Quickstart Guide

Looking for an easier way? Use our Desktop Installer for one-click deployment with automatic configuration. No command line required!

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following installed on your system:

Docker Engine (20.10.0 or higher)
Docker Compose (v2.0.0 or higher)
OpenSSL (for generating SSL certificates)

Installing Docker

For macOS:

Download and install Docker Desktop from Docker Hub
Follow the installation wizard
Verify installation:

docker --version
docker-compose --version

For Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

# Update package index
sudo apt-get update

# Install prerequisites
sudo apt-get install \
    apt-transport-https \
    ca-certificates \
    curl \
    gnupg \
    lsb-release

# Add Docker's official GPG key
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

# Set up stable repository
echo \
  "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Install Docker Engine
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

# Add your user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

For Windows:

Download and install Docker Desktop from Docker Hub
Enable WSL 2 following Docker’s documentation
Follow the installation wizard
Verify installation in PowerShell:

docker --version
docker-compose --version

Step 1: Create Project Directory

Create a new directory for your CaseBender deployment and navigate into it:

mkdir casebender-deployment
cd casebender-deployment

Step 2: Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file with the following content:

# Authentication
AUTH_SECRET="B7OawnWf6+LwB/9yXbxbk4ppZ1khydqj4qc9k9g3nnE="
AUTH_SALT="B7OawnW"
NEXTAUTH_URL=https://local.casebender.com
NEXTAPP_URL=https://local.casebender.com

# Liveblocks Configuration
LIVEBLOCKS_SECRET_KEY=sk_dev_HaIczPV4gPit5_gx7YRsNXLGJNzBE5wQ8z8I1H8ft3ZPZHVrfH2ryJJ586ezHYla

# Database Configuration
POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL="postgresql://superadmin:88AlwaysTimeToWin88@db:5432/casebender?pgbouncer=true&connect_timeout=15"
POSTGRES_URL="postgresql://superadmin:88AlwaysTimeToWin88@db:5432/casebender?pgbouncer=true&connect_timeout=15"
POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING="postgresql://superadmin:88AlwaysTimeToWin88@db:5432/casebender"

# Redis Configuration
REDIS_URL="redis://redis:6379"

Step 3: Generate SSL Certificates

For local development, generate self-signed SSL certificates:

# Generate SSL certificate and key
openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 \
  -keyout local-casebender.key \
  -out local-casebender.crt \
  -subj "/CN=local.casebender.com/O=CaseBender/C=US"

# Verify the certificate
openssl x509 -in local-casebender.crt -text -noout

Step 4: Configure Nginx

Create nginx.conf with the following content:

events {
    worker_connections 1024;
}

http {
    server {
        listen 443 ssl http2;
        server_name local.casebender.com;

        ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/certs/local-casebender.crt;
        ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/certs/local-casebender.key;

        location / {
            proxy_pass http://app:3000;
            proxy_set_header Host $host;
            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        }
    }

    # Optional HTTP server to redirect to HTTPS
    server {
        listen 80;
        server_name local.casebender.com;
        # Redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS
        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
    }
}

Step 5: Create Docker Compose Configuration

Create docker-compose.yml with the following content:

services:
  app:
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - AUTH_SECRET=${AUTH_SECRET}
      - AUTH_SALT=${AUTH_SALT}
      - NEXTAUTH_URL=${NEXTAUTH_URL:-https://local.casebender.com}
      - NEXTAPP_URL=${NEXTAPP_URL:-https://local.casebender.com}
      - LIVEBLOCKS_SECRET_KEY=${LIVEBLOCKS_SECRET_KEY}
      - POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL=${POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL}
      - POSTGRES_URL=${POSTGRES_URL}
      - POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING=${POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING}
    image: casebender/casebender:latest
    depends_on:
      - db
    restart: unless-stopped

  db:
    image: postgres
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: superadmin
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: 88AlwaysTimeToWin88
      POSTGRES_DB: casebender
    ports:
      - "5433:5432"
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  workflow-processor:
    image: casebender/workflow-processor:latest
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL=${POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL}
      - POSTGRES_URL=${POSTGRES_URL}
      - POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING=${POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING}
      - REDIS_URL=${REDIS_URL}
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
    ports:
      - "3001:3001"

  misp-processor:
    image: casebender/misp-processor:latest
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL=${POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL}
      - POSTGRES_URL=${POSTGRES_URL}
      - POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING=${POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING}
      - REDIS_URL=${REDIS_URL}
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
    ports:
      - "3002:3002"

  redis:
    image: redis:7.2-alpine
    command: redis-server --protected-mode no
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"
    volumes:
      - redis_data:/data
    restart: unless-stopped

  minio:
    image: quay.io/minio/minio
    mem_limit: 512m
    command: ["minio", "server", "/data", "--console-address", ":9090"]
    environment:
      - MINIO_ROOT_USER=minioadmin
      - MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=minioadmin
    ports:
      - "9090:9090"
      - "9000:9000"
    volumes:
      - "miniodata:/data"

  nginx:
    image: nginx:latest
    ports:
      - "443:443"
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
      - ./local-casebender.crt:/etc/nginx/certs/local-casebender.crt:ro
      - ./local-casebender.key:/etc/nginx/certs/local-casebender.key:ro
    depends_on:
      - app

volumes:
  miniodata:
  pgdata:
  redis_data:

Step 6: Configure Local DNS

Add the following entry to your hosts file:

For macOS and Linux:

sudo echo "127.0.0.1 local.casebender.com" >> /etc/hosts

For Windows:

Add the following line to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts:

127.0.0.1 local.casebender.com

Step 7: Start the Application

Pull the required images:

docker-compose pull

Start all services:

docker-compose up -d

Monitor the logs:

docker-compose logs -f

Access the application at https://local.casebender.com

After deploying CaseBender, you can log in with the following default credentials:

Username: admin@casebender.app
Password: secret1234

For security reasons, we strongly recommend changing these default credentials immediately after your first login.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Certificate Warnings:
- The browser will show a security warning because we’re using a self-signed certificate
- Click “Advanced” and proceed to the website
- For development purposes, this is expected and safe
Port Conflicts:
- Ensure ports 80, 443, 3000-3002, 5433, 6379, 9000, and 9090 are not in use
- If needed, modify the port mappings in docker-compose.yml
Database Connection:
- Check PostgreSQL logs: docker-compose logs db
- Verify database credentials in .env
- Ensure the database is running: docker-compose ps db
Service Dependencies:
- If services fail to start, check their dependencies:
```
docker-compose ps
docker-compose logs [service_name]
```

Checking Logs

View logs for specific services:

# All services
docker-compose logs

# Specific service
docker-compose logs [service_name]

# Follow logs
docker-compose logs -f [service_name]

Service Management

# Restart a specific service
docker-compose restart [service_name]

# Stop all services
docker-compose down

# Remove volumes (will delete all data)
docker-compose down -v

Next Steps

Now that you have CaseBender running locally, you might want to:

Production Deployment

Deploy CaseBender to your production environment

Configuration

Learn about advanced configuration options

Getting Started

Deployment

Alert Management

Case Management

Task Management

Analytics

Audits

Settings

Prerequisites

Installing Docker

For macOS:

For Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

For Windows:

Step 1: Create Project Directory

Step 2: Configure Environment Variables

Step 3: Generate SSL Certificates

Step 4: Configure Nginx

Step 5: Create Docker Compose Configuration

Step 6: Configure Local DNS

For macOS and Linux:

For Windows:

Step 7: Start the Application

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Checking Logs

Service Management

Next Steps

Production Deployment

Configuration

Getting Started

Deployment

Alert Management

Case Management

Task Management

Analytics

Audits

Settings

​Prerequisites

​Installing Docker

​For macOS:

​For Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

​For Windows:

​Step 1: Create Project Directory

​Step 2: Configure Environment Variables

​Step 3: Generate SSL Certificates

​Step 4: Configure Nginx

​Step 5: Create Docker Compose Configuration

​Step 6: Configure Local DNS

​For macOS and Linux:

​For Windows:

​Step 7: Start the Application

​Default Login Credentials

​Troubleshooting

​Common Issues

​Checking Logs

​Service Management

​Next Steps

Production Deployment

Configuration

Prerequisites

Installing Docker

For macOS:

For Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

For Windows:

Step 1: Create Project Directory

Step 2: Configure Environment Variables

Step 3: Generate SSL Certificates

Step 4: Configure Nginx

Step 5: Create Docker Compose Configuration

Step 6: Configure Local DNS

For macOS and Linux:

For Windows:

Step 7: Start the Application

Default Login Credentials

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Checking Logs

Service Management

Next Steps