Installing on Liferay Self-Hosted (Docker)

Liferay and PostgreSQL run in containers, and the forum’s microservice runs in a third container that shares Liferay’s network, so Liferay reaches it at localhost:58081 as on a server. You copy the forum’s zips into the running Liferay container, in the same order as on a server. These steps were tested with the liferay/dxp:2026.q1.4-lts image.

You need Docker. Run the commands from a folder that holds the release’s three zips, downloaded from the latest release.

Step 1: Add the Liferay Fixes
Step 2: Start PostgreSQL and Liferay
Step 3: Deploy the Batch
Step 4: Deploy the Microservice’s Zip
Step 5: Start the Microservice
Step 6: Set Up Email Notifications
Step 7: Create the Forum Sites
Day to Day
Related Information

Step 1: Add the Liferay Fixes

Create a folder named patching next to the zips, and put the hotfix from Liferay Support in it. Liferay installs it each time its container starts. Without a hotfix, leave the folder empty, and use the workarounds.

Step 2: Start PostgreSQL and Liferay

Create a network for the containers, and start PostgreSQL. Replace change-me with a password of your own, here and in the next command:

 docker network create forums
 docker run -d --name forums-postgres --network forums --restart unless-stopped \
   -e POSTGRES_DB=lportal -e POSTGRES_USER=liferay -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=change-me \
   -v forums-postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
   postgres:16.15

Start Liferay. The forums-liferay-routes volume holds the credentials Liferay writes for the microservice:

 docker run -d --name forums-liferay --network forums -p 8080:8080 --restart unless-stopped \
   -e LIFERAY_JDBC_PERIOD_DEFAULT_PERIOD_DRIVER_UPPERCASEC_LASS_UPPERCASEN_AME=org.postgresql.Driver \
   -e LIFERAY_JDBC_PERIOD_DEFAULT_PERIOD_URL=jdbc:postgresql://forums-postgres:5432/lportal \
   -e LIFERAY_JDBC_PERIOD_DEFAULT_PERIOD_USERNAME=liferay \
   -e LIFERAY_JDBC_PERIOD_DEFAULT_PERIOD_PASSWORD=change-me \
   -v forums-liferay-data:/opt/liferay/data \
   -v forums-liferay-routes:/opt/liferay/routes \
   -v "$PWD/patching:/mnt/liferay/patching" \
   liferay/dxp:2026.q1.4-lts

Wait until Liferay has started: docker logs forums-liferay shows Server startup in. This takes a few minutes. Liferay is then at http://localhost:8080.

Step 3: Deploy the Batch

Copy the batch into the running container:

 docker cp liferay-forums-batch.zip forums-liferay:/opt/liferay/osgi/client-extensions/

Follow the log, and wait until it shows five lines containing Finished batch engine import task after the copy, then press Ctrl+C:
```
 docker logs -f --since 2m forums-liferay | grep "Finished batch engine import task"
```

Liferay also logs a few of these lines while it starts. Only count the ones after the copy, and don’t continue until all five have finished.

Step 4: Deploy the Microservice’s Zip

docker cp liferay-forums-etc-spring-boot.zip forums-liferay:/opt/liferay/osgi/client-extensions/

Wait until docker logs forums-liferay shows STARTED liferayforumsetcspringboot.

Step 5: Start the Microservice

Build the microservice’s image from the Dockerfile in its zip:

 mkdir microservice
 unzip liferay-forums-etc-spring-boot.zip -d microservice
 docker build -t liferay-forums-microservice microservice

Start it in Liferay’s network, with Liferay’s credentials volume:

 docker run -d --name forums-microservice --network container:forums-liferay --restart unless-stopped \
   -v forums-liferay-routes:/opt/liferay/routes:ro \
   -e LIFERAY_ROUTES_CLIENT_EXTENSION=/opt/liferay/routes/default/liferay-forums-etc-spring-boot \
   -e LIFERAY_ROUTES_DXP=/opt/liferay/routes/default/dxp \
   liferay-forums-microservice

Check that Liferay reaches it. This prints READY:

 docker exec forums-liferay curl -s http://localhost:58081/ready

Step 6: Set Up Email Notifications

The batch created two email templates with a placeholder sender address. Set real addresses, then restart the microservice with docker restart forums-microservice, before members get email. See Email Notifications.

Step 7: Create the Forum Sites

Continue with Creating Forum Sites.

Day to Day

After Liferay’s container restarts, restart the microservice’s container too, since it shares Liferay’s network: docker restart forums-microservice.
The zips live in Liferay’s container. If you remove the container and start a new one, for example to change a setting or the image, the new container has none of the forum’s zips. Copy in the batch, then the microservice’s zip, as in Steps 3 and 4. Then remove the microservice’s container and start it again with the docker run command of Step 5: it was tied to the old Liferay container, so restarting it fails.
```
  docker rm -f forums-microservice
```
Logs: docker logs forums-liferay and docker logs forums-microservice.