Django + PostgreSQL Docker Compose Example

The compose.yaml

name: django-app
services:
  web:
    build:
      context: .
    image: django-app:latest
    command: gunicorn config.wsgi:application --bind 0.0.0.0:8000
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - 8000:8000
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgres://app:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@db:5432/app
    networks:
      - frontend
      - backend
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    healthcheck:
      test:
        - CMD-SHELL
        - curl -f http://localhost:8000/health/ || exit 1
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 20s
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-size: 10m
        max-file: '3'
  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: app
      POSTGRES_USER: app
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - backend
    healthcheck:
      test:
        - CMD-SHELL
        - pg_isready -U app
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 20s
networks:
  frontend: {}
  backend:
    internal: true
volumes:
  pgdata: {}

Start it up

# Validate the configuration (does not start anything):
docker compose -f compose.yaml config

# Pull images and start in the background:
docker compose -f compose.yaml pull
docker compose -f compose.yaml up -d

# Check status and follow logs:
docker compose -f compose.yaml ps
docker compose -f compose.yaml logs -f

# Stop and remove (named volumes are kept):
docker compose -f compose.yaml down