🐞 Bug: Tandoor doesn't keep data when restarting container

[busywiththingsalreadyforgotten]

Bug Description

When I install the tandoor setup and then restart the container it looses it's data

Also I note a probable type in the docker-compose.yml

line 61 - ./${SERVICE}-data/staticfiles:/opt/recipes/statisfiles

I believe it should be
./${SERVICE}-data/staticfiles:/opt/recipes/staticfiles

However fixing this doesn't fix the issue

Expected Behavior

When the docker containers are restarted the data persists

Actual Behavior

Tandoor goes back into first setup mode

Screenshots

No response

Operating System

Linux

Tailscale Version

1.96.5

Docker Version

29.4.1

Relevant Logs or Error Messages

Docker Compose Configuration

Environment Configuration (.env file)

Additional Context

No response

[busywiththingsalreadyforgotten]

I got it working, although I'm just a beginner at this, so I'm sure there's a better way

I made the following changes

line 61 - ./${SERVICE}-data/staticfiles:/opt/recipes/statisfiles
corrected typo: ./${SERVICE}-data/staticfiles:/opt/recipes/staticfiles

I enable magic DNS
I made the tandoor app wait on the database to startup
I changed the POSTGRES_HOST=0.0.0.0

I consolidated some environment variable names etc to make it make sense to me.
Here is my configuration in case anyone finds it useful

docker-compose.yml

configs:
  ts-serve:
    content: |
      {"TCP":{"443":{"HTTPS":true}},
      "Web":{"$${TS_CERT_DOMAIN}:443":
          {"Handlers":{"/":
          {"Proxy":"http://127.0.0.1:9001"}}}},
      "AllowFunnel":{"$${TS_CERT_DOMAIN}:443":false}}

services:
# Make sure you have updated/checked the .env file with the correct variables. 
# All the ${ xx } need to be defined there.
  # Tailscale Sidecar Configuration
  tailscale:
    image: tailscale/tailscale:latest # Image to be used
    container_name: tailscale-${SERVICE} # Name for local container management
    hostname: ${SERVICE} # Name used within your Tailscale environment
    environment:
      - TS_AUTHKEY=${TS_AUTHKEY}
      - TS_STATE_DIR=/var/lib/tailscale
      - TS_SERVE_CONFIG=/config/serve.json # Tailscale Serve configuration to expose the web interface on your local Tailnet - remove this line if not required
      - TS_USERSPACE=false
      - TS_ENABLE_HEALTH_CHECK=true              # Enable healthcheck endpoint: "/healthz"
      - TS_LOCAL_ADDR_PORT=127.0.0.1:41234       # The <addr>:<port> for the healthz endpoint
      - TS_ACCEPT_DNS=true # Uncomment when using MagicDNS
      - TS_AUTH_ONCE=true
    configs:
      - source: ts-serve
        target: /config/serve.json
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config # Config folder used to store Tailscale files - you may need to change the path
      - ./ts/state:/var/lib/tailscale # Tailscale requirement - you may need to change the path
    devices:
      - /dev/net/tun:/dev/net/tun # Network configuration for Tailscale to work
    cap_add:
      - net_admin # Tailscale requirement
    #ports:
    #  - 0.0.0.0:${SERVICEPORT}:${SERVICEPORT} # Binding port ${SERVICE}PORT to the local network - may be removed if only exposure to your Tailnet is required
    # If any DNS issues arise, use your preferred DNS provider by uncommenting the config below
    #dns: 
    #  - ${DNS_SERVER}
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--spider", "-q", "http://127.0.0.1:41234/healthz"] # Check Tailscale has a Tailnet IP and is operational
      interval: 1m # How often to perform the check
      timeout: 10s # Time to wait for the check to succeed
      retries: 3 # Number of retries before marking as unhealthy
      start_period: 10s # Time to wait before starting health checks
    restart: always

  # ${SERVICE}
  application:
    image: ${IMAGE_URL} # Image to be used
    network_mode: service:tailscale # Sidecar configuration to route ${SERVICE} through Tailscale
    container_name: app-${SERVICE} # Name for local container management
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=${TZ}
      - TANDOOR_PORT=${SERVICEPORT}
    volumes:
      - ./${SERVICE}-data/staticfiles:/opt/recipes/staticfiles
      - ./${SERVICE}-data/mediafiles:/opt/recipes/mediafiles
    env_file:
      - ./.env
    depends_on:
      tailscale:
        condition: service_healthy
      database:
        condition: service_healthy
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pgrep", "-f", "${SERVICE}"] # Check if ${SERVICE} process is running
      interval: 1m # How often to perform the check
      timeout: 10s # Time to wait for the check to succeed
      retries: 3 # Number of retries before marking as unhealthy
      start_period: 30s # Time to wait before starting health checks
    restart: always

  database:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    network_mode: service:tailscale
    container_name: app-${SERVICE}-database
    env_file:
      - ./.env
    depends_on:
      tailscale:
        condition: service_healthy
    volumes:
      - ./${SERVICE}-data/database:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER} -d ${POSTGRES_DB}"] # Check if postgres is ready
      interval: 1m # How often to perform the check
      timeout: 10s # Time to wait for the check to succeed
      retries: 3 # Number of retries before marking as unhealthy
      start_period: 30s # Time to wait before starting health checks
    restart: always

.env

(update TS_AUTHKEY, SECRET_KEY,ALLOWED_HOSTS,POSTGRES_PASSWORD)

#version=1.1
#URL=https://github.com/tailscale-dev/ScaleTail
#COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME= # Optional: only use when running multiple deployments on the same infrastructure.

# Service Configuration
SERVICE=tandoor
IMAGE_URL=vabene1111/recipes

# Network Configuration
SERVICEPORT=9001
DNS_SERVER=9.9.9.9

# Tailscale Configuration
TS_AUTHKEY=###################################

# Time Zone setting for containers 
TZ=Australia/Sydney # See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones

# Optional Service variables
PUID=1000
PGID=1000

# random secret key, use for example `base64 /dev/urandom | head -c50` to generate one
SECRET_KEY=#############################

# allowed hosts (see documentation), should be set to your hostname(s) but might be * (default) for some proxies/providers
ALLOWED_HOSTS=tandoor.######################.ts.net

DB_ENGINE=django.db.backends.postgresql
[#POSTGRES_HOST](https://github.com/tailscale-dev/ScaleTail/issues/289#POSTGRES_HOST)=database
POSTGRES_HOST=0.0.0.0
POSTGRES_DB=djangodb
POSTGRES_PORT=5432
POSTGRES_USER=djangouser

# Connection secret for postgres. You should change it to a random password
# Please use only the characters `A-Za-z0-9`, without special characters or spaces
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres

[#EXAMPLE_VAR](https://github.com/tailscale-dev/ScaleTail/issues/289#EXAMPLE_VAR)="Environment variable"

[jackspiering]

I tested this locally and was able to get persistence working after adjusting the Tandoor service configuration.

The typo mentioned in the issue is real:

./${SERVICE}-data/staticfiles:/opt/recipes/statisfiles

should be:

./${SERVICE}-data/staticfiles:/opt/recipes/staticfiles

However, I agree that this alone does not explain the database reset/first-setup behavior.

What made the deployment persist correctly for me was using Tandoor’s expected PostgreSQL environment variables and ensuring the Postgres data directory was bind-mounted:

DB_ENGINE=django.db.backends.postgresql
POSTGRES_HOST=127.0.0.1
POSTGRES_PORT=5432
POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
POSTGRES_DB=tandoor

and in compose.yaml:

database:
  environment:
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
    POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB}
  volumes:
    - ./${SERVICE}-data/database:/var/lib/postgresql/data

After restarting with:

docker compose down
docker compose up -d

Postgres correctly reused the existing database:

PostgreSQL Database directory appears to contain a database; Skipping initialization
database system is ready to accept connections

I will open a PR for the staticfiles typo and alignment of the variable names that the Tandoor image expects.