Portainer

What is Portainer?

Portainer is a web-based UI for managing Docker: containers, images, volumes, networks, and logs, all from a browser instead of the CLI. Laradock runs it with access to the host's Docker socket so it can manage the whole stack, including containers outside Laradock itself.

Start Portainer

Laradock CLI

./laradock start portainer

Docker Compose

docker compose up -d portainer

Create your admin account (first run)

Open http://localhost:9010 right after starting the container. Portainer makes you set the initial admin username and password on this very first visit, there's no default login to look up.

This window is time-limited: if you don't finish creating the admin account within a few minutes of the container's first boot, Portainer disables the setup endpoint for security and refuses to let you create one, showing an error instead of the setup form. If that happens, start completely fresh (or just recreate the container if you haven't put anything in it yet) and complete the setup form promptly this time.

Stop Portainer

Stopping just pauses the container; your data is safe:

Laradock CLI

./laradock stop portainer

Docker Compose

docker compose stop portainer

To delete the container entirely (the data on disk is still untouched, it lives under DATA_PATH_HOST):

Laradock CLI

./laradock remove portainer

Docker Compose

docker compose rm -sf portainer

Portainer's own state (admin account, users, settings, registered endpoints) lives under DATA_PATH_HOST/portainer_data on your host, so removing the container alone doesn't lose anything.

Configuration

Portainer has no defaults.env file of its own, it isn't parameterized per-service in Laradock. It uses the shared top-level settings from the root .env:

Variable	Default	What it does
DATA_PATH_HOST	~/.laradock/data	Host folder for all Laradock data volumes; Portainer's state lives at DATA_PATH_HOST/portainer_data.
DOCKER_HOST_IP	10.0.75.1	Added as an extra_hosts entry (dockerhost) so the container can reach services running directly on your host.

The published port (9010 on the host, mapping to 9000 in the container) is hardcoded in portainer/compose.yml, not driven by an env var. To change it, edit the ports: line in that file directly.

Portainer is mounted with /var/run/docker.sock, which gives it full control over your Docker daemon, effectively root-equivalent access to the host. That's what lets it manage every container, not just Laradock's, so treat the dashboard with the same care as root access to your machine.

Backup and restore

Everything Portainer knows (admin account, users, endpoints, stack definitions saved in the UI) lives entirely in DATA_PATH_HOST/portainer_data, there's no database to dump. Back it up by copying that folder while the container is stopped, so nothing is mid-write:

Laradock CLI

./laradock stop portainer

Docker Compose

docker compose stop portainer

tar -czf portainer-backup.tar.gz -C "${DATA_PATH_HOST:-~/.laradock/data}" portainer_data

Restore by extracting that archive back into the same location (with the container stopped) before starting it again:

tar -xzf portainer-backup.tar.gz -C "${DATA_PATH_HOST:-~/.laradock/data}"

Start completely fresh (wipe all data)

To throw away every Portainer setting and go back to a blank first-run state (⚠️ this permanently deletes your admin account, users, and any saved endpoints/stacks, back up first if you need anything):

Laradock CLI

./laradock stop portainer
./laradock remove portainer
rm -rf "${DATA_PATH_HOST:-~/.laradock/data}/portainer_data"
./laradock start portainer

Docker Compose

docker compose stop portainer
docker compose rm -sf portainer
rm -rf "${DATA_PATH_HOST:-~/.laradock/data}/portainer_data"
docker compose up -d portainer

Starting it back up drops you into the first-run admin setup again.

Pin a specific Portainer version

portainer/Dockerfile builds from portainer/portainer with no tag, which tracks whatever latest currently points to. To pin a version instead, edit the FROM line, for example:

FROM portainer/portainer-ce:2.19.4

Then apply it:

Laradock CLI

./laradock rebuild portainer

Docker Compose

docker compose build portainer

Common issues

• Port 9010 already in use. Since the port isn't controlled by an env var, edit the ports: mapping in portainer/compose.yml directly, then ./laradock start portainer.
• "Setup expired" / can't create the admin account. You didn't finish the first-run setup form in time. Start completely fresh and complete it promptly.
• Portainer can't see other containers. It needs /var/run/docker.sock mounted (this is the default in portainer/compose.yml); confirm that mount wasn't removed.
• Can't reach services running on your host machine from inside Portainer. Confirm DOCKER_HOST_IP in .env matches your actual host IP for your OS/Docker setup (defaults assume Docker Desktop's typical gateway).
• Lost dashboard settings after recreating the container. Data persists in DATA_PATH_HOST/portainer_data; if you changed DATA_PATH_HOST or wiped that folder, Portainer starts fresh and asks you to create a new admin account.

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Prefer managing containers straight from the terminal? See the Getting Started guide for core docker compose commands.