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Local Mode

Local mode is designed for developers building Docker-based applications on their own machines. It provides a reverse proxy, dashboard, and monitoring tools so you can develop with clean HTTPS URLs without worrying about port management or TLS configuration.

When to use local mode

  • You are developing a Docker-based application and want HTTPS routing
  • You want a dashboard to see all your running services at a glance
  • You do not need authentication in front of your services

Services

Service URL Description
Homepage https://dashboard.local.ciservers.net Service dashboard with auto-discovery
Traefik https://traefik.local.ciservers.net/dashboard/ Reverse proxy dashboard
Prometheus https://prometheus.local.ciservers.net Metrics collection
cAdvisor https://cadvisor.local.ciservers.net Container resource monitoring
Portainer https://portainer.local.ciservers.net Docker management UI
IT Tools https://tools.local.ciservers.net Developer utilities

Setup

task init        # Select option 1 (local)
task generate-local-self-signed-certs
task start

TLS

Local mode uses a self-signed wildcard certificate for *.local.ciservers.net. The certificate is generated once via task generate-local-self-signed-certs and stored in the certs/ directory.

  • certs/self.crt — the certificate (RSA-4096, valid 365 days)
  • certs/self.key — the private key

Your browser will display a certificate warning on first visit. Accept the self-signed certificate to proceed.

Regenerating certificates

If your certificates expire, run task generate-local-self-signed-certs again and restart with task restart.

How it works

Browser
  |
  | HTTPS (self-signed cert)
  v
Traefik (ports 80, 443)
  |
  | HTTP (internal Docker network)
  v
Your application container
  1. Traefik listens on ports 80 and 443. HTTP requests are redirected to HTTPS.
  2. Traefik reads Docker labels from running containers to discover services.
  3. Each service gets a route based on its labels (e.g., Host(\myapp.local.ciservers.net`)`).
  4. Traefik terminates TLS and proxies the request to the container over the internal Docker network.
  5. Homepage discovers services the same way and displays them on the dashboard.

Docker Compose files

Local mode uses two compose files:

  • docker-compose.yml — Core services (Traefik, Homepage, Prometheus, cAdvisor)
  • docker-compose.local.yml — Local-only services (Portainer, IT Tools)

Portainer first launch

Portainer requires you to set an admin password on first launch. Visit https://portainer.local.ciservers.net immediately after starting to complete the setup before the timeout expires.