NocoDB

NocoDB is an open-source no-code database platform and an Airtable alternative. It turns any database into a smart spreadsheet with grid, gallery, kanban, and form views, plus REST and GraphQL APIs. You can run it with a single Docker command.

Software included

Component	Version
NocoDB	2026.07.0
Ubuntu	24.04 LTS

Environment variables

Set these optionally when you deploy from the marketplace. Leave a field blank to have a secure value generated.

Variable	Description
`NC_ADMIN_EMAIL`	NocoDB admin email address
`NC_ADMIN_PASSWORD`	NocoDB admin password

Getting started

1. Connect to your VM

ssh ubuntu@<your-vm-ip>

2. Wait for first-boot configuration

NocoDB starts automatically from its pre-installed Docker image and persists data under /var/lib/nocodb. Track progress with:

sudo journalctl -u nocodb-first-boot.service -f

Then verify the container:

cd /opt/nocodb && docker compose ps

3. Create the first super-admin account

NocoDB is bound to localhost because the first setup screen is unauthenticated. From your local machine, open an SSH tunnel:

ssh -L 8080:127.0.0.1:8080 ubuntu@<your-vm-ip>

Then open:

http://127.0.0.1:8080

Create the first super-admin account in the browser. The image does not create shared default login credentials.

Managing NocoDB

NocoDB runs as a Docker Compose service in /opt/nocodb.

# Check status
cd /opt/nocodb && docker compose ps

# Restart
cd /opt/nocodb && docker compose restart

# View logs
cd /opt/nocodb && docker compose logs -f

Path	Purpose
`/opt/nocodb/docker-compose.yml`	Compose stack
`/var/lib/nocodb/`	Persistent SQLite app data
`/etc/nocodb/info.txt`	First-boot notes

Security

NocoDB listens on 127.0.0.1:8080, not on the VM’s public network interface. UFW is enabled and allows SSH (port 22) only. This protects the unauthenticated first super-admin setup screen.

Use the SSH tunnel from the getting-started steps to complete setup. To allow access from a trusted IP after setup, first change the port mapping in /opt/nocodb/docker-compose.yml from 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 to 8080:8080, restart the stack, and add a restricted UFW rule:

cd /opt/nocodb && docker compose up -d
sudo ufw allow from <trusted-ip> to any port 8080

For production use, keep NocoDB behind a reverse proxy with a trusted TLS certificate instead of exposing port 8080 directly.