Deploy WAHA on Docker

Overview

In this guide we’ll show you how to deploy WAHA using Docker and Docker Compose.

If you want to host more sessions - please check the numbers in FAQ.

Install

Docker

1. Install Docker and Docker Compose on your VM

# example in ubuntu
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
apt install docker-compose-plugin

Pull Image

Pull image for your case:

docker pull devlikeapro/waha

docker login -u devlikeapro -p {KEY}
docker pull devlikeapro/waha-plus
docker logout

# Download the image
docker pull devlikeapro/waha:arm
# Rename it, so you can use devlikeapro/waha image in other place
docker tag devlikeapro/waha:arm devlikeapro/waha

docker login -u devlikeapro -p {KEY}
docker pull devlikeapro/waha-plus:arm
docker logout

# Rename it, so you can use devlikeapro/waha image in other place
docker tag devlikeapro/waha-plus:arm devlikeapro/waha-plus

WAHA

2. Download the required files

# Download the Docker compose template
wget -O docker-compose.yaml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devlikeapro/waha/refs/heads/core/docker-compose.yaml
# Create empty .env file
touch .env

3. Generate a .env file that we’ll use in the next step for credentials:

docker compose run --no-deps -v "$(pwd)":/app/env waha init-waha /app/env

Credentials generated.

Dashboard and Swagger:
  - Username: admin
  - Password: 11111111111111111111111111111111

API key: 
  - 00000000000000000000000000000000

Use it in the Dashboard connection flow: https://waha.devlike.pro/docs/how-to/dashboard/#api-key

Remember these values (you can always check the .env file if you forget them):

• Username / Password: admin / 11...11 - use them to access the Dashboard and Swagger UI
• Api Key: 00...00 - use it to connect to your server

👉 You can change variables to any values, but use long random strings (like UUIDv4)

4. Tweak the .env and docker-compose.yaml according to your preferences. Refer to the available environment variables in ⚙️ Configuration.

# update docker-compose.yaml if required
# set "image: devlikeapro/waha" if you don't have waha-plus access
nano docker-compose.yaml

uuidgen | tr -d '-'
> 2e1005a40ef74edda01ffb1ade877fd3

4. Get the service up and running.

docker compose up -d

5. Your WAHA installation is complete. Please note that the containers are not exposed to the internet, and they only bind to the localhost. Set up something like Nginx or any other proxy server to proxy the requests to the container.

ssh -L 3000:localhost:3000 user@you.address.here

services:
  waha:
    image: devlikeapro/waha-plus
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"

docker compose up -d

8. Now, open http://localhost:3000/dashboard and log in with the credentials you have in .env file:

• Dashboard - WAHA_DASHBOARD_USERNAME / WAHA_DASHBOARD_PASSWORD
• Swagger: WHATSAPP_SWAGGER_USERNAME / WHATSAPP_SWAGGER_PASSWORD
• Api Key: WAHA_API_KEY

Nginx

👉 Replace <YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP> with your domain name in the following steps (use lowercase).

1. Configure Nginx to serve as a frontend proxy.

sudo apt-get install nginx
cd /etc/nginx/sites-enabled

nano <YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP>.conf

2. Use the following Nginx config and replace the <YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP> in server_name.

server {
  server_name <YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP>;

  # Point upstream to WAHA Server
  set $upstream 127.0.0.1:3000;

  location /.well-known {
    alias /var/www/ssl-proof/waha/.well-known;
  }

  location / {
    proxy_pass_header Authorization;
    proxy_pass http://$upstream;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Ssl on; # Optional

    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;

    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_buffering off;

    client_max_body_size 0;
    proxy_read_timeout 36000s;
    proxy_redirect off;
  }
  listen 80;
}

3. Verify and reload your Nginx config by running the following command.

nginx -t
systemctl reload nginx

Here are two scenarios for setting up HTTPS:

HTTPS - Let’s Encrypt

If you have a domain name (e.g., yourdomain.com) that points to your server’s IP address, you can use Let’s Encrypt to get free, trusted SSL certificates:

1. Run Let’s Encrypt to configure SSL certificate. (replace <YOURDOMAIN.COM>!)

apt install certbot
apt-get install python3-certbot-nginx

mkdir -p /var/www/ssl-proof/waha/.well-known
certbot --webroot -w /var/www/ssl-proof/waha/ -d <YOURDOMAIN.COM> -i nginx

2. Your WAHA installation should be accessible from the https://yourdomain.com now.
3. Change WAHA_BASE_URL=https://<YOURDOMAIN.COM> in the .env file and restart the WAHA service

# Change the WAHA_BASE_URL in .env
nano .env
# Restart the WAHA service
docker compose up -d
docker compose restart

HTTPS - Self-Signed Certificate

We recommend using Let’s Encrypt free certificate if you have public IP and DNS name.

However, if you don’t have a domain name or are using a private IP address, you can create a self-signed certificate for IP-based access, expand the details below:

mkdir -p /etc/nginx/ssl
cd /etc/nginx/ssl

cat > ip-cert.cnf << 'EOL'
[req]
default_bits = 2048
prompt = no
default_md = sha256
distinguished_name = dn
x509_extensions = v3_ca

[dn]
C=US
ST=State
L=City
O=Organization
OU=Department
CN=<YOUR_IP_ADDRESS>

[v3_ca]
subjectAltName = @alt_names

[alt_names]
IP.1 = <YOUR_IP_ADDRESS>
EOL

openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 3650 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout ip-cert.key -out ip-cert.crt -config ip-cert.cnf

cd /etc/nginx/sites-enabled
nano <YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP>.conf

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name <YOUR_IP_ADDRESS>;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name <YOUR_IP_ADDRESS>;

    ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/ip-cert.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/ip-cert.key;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;

    # Point upstream to WAHA Server
    set $upstream 127.0.0.1:3000;

    location / {
        proxy_pass_header Authorization;
        proxy_pass http://$upstream;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Ssl on; # Optional

        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;

        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_buffering off;

        client_max_body_size 0;
        proxy_read_timeout 36000s;
        proxy_redirect off;
    }
}

nginx -t
systemctl reload nginx

# Change the WAHA_BASE_URL in .env to use https
nano .env
# Add or modify: WAHA_BASE_URL=https://<YOUR_IP_ADDRESS>
# Restart the WAHA service
docker compose up -d
docker compose restart

Update

When there’s a new version of WAHA, you can update it with these simple commands:

➕ WAHA Plus image:

# Login if you're using WAHA Plus
docker login -u devlikeapro -p {KEY}
docker compose pull
docker logout

docker compose up -d

👉 If you specified exact version in docker-compose.yml, like

image: devlikeapro/waha-plus:latest-2024.7.8

remember to change it to latest-{YEAR}.{MONTH}.{BUILD} to get the latest version.

WAHA Core image:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Get logs, restart, stop

# Stop all containers
docker compose down
# Start all containers, apply new configuration
docker compose up -d
# Restart all containers
docker compose restart
# Show logs in real time
docker compose logs -f
# Show logs - since interval
docker compose logs --since 1h  

What’s next?