_DB`	`posthog`	No
`POSTGRES_USER`	`posthog`	No
`CLICKHOUSE_DB`	`posthog`	No
`CLICKHOUSE_USER`	`default`	No
`KAFKA_ZOOKEEPER_CONNECT`	`zookeeper:2181`	No
`KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS`	`PLAINTEXT://kafka:9092`	No
`KAFKA_OFFSETS_TOPIC_REPLICATION_FACTOR`	`1`	No
`ZOOKEEPER_CLIENT_PORT`	`2181`	No
`ZOOKEEPER_TICK_TIME`	`2000`	No
`DATABASE_URL`	`postgres://posthog:posthog@db:5432/posthog`	No
`REDIS_URL`	`redis://redis:6379/`	No
`CLICKHOUSE_HOST`	`clickhouse`	No
`KAFKA_HOSTS`	`kafka:9092`	No
`SECRET_KEY`	`please-change-this-secret-key-in-production-12345`	No
`SKIP_SERVICE_VERSION_REQUIREMENTS`	`1`	No

Post-Deployment Checklist

Service is accessible on the configured port
Admin account created (if applicable)
Reverse proxy configured (Caddy guide)
SSL/HTTPS working
Backup script set up (backup guide)
Uptime monitor added (Uptime Kuma)

The “I Broke It” Section

Container won’t start?


docker compose logs posthog | tail -50

Port already in use?


# Find what's using the port
lsof -i :PORT_NUMBER

Need to start fresh?


docker compose down -v  # ⚠️ This deletes volumes/data!
docker compose up -d