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Deploy Your First App on Nife | Docker Container Deployment Guide

Everything you need to know to deploy an application using a Docker image on Nife.

Nife natively supports pre-built container images. With containers, you can embed all the system dependencies your app needs — Nife handles the rest. Deploying a containerized app takes just a few minutes.

Deploy the First Service of Your App​

Nife organises workloads into Apps. Each App can run one or more Docker-based Services, and each Service can be deployed across multiple global regions.

You can read more in the App Management Overview.

When you deploy a Service on Nife, you have a few customizable settings. All settings can be updated after the initial deployment.

Step 1 — Choose Your Docker Image​

Enter the Docker image you want to deploy. Use a specific tag (not latest) to make upgrades and rollbacks traceable.

If needed, you can override the default command and arguments of your Docker image from the configuration screen.

Step 2 — Deploy from a Public Registry​

To deploy from a public registry, reference the full image path including the domain:

registry.registrydomain.tld/IMAGE_NAME:TAG

For example, to deploy from Docker Hub:

docker.io/myorg/myapp:v1.0.0

Want to try it with a real example? Follow the Docker deployment tutorial.

Step 3 — Deploy from a Private Registry​

To pull from a private registry, Nife needs credentials stored as a secret. You can create registry secrets from the Settings → Variables tab.

Learn more: Private Container Registry Secrets.

Configure Your Service​

Once the image is set, configure the following before deploying:

  • Ports — set the network port(s) your application listens on
  • Environment variables — add any runtime config your app needs
  • Secrets — attach registry or API secrets securely
  • Regions — select one or more global locations where your service will run

Deploy and Check Status​

After clicking Deploy, you are redirected to the service page. From there you can:

  • Access your app via its public URL (if exposed publicly)
  • View individual nodes, their regions, and health status
  • Check the Logs tab if any nodes are unhealthy or deployment is failing
tip

If your deployment is failing, check the Logs panel first. Common causes are incorrect port configuration, missing environment variables, or a private image without a registry secret attached.