Installation

Punchify runs as a Docker application with three containers: the app, a PostgreSQL database and the Caddy web server, which takes care of the HTTPS certificate automatically. All settings live in one file: .env.

Requirements

A Linux server with Docker and the Compose plugin (docker compose). A small server is enough for small and medium businesses, e.g. 2 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM and 40 GB storage.
An address (e.g. time.yourcompany.com) whose DNS record (A or AAAA) points to the server.
Ports 80 and 443 reachable from the internet (for the Let's Encrypt certificate).
Outgoing access to https://admin.punchify.app (daily licence check).
A licence key – free for up to 5 people or as a 60-day trial via punchify.app.

In three steps

1. Fetch the files

mkdir punchify && cd punchify
curl -fsSLO https://punchify.app/install/docker-compose.yml
curl -fsSLO https://punchify.app/install/Caddyfile
curl -fsSL  https://punchify.app/install/env.example -o .env

2. Enter the configuration

nano .env

At minimum you need: PUNCHIFY_DOMAIN, ACME_EMAIL, PUNCHIFY_LICENSE_KEY, two random values for PUNCHIFY_DB_PASSWORD and PUNCHIFY_SECRET_KEY, and the email and password of the first admin. You can create random values with:

openssl rand -hex 32

All settings are explained under Configuration.

3. Start

docker compose up -d

After about a minute Punchify is available at https://<your domain>. Sign in with the email and password from PUNCHIFY_ADMIN_EMAIL and PUNCHIFY_ADMIN_PASSWORD – and change the password afterwards under Settings. Continue with the first steps.

Important: Keep PUNCHIFY_SECRET_KEY safe (e.g. in a password manager). Without this key the backups cannot be restored.

What lives where

Container	Purpose	Data (Docker volume)
`app`	Punchify itself	`punchify-data` – including the nightly backups under `/data/backups`
`db`	PostgreSQL 16	`db-data`
`caddy`	Web server, HTTPS	`caddy-data`, `caddy-config` (certificates)

Check that everything runs

docker compose ps
docker compose logs app --tail 50
curl -fsS https://<your domain>/healthz

/healthz answers with {"status":"ok", "version": …} once the app is ready.

Hosted by Punchify

If you don't want to look after a server, we run Punchify for you in a data centre in Nuremberg, Germany – with your own address such as yourcompany.punchify.app, automatic updates and backups. See pricing.