Show HN: DCD – Deploy Docker Compose apps to any VPS with one command

4 months ago 19

Deploy your Docker app to production in one command ⚡

💡 The Problem Every Developer Knows

You've built something amazing locally. docker-compose up works perfectly. Now you need to deploy it...

Option 1: Managed Platforms

💸 Expensive as you scale
🔒 Vendor lock-in
⚙️ Limited customization
🚫 Not all apps supported

Option 2: Complex CI/CD

📚 Hours learning Kubernetes/Docker Swarm
🔧 Complex pipeline setup
🐛 More things to break
⏰ Weeks to get right

What if there was a third way?

✨ Meet DCD - Your Deploy Button for Any Server

DCD gives you the simplicity of Heroku with the power of your own server. Deploy Docker Compose apps to any VPS with a single command.

# That's it. Your app is live. 🎉 dcd up [email protected]

Perfect for:

🏗️ Personal projects that outgrew localhost
💡 Side hustles that need production deployment
🚀 Startups wanting infrastructure control
👨‍💻 Developers who value simplicity over complexity

🔥 Why Developers Love DCD

🎯 Zero Configuration Deployment

No YAML hell, no pipeline setup. If it runs with docker-compose, it deploys with DCD.

From code change to live production in under 30 seconds. No build queues, no waiting.

🔒 Your Infrastructure, Your Rules

Deploy to any Linux server you control. Keep your data, control your costs.

Drop-in action for automatic deployments. Perfect CI/CD in 5 lines of YAML.

$5/month VPS vs $20+/month managed platform. DCD pays for itself immediately.

# macOS brew install g1ibby/dcd/dcd # Other platforms cargo install dcd

Or download from releases

# 1. Have a docker-compose.yml? ✅ # 2. Have SSH access to a server? ✅ # 3. Deploy! dcd up [email protected] # That's literally it. Your app is live!

Setup Automatic Deployments

Add this to .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

- name: Deploy to production uses: g1ibby/dcd/dcd-deploy@v1 with: target: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}@${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }} ssh_private_key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}

Push to main = instant deployment ⚡

🌟 Real-World Success Story

Why I Built DCD - My HomeLLM Deployment Story

I created DCD to solve my own deployment frustrations while building HomeLLM - a self-hosted AI platform with Open WebUI, LiteLLM proxy, PostgreSQL, and Traefik.

The Pain Before DCD: Every deployment was a manual nightmare:

ssh [email protected] cd /opt/homellm git pull origin main docker-compose down docker-compose pull docker-compose up -d

This process took 5-10 minutes and often failed. I avoided deploying updates, which meant bugs stayed unfixed and features took weeks to reach production.

After Building DCD:

dcd up [email protected]

The transformation:

⚡ 10x faster
🔄 100% reliable
🚀 Deploy confidence
🎯 Focus on features

See the live deployment workflow →

Now HomeLLM automatically deploys every time I push to main. What used to be a stressful weekend task is now a seamless part of my development flow.

The Side Project That Became Profitable

Before DCD:

# Every deployment was a nightmare ssh user@server git pull docker-compose down docker-compose pull docker-compose up -d

With DCD:

Result: Went from deploying once a week (too scary) to deploying multiple times per day. Shipped features faster, caught bugs earlier, grew revenue 3x.

🐳 Any Docker Compose app
🌐 Web apps (React, Vue, Next.js...)
🗄️ Full-stack apps with databases
🤖 AI/ML applications
📊 Data analytics platforms
🔗 API services and microservices

🐧 Ubuntu/Debian servers
☁️ Any VPS (DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS EC2...)
🏠 Self-hosted servers
🔒 Private infrastructure

📋 Full Command Reference

dcd analyze - Preview what will be deployed
dcd up <target> - Deploy or update your app
dcd status <target> - Check deployment status
dcd destroy <target> - Clean removal

-f, --file <FILES>... Docker Compose files -e, --env-file <FILES>... Environment files -i, --identity <KEY> SSH private key (Auto-detects ~/.ssh/id_rsa or ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 if not specified) -w, --workdir <DIR> Remote working directory -v, --verbose Debug output

# Multiple compose files dcd -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.prod.yml up user@server # Custom SSH key and port dcd -i ~/.ssh/deploy_key up [email protected]:2222 # Different environment dcd -e .env.production up [email protected]

🔄 GitHub Actions Integration

name: Deploy on: push: branches: [main] jobs: deploy: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - uses: g1ibby/dcd/dcd-deploy@v1 with: target: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}@${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }} ssh_private_key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}

- uses: g1ibby/dcd/dcd-deploy@v1 with: command: up target: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}@${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }} compose_files: "docker-compose.yml docker-compose.prod.yml" env_files: ".env.prod" ssh_private_key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }} remote_dir: "/opt/myapp" no_health_check: false

jobs: deploy: environment: production # GitHub environment with secrets env: DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }} API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}

⚙️ Technical Details

Analyzes your Docker Compose configuration locally
Syncs necessary files to your server via SSH/SFTP
Installs Docker if needed (optional)
Deploys using docker compose up
Verifies health checks pass
Reports success or failure

Automatically detects referenced files in volumes
Syncs only what's needed
Preserves file permissions
Creates backups before updates

Scans compose files for variable usage
Sources from local environment
Generates .env.dcd file for remote deployment
Secure handling of secrets

Uses SSH key authentication
Files transferred over encrypted SFTP
No credentials stored on remote server
Configurable working directories

Star this repo if DCD helps your deployments! ⭐

Open an issue - we respond fast!

Join discussions and help shape DCD's future.

brew install g1ibby/dcd/dcd

Get the latest release for your platform:

🚀 Ready to Deploy Faster?

Stop spending hours on deployment setup. Start shipping features.

# Install DCD brew install g1ibby/dcd/dcd # macOS # cargo install dcd # Other platforms # Deploy your app dcd up [email protected]

While DCD handles most Docker Compose deployments perfectly, there are a few current limitations:

Build Context: Services using build: directive aren't supported yet. Use pre-built images from registries instead.
Platform Support: Currently optimized for Debian/Ubuntu systems. Other Linux distributions may need adjustments.

_{Built with 🦀 Rust for maximum performance and reliability}

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