Application deployment failing on remote AWS EC2 node (exit code 1) even after running setup script manually

[ArshilHapani]

Environment
• Provider: Amazon Web Services
• Remote server: Amazon EC2
• Architecture: ARM64
• Deployment model:
• Small instance → running Dokploy control server
• Large instance → configured as remote application server

Concern

Do I need to configure anything else on the remote server besides running the Dokploy setup script?

Context

I deployed Dokploy on one machine (control node) and added a remote server where applications should run.

Behavior observed:
• Deploying databases (Redis/Postgres) from Dokploy works and they are deployed on the remote machine.
• Deploying applications or Dokploy templates fails.

Deployment error shown in UI:

An error have occured: Remote command failed with exit code 1

Remote server setup

While adding the remote server I initially saw this error:

Please run this script as root or with sudo ❌

Because of that I manually executed the setup script with root privileges on the remote machine.

The script successfully completed and installed:
• Docker
• Docker Swarm
• dokploy-network
• Traefik
• Build tools (nixpacks, buildpacks, railpack)

After running the script the server has:

docker ps

Output:

dokploy-traefik

Additional steps tried

I followed the suggestion mentioned here:

#1126 (comment)

However the issue still persists.

Registry configuration

My applications use prebuilt images from ghcr.io.

I have:
• GitHub username
• GitHub PAT with read:packages

I also logged in on the remote server using:

docker login ghcr.io

Current result
• Databases deploy correctly
• Applications fail immediately with:

Remote command failed with exit code 1

Questions
1. Is running the setup script manually sufficient for remote nodes?
2. Should the remote node also run a dokploy-agent container?
3. Is there any additional configuration required for:
• Docker Swarm
• GHCR authentication
• ARM64 architecture
4. Are there additional logs I should collect from the remote node?
5. Even dokploy templates are not working

Any guidance would be appreciated

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @ArshilHapani! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the dokploy team.

Based on researching the codebase and documentation, here's what I found for your issue:

Key Finding: Root Access Requirement

Dokploy currently requires root login for remote servers. The screenshot showing "Please run this script as root or with sudo" suggests you may be connecting as a non-root user. When deploying with a non-root user, deployments fail silently with no detailed error messages - which matches your "exit code 1" error.

To answer your specific questions:

1. Is running the setup script manually sufficient? - Yes, but it must be run as root, and you must also ensure Dokploy connects as root via SSH. The setup itself is correct (Docker, Swarm, Traefik, build tools).

2. Does the remote node need a dokploy-agent container? - No. Dokploy manages remote servers through direct SSH connections - there's no agent binary.

3. GHCR authentication - You should configure this in Dokploy UI at Settings → Registry. Dokploy automatically propagates credentials to remote servers via SSH - manual docker login on the remote isn't needed.

4. Why databases work but apps don't - Databases use simple pre-built images, while applications require build steps, git cloning, and registry interactions - more places for permission issues to surface.

Recommended fixes:

1. Verify in Dokploy UI that your remote server SSH connection uses the root user (not ec2-user with sudo)
2. Add your GHCR registry credentials in Dokploy UI (Settings → Registry) with the remote server selected
3. Check the full deployment logs in the Dokploy UI Logs tab for the specific command that failed

If you can't use root directly, workarounds include:

• Adding NOPASSWD sudo privileges and prepending sudo to Dokploy commands
• Running sudo chown <USER>:root -R /etc/dokploy/ after manual setup
• Setting DOCKER_CONFIG=/home/<username>/.docker in app environment variables

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[ArshilHapani]

running this on remote server works sudo chown admin:root -R /etc/dokploy/