Guide · Open source

How to use Dozzle: run it, view live container logs and tips

Updated 2026-10-29 · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

Dozzle is a lightweight, web-based application for monitoring Docker logs in real time. It runs as a container, reads from the Docker socket and shows logs live in a browser, without storing log files. This guide shows you how to start it, open it, and set it up for Swarm or multiple hosts, so you can watch container logs while you debug.

Dozzleamir20/dozzle · ★ 14.8k · MIT Install options & downloads

Quick start

1Check your Docker version. Confirm you run Docker Engine 19.03 or newer with API 1.40 or higher.
2Pull the image. Run docker pull amir20/dozzle:latest to download the small Dozzle image.
3Start the container. Run the docker run command with the Docker socket mounted and port 8080 published.
4Open the web UI. Visit http://localhost:8080/ in your browser to see live logs for your containers.
5Search your logs. Use fuzzy container name search, regex or SQL queries to find lines in the live view.
6Secure it if needed. For shared access, set up file-based or forward proxy authentication as described in the authentication guide.

What Dozzle needs before you install it

Dozzle requires Docker Engine 19.03 or newer (API version 1.40+). Older daemons are not supported by the underlying Docker SDK.

Dozzle also works with Colima and Podman, according to the README. Dozzle uses automatic API negotiation, which works with most Docker configurations.

Docker Engine 19.03 or newer (API 1.40+)
Access to the Docker Unix socket at /var/run/docker.sock

Pull the Dozzle image

Dozzle is a small container, about 7 MB compressed. Pull the latest release with the command below.

$ docker pull amir20/dozzle:latest

Run Dozzle with Docker and open it in your browser

The simplest way to use Dozzle is to run the container. It mounts the Docker Unix socket to /var/run/docker.sock with --volume, and publishes port 8080.

When the container is running, Dozzle is available at http://localhost:8080/.

--name dozzle sets the container name
-d runs it in the background
-v dozzle_data:/data stores Dozzle's data in a named volume
-p 8080:8080 maps the web port

$ docker run --name dozzle -d --volume=/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock -v dozzle_data:/data -p 8080:8080 amir20/dozzle:latest

Use Docker Compose instead

If you prefer a Compose file, the README provides this example. It mounts the socket, creates the dozzle_data volume and maps port 8080.

services:
  dozzle:
    container_name: dozzle
    image: amir20/dozzle:latest
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - dozzle_data:/data
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
volumes:
  dozzle_data:

Choose an image tag

Images are published to both Docker Hub and ghcr.io with identical tags. The latest tag is recommended for most users, while a pinned version tag such as v10 is useful for reproducible deployments. The README advises avoiding latest and main in production.

The default images are built FROM scratch and contain only the Dozzle binary, so there is no shell inside them. Use the alpine variants only if your setup needs a shell, for example platforms that bind-mount a #!/bin/sh wrapper over the entrypoint.

latest: most recent release, recommended for most users
v10.6.15: an exact release, pin this for reproducible deployments
v10.6: latest patch within that minor version, bug fixes only
v10: latest release within that major version, new features too
alpine: same as latest on an Alpine base
main: built from the main branch, unreleased and unstable

Monitor multiple hosts or Swarm

For Docker Swarm, the README shows running Dozzle as a global service with DOZZLE_MODE set to swarm. For several Docker hosts, Dozzle has an agent mode that runs with a agent argument and listens on port 7007.

Multi-host setups, authentication and remote hosts are covered in the Swarm Mode, Agent and Authentication guides on dozzle.dev.

Swarm: global service with the socket mounted and DOZZLE_MODE=swarm
Agent mode: monitors multiple Docker hosts

$ docker service create --name dozzle --env DOZZLE_MODE=swarm --mode global --mount type=bind,source=/var/run/docker.sock,target=/var/run/docker.sock -p 8080:8080 amir20/dozzle:latest

Use Podman instead of Docker

Podman has no background process by default, so enable its remote socket first. Check with podman info. Once the remote socket exists, mount it in place of the Docker socket. The README says nothing else is needed for host identification.

podman run --volume=/run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock:/var/run/docker.sock -d -p 8080:8080 docker.io/amir20/dozzle:latest

What people use it for

Watching container logs live while debugging an application
Keeping an eye on a small number of Docker hosts from one browser tab
Viewing logs from a Docker Swarm cluster in a single live view
Comparing several container logs side by side with split screen

Frequently asked questions

Is Dozzle free and open source?

Yes. Dozzle is released under the MIT licence, and its source code is on GitHub. The README also notes that the project is open source with no funding.

What are the requirements to run Dozzle?

You need Docker Engine 19.03 or newer (API version 1.40+). Dozzle mounts the Docker socket, so the host must provide it, and Podman or Colima can also work.

Does Dozzle store logs?

No. The README states that Dozzle does not store any log files and is designed purely for live log viewing. It does not support offline searching.

Can I search old logs with Dozzle?

Not offline or historical search. The README points to tools like Loggly, Papertrail or Kibana for full search capabilities.

What are alternatives to Dozzle?

Comparable projects mentioned for this item include Portainer, Lazydocker, Grafana Loki and Kibana. Loki and Kibana suit long-term log storage and search, while Dozzle is for live viewing.

Why does Dozzle show a host not found error on Podman?

The README says the old engine-id file fix never worked. Dozzle now derives the host id itself, so you do not need to create that file. Check the FAQ on dozzle.dev for more detail.

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Our verdict

Dozzle suits developers and small teams who want a simple live view of Docker, Swarm or multi-host container logs without running a full logging stack. If you need long-term retention, audit storage or full offline search, pick a tool like Loki, Kibana or Papertrail instead.

Install options & downloads