What you need
A LawFive server is one Docker image and a Postgres database. compose.yaml runs both, so there’s nothing else to install.
| You need | Why |
|---|---|
| A machine with Docker and Docker Compose | Runs the server and its database. Images are published for Intel and ARM. |
| A little time in a terminal | To copy two files, set one secret and read one code from the logs. The rest happens in the browser. |
| A domain or address with HTTPS, for real use | Watches and phones need it. Trying it out on localhost doesn’t. |
You can also add these later:
- An SMTP server, to email invitations and password resets. Without one, admins copy the links and send them themselves.
- An S3-compatible bucket, to keep photos outside the Docker volume.
- A map provider key, for satellite imagery when placing pitches.
These are all covered in Email, maps and weather.
How big a machine
Section titled “How big a machine”LawFive is light. Measured on a running server with a few accounts:
| Memory | Disk | |
|---|---|---|
| The server | about 80 MB | its image, about 610 MB |
| Postgres | about 50 MB | its image, about 430 MB, and the database, from about 65 MB |
| A reverse proxy such as Caddy | about 20 MB | its image, about 90 MB |
A machine with 1 GB of memory and one CPU is plenty, with a few GB of disk free. Photos are what grow as people use it, and plans limit how much each account can keep.
What your server talks to
Section titled “What your server talks to”Out of the box, a server uses a few free outside services. Each one can be changed or switched off with the setting beside it (see the settings reference).
| Service | Used for | Setting |
|---|---|---|
| OpenFreeMap | The map | MAP_STYLE_URL |
| OpenStreetMap | Map tiles for apps that can’t draw vector maps | MAP_TILE_URL |
| OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim | Finding addresses | GEOCODER_URL |
| Open-Meteo | Forecasts and past weather | WEATHER_URL, WEATHER_HISTORY_URL |
| LawFive’s push relay | Notifications on phones | PUSH_RELAY_URL |
What’s different on your own server
Section titled “What’s different on your own server”Only the app’s publisher can send notifications to the store apps, so a self-hosted server sends them through the project’s push relay. It works without signing up, within daily limits.
Signing in with Apple or Google isn’t built. Self-hosted servers use email and password.