How to Install Paperless-NGX on Ubuntu 24.04

Introduction

Paperless-NGX is an open-source document management system that allows you to digitize, organize, and archive documents efficiently.
This guide will walk you through installing Paperless-NGX on Ubuntu 24.04 using Docker and Docker Compose.

Step 1: SSH into your server

ssh root@your_server_ip

(Windows users can use PuTTY and login as root.)

Step 2: Update Your System

apt update

Step 3: Install Required Tools

apt install curl git gnupg ca-certificates lsb-release

Step 4: Add Docker’s Official Repository

Create keyring folder (if missing):

install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings

Download Docker’s GPG key:

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Fix permissions:

chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

(Optional: download key again if needed)

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Add Docker repo:

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] \ https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \ $(. /etc/os-release && echo $VERSION_CODENAME) stable" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

Step 5: Install Docker Engine + Docker Compose

apt update 
apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Step 6: Enable and Start Docker

systemctl enable docker 
systemctl start docker

Step 7: Verify Docker Compose

docker compose version

Step 8: Create the Paperless-NGX Directory

mkdir -p /opt/paperless cd /opt/paperless

Step 9: Generate a Secret Key

openssl rand -base64 32

Copy the generated key for later use in docker-compose.yml.

Step 10: Create Docker Compose File

nano /opt/paperless/docker-compose.yml

Paste the following content:

services:

redis:
image: redis:7
container_name: paperless_redis
restart: unless-stopped

db:
image: postgres:15
container_name: paperless_db
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
POSTGRES_DB: paperless
POSTGRES_USER: paperless
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: strongpassword
volumes:
- db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

webserver:
image: ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx:latest
container_name: paperless_web
depends_on:
- db
- redis
ports:
- "8000:8000"
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
PAPERLESS_REDIS: redis://redis:6379
PAPERLESS_DBHOST: db
PAPERLESS_DBNAME: paperless
PAPERLESS_DBUSER: paperless
PAPERLESS_DBPASS: strongpassword
PAPERLESS_SECRET_KEY: "PASTE_YOUR_SECRET_KEY_HERE"
PAPERLESS_URL: "https://your-domain.com"
PAPERLESS_TIME_ZONE: "Europe/Bucharest"
volumes:
- data:/usr/src/paperless/data
- media:/usr/src/paperless/media
- consume:/usr/src/paperless/consume

volumes:
db-data:
data:
media:
consume:

Step 11: Start Paperless-NGX

docker compose up -d

Step 12: Verify Containers

docker ps

You should see:

Step 13: Access Paperless-NGX

Open a browser:

http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8000

Conclusion

Paperless-NGX is now fully installed and running on Ubuntu 24.04 using Docker and Docker Compose.
You can start importing documents, configuring OCR, and managing your digital documents efficiently.