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Swarm Start Guide

This guide explains how to start and operate the gmod stack with Docker Swarm.

Prerequisites​

  • Docker Engine installed
  • A valid .env at repository root
  • Logged in to GHCR if images are private (docker login ghcr.io)

1. Initialize Swarm (once)​

docker swarm init

If Swarm is already initialized, Docker will tell you and you can continue.

2. Deploy the Stack​

From repository root:

docker stack deploy -c docker-stack.swarm.yml --with-registry-auth --prune gmod

What this does:

  • creates/updates services in docker-stack.swarm.yml
  • applies rolling updates (parallelism: 1, start-first)
  • runs prisma-migrate service to execute prisma db push with retries
  • api, websocket, and discord now wait for MariaDB schema readiness (users table) before starting

3. Check Health​

docker stack services gmod

Expected target replicas:

  • gmod_api: 2/2
  • gmod_websocket: 2/2
  • gmod_discord: 2/2
  • gmod_mariadb: 1/1
  • gmod_redis: 1/1
  • gmod_mongo: 1/1
  • gmod_minio: 1/1
  • gmod_traefik: 1/1

Traefik dashboard:

# Direct port (no host rule): http://<SERVER_IP>:8080/dashboard/
# API endpoint:              http://<SERVER_IP>:8080/api/overview

Host-rule access is still available on port 80 with TRAEFIK_DASHBOARD_HOST (default traefik.localhost).

Migration logs:

docker service logs -f gmod_prisma-migrate

Live logs (all services in stack):

docker service logs -f --timestamps --tail 50 $(docker stack services gmod --format '{{.Name}}')

Live logs (apps only: api, websocket, discord):

docker service logs -f --timestamps --tail 50 $(docker stack services gmod --format '{{.Name}}' | grep -E '^gmod_(api|websocket|discord)$')

Live logs with container prefix (apps only, no rg required):

zsh -lc '
trap "kill 0" INT TERM EXIT
for c in $(docker ps --filter label=com.docker.stack.namespace=gmod --format "{{.Names}}" | grep -E "gmod_(api|websocket|discord)"); do
  docker logs -f --tail 50 "$c" 2>&1 | sed -u "s/^/[$c] /" &
done
wait
'

One service at a time:

docker service logs -f --tail 100 gmod_api
docker service logs -f --tail 100 gmod_websocket
docker service logs -f --tail 100 gmod_discord
docker service logs -f --tail 100 gmod_mariadb
docker service logs -f --tail 100 gmod_prisma-migrate

Service/task details:

docker service ps gmod_api
docker service ps gmod_websocket
docker service ps gmod_discord
docker service ps gmod_mariadb

4. Update the Stack​

After changing images or stack config:

docker stack deploy -c docker-stack.swarm.yml --with-registry-auth --prune gmod

5. Rollback a Service​

docker service rollback gmod_api
docker service rollback gmod_websocket
docker service rollback gmod_discord

6. Stop Everything (Swarm)​

docker stack rm gmod

7. Production FQDN (Cloudflare Tunnel)​

In Swarm, app services are behind Traefik. Do not route Cloudflare directly to 53136 or 53139.

Set production hosts in .env:

API_HOST=api.your-domain.com
WS_HOST=ws.your-domain.com
TRAEFIK_DASHBOARD_HOST=traefik.your-domain.com

Deploy/redeploy:

docker stack deploy -c docker-stack.swarm.yml --with-registry-auth --prune gmod

Cloudflare Tunnel example (config.yml):

ingress:
  - hostname: api.your-domain.com
    service: http://localhost:80
  - hostname: ws.your-domain.com
    service: http://localhost:80
  - hostname: traefik.your-domain.com
    service: http://localhost:80
  - service: http_status:404

Local-only defaults like api.localhost and ws.localhost are intended for local testing, not production DNS.

Troubleshooting​

table does not exist​

Schema is missing in MariaDB. Check migration service logs:

docker service logs --tail 200 gmod_prisma-migrate

Then redeploy stack:

docker stack deploy -c docker-stack.swarm.yml --with-registry-auth --prune gmod

Note:

  • In Swarm, startup order is not strictly enforced.
  • A first P1001 in gmod_prisma-migrate can happen while MariaDB is still booting.
  • With current stack config, migration retries and app startup waits handle this automatically.

Too many connections​

  • avoid running Compose and Swarm for this project at the same time
  • current stack enforces MARIA_CONNECTION_LIMIT=10 in app services
  • check MariaDB load/logs:
docker service logs --tail 200 gmod_mariadb

Leftover Compose containers​

If old Compose containers still run:

docker compose -p gmod-integration-monorepo -f docker-compose.prod.yml down --remove-orphans

MariaDB env names (MARIA_* vs MARIADB_*)​

You can keep your existing MARIA_* variables.

  • App services (api/websocket/discord) use MARIA_*
  • MariaDB service now supports both:
  • if MARIADB_* is set, it is used
  • if not, Swarm/Compose fallback automatically to MARIA_*