First Deployment

This guide walks you through deploying your first application to Senate. By the end, you'll have a running service accessible via a URL.

Prerequisites

• Senate installed and running (Getting Started)
• A Docker image, Dockerfile, or Git repository with your application

Step 1: Create a Service

1. Click on a machine in the Dashboard
2. Click Add Service in the sidebar
3. In the popup, enter a name for your service (e.g., my-app)
4. Choose the service type: Docker or Docker Compose
5. Click Create

Step 2: Configure the Source

Senate supports multiple deployment sources:

Option A: Docker Image

The simplest option—use a pre-built image from Docker Hub or a private registry.

1. Go to the Source tab
2. Select Docker Image
3. Enter the image name (e.g., nginx:latest or ghcr.io/your-org/your-app:v1)
4. Click Save

Option B: Dockerfile

Build directly from a Dockerfile in your repository.

1. Go to the Source tab
2. Select Dockerfile
3. Paste your Dockerfile content or connect a Git repository
4. Click Save

Option C: Git Repository

Deploy directly from a Git repository containing a Dockerfile.

1. Go to the Source tab
2. Select Git Repository
3. Enter your repository URL
4. Configure authentication if needed:
   • SSH Key: For private repositories via SSH
   • Access Token: For HTTPS with personal access tokens
5. Optionally specify a branch and Dockerfile path
6. Click Save

Step 3: Deploy

1. Click the Deploy button in the service header
2. Watch the deployment progress in real-time
3. View build logs in the Deployments tab

The deployment process:

1. Pulling/Building: Downloads the image or builds from source
2. Creating: Creates the new container
3. Starting: Starts the container
4. Health Check: Verifies the container is running (if configured)

Step 4: Access Your Application

Once deployed, your application runs inside a Docker container. To make it accessible:

Internal Access

Your service is immediately available to other services on the same machine via Docker networking:

• Hostname: {service-name}-{id}

External Access

To expose your service to the internet:

1. Go to the Domains tab
2. Click Add Domain
3. Enter your domain (e.g., app.yourdomain.com)
4. Senate automatically:
   • Configures the reverse proxy (Caddy)
   • Provisions an SSL certificate via Let's Encrypt
   • Routes traffic to your container

Next Steps

Now that you have a running service, explore these features:

• Environment Variables - Configure secrets and settings
• Custom Domains - Set up SSL and custom domains
• Storage - Add persistent volumes
• Monitoring - View logs and metrics