Run the Dashy dashboard in Docker

Dashy is a self-hosted personal dashboard with status checking, widgets, themes, icon packs, and a UI editor. This guide uses lissy93/dashy:latest, binds the user-data directory, and exposes the dashboard on port 8080.¹

Install Docker

Log into the Linux Docker host and run:

# install prerequisitessudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common gnupg-agent -y# add docker gpg keycurl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/$(awk -F'=' '/^ID=/{ print $NF }' /etc/os-release)/gpg | sudo apt-key add -# add docker software repositorysudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture)] https://download.docker.com/linux/$(awk -F'=' '/^ID=/{ print $NF }' /etc/os-release) $(lsb_release -cs) stable"# install dockersudo apt install docker-ce docker-compose containerd.io -y# enable and start docker servicesudo systemctl enable docker && sudo systemctl start docker# add the current user to the docker groupsudo usermod -aG docker $USER# reauthenticate for the new group membership to take effectsu - $USER

If the current distribution no longer supports apt-key, use the current Docker documentation instead of ignoring the warning.¹

Run Dashy

1. Create the directory, download the default configuration, set ownership, and start the container:

# create working directoriesmkdir ~/docker/dashy -p# download default conf.ymlwget -O ~/docker/dashy/conf.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/dashy/refs/heads/master/user-data/conf.yml# set owner of working directoriessudo chown "$USER":"$USER" ~/docker -R# allow the container to write to working directoriessudo chmod a+rwx -R ~/docker/dashy# run the dashy docker imagedocker run -d --name dashy -p 8080:8080 -v ~/docker/dashy:/app/user-data --restart=unless-stopped lissy93/dashy:latest

2. Open http://DNSorIP:8080.
3. Verify the Dashy Welcome page and edit ~/docker/dashy/conf.yml from the host when needed.¹

Backup and limits

Back up ~/docker/dashy/conf.yml and the complete ~/docker/dashy directory before updating the image. The source’s chmod a+rwx is convenient for the container but broad; in a production HomeLab I would tighten owner/group permissions after confirming the image UID/GID. Do not put widget API tokens in the post or repository.¹

Source and video

• Original tutorial: i12bretro 0992
• Original video: Run Dashy Application Dashboard in Docker

Sources