SQLite

Introduction

Minimal, production-ready, hardened and secure SQLite Docker image. Made for SQLite database deployments on Coolify and any other container host.

Important

peakimages/sqlite is currently v0 and subject to breaking changes prior to v1.0.0. Pin to a specific version like peakimages/sqlite:3.53.4-v0.1.0 to avoid breaking changes.

What Makes This Image Different?

SQLite has no server and the database is just a file. Application images rarely ship the sqlite3 shell to run backup or vacuum commands, so this image gives the database file a minimal and secure home with the shell and the extensions built in.

• ✅ Secure by Default: Runs as unprivileged user 65532 on scratch, no package manager, read-only root filesystem supported
• ✅ Faster and Smaller: Purposely built with the compile-time options sqlite.org recommends to save CPU cycles and memory, and to turn off legacy misfeatures
• ✅ Zero Config Required: Production-ready defaults, customizable with environment variables
• ✅ Multi-Database Support: One container creates and health checks every database you name
• ✅ Verified Source: Size, SHA3-256 and source id of the official amalgamation are checked before each compilation
• ✅ Batteries Included: FTS3, FTS4, FTS5, R*Tree, Geopoly, JSON, math, dbstat and soundex SQLite extensions
• ✅ Modern Architecture: Native health checks, tini init, OCI labels, provenance and SBOM attestations
• ✅ Always Current: sqlite.org is checked daily and every new SQLite release becomes a new image
• ✅ Multi-Architecture: Builds for linux/amd64, linux/arm64, linux/arm/v7 and linux/riscv64
• ✅ Tested: Every release is tested on all four platforms before it is published

Comparison

To see a comparison of this image with other popular SQLite Docker images, see docs/comparison.md.

Getting Started

Docker

Start the container with a named volume for the default database:

docker run -d --name sqlite -v sqlite-data:/var/lib/sqlite peakimages/sqlite

Docker Compose

Add the SQLite container next to the application that needs a SQLite database, both mounting the same volume:

Important

The application must run as uid 65532, the nonroot user of distroless images, or as root to write to the database.

services:
  sqlite:
    image: peakimages/sqlite:3.53.4-v0.1.0
    environment:
      SQLITE_DATABASES: app.sqlite, jobs.sqlite
    volumes:
      - sqlite-data:/var/lib/sqlite

  app:
    image: your-app
    user: "65532:65532"
    depends_on:
      sqlite:
        condition: service_healthy
    volumes:
      - sqlite-data:/var/lib/sqlite
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: sqlite:///var/lib/sqlite/app.sqlite

volumes:
  sqlite-data:

Available Image Variations

For now there is just one image variation. All tags follow this pattern:

peakimages/sqlite:{{sqlite-version}}-v{{image-version}}

Variation	Best For	Example
default	Every SQLite deployment, from a Coolify service to a Kubernetes pod	peakimages/sqlite:3.53.4-v0.1.0 peakimages/sqlite:3.53.4

Tags

Tag	Meaning
3.53.4-v0.1.0	Immutable: SQLite 3.53.4 built as image v0.1.0, never rebuilt
3.53.4, 3.53, 3	Newest build of that SQLite patch, minor or major version
latest	Newest build

Registries

📦 Registry	🐳 Image
Docker Hub
GitHub Container Registry

Configuration

The defaults are set in the image, override them with -e or the environment section of a docker compose service.

Variable	Default	Meaning
SQLITE_DATABASES	database.sqlite	Databases in /var/lib/sqlite, a comma-separated list. Missing files are created on start, existing ones are left alone
SQLITE_JOURNAL_MODE	WAL	Journal mode of a new database: WAL, DELETE, TRUNCATE, PERSIST, MEMORY or OFF. Only WAL stays in the file
SQLITE_AUTO_VACUUM	NONE	NONE, FULL or INCREMENTAL for a new database. Fixed once the first table exists
SQLITE_PAGE_SIZE	4096	Page size of a new database, a power of two from 512 to 65536. Fixed once the database has content
SQLITE_TMPDIR	unset	Directory for the temporary files of sorts and vacuums. Default /tmp, or the data directory when /tmp is not writable

Releases

Every SQLite release becomes a new version of the image. A check for new SQLite versions is run daily.

The image version follows semantic versioning independently of SQLite. Changes to the image are listed in CHANGELOG.md.