Liferay Docker Manager (ldm)

A professional command-line orchestrator for quickly standing up Liferay Portal and DXP environments using Docker Compose.

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🎥 Showcase

Check out our Video Showcase to see short demonstrations of LDM in action, including Fast Provisioning, Cloud Hydration, and instant Snapshots & Restoration!

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🚀 Quick Start

The standalone binary is the recommended way to use LDM. Copy and run the block specific to your environment:

macOS (Apple Silicon)

sudo curl -L https://github.com/peterrichards-lr/liferay-docker-manager/releases/latest/download/ldm-macos-arm64 -o /usr/local/bin/ldm
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ldm

macOS (Apple Intel)

sudo curl -L https://github.com/peterrichards-lr/liferay-docker-manager/releases/latest/download/ldm-macos-x86_64 -o /usr/local/bin/ldm
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ldm

Linux / WSL2

sudo curl -L https://github.com/peterrichards-lr/liferay-docker-manager/releases/latest/download/ldm-linux -o /usr/local/bin/ldm
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ldm

For detailed setup on Windows (including PowerShell instructions), see the Full Installation Guide.

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📋 Common Commands

Once installed, bootstrap or run your stacks instantly:

# 1. THE CONFIDENCE BOOSTER: Run Liferay with pre-configured samples
ldm run my-sample-project --samples

# 2. THE VANILLA FLOW: Run a fresh vanilla Liferay instance (LTS release)
ldm run my-vanilla-project --vanilla --tag 2026.q1.7-lts

# 3. THE DEVELOPER FLOW: Link a local workspace and start monitoring
ldm link /path/to/workspace my-project

# 4. THE PREDEFINED QUICKSTART: Bootstrap an accelerator demo stack
ldm quickstart aica

# 5. THE TIME MACHINE: Take a snapshot of your database and volumes, and restore them later
ldm snapshot my-project
ldm restore my-project

# 6. THE CLONE FLOW: Clone and setup a remote Git workspace repository
ldm clone https://github.com/my-org/my-workspace.git my-project

# 7. THE PORTABLE PACKAGE: Export and Import compiled project snapshots (.ldmp)
ldm package my-project
ldm import /path/to/my-project.ldmp

Note

Headless & Seeding Prompt Behaviors:

• By default, LDM checks for a cached pre-warmed database seed. If not cached, it will prompt you interactively to download it.
• CI/CD / Headless Scripts: To prevent interactive prompts from blocking headless environments, pass -y / --yes / --non-interactive to automatically confirm seed downloads, or pass --vanilla / --no-seed to skip seeding entirely and start a clean baseline database.

Legacy Commands Note: ldm init-from has been deprecated and is superseded by the ldm link command.

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📚 Documentation Signposts

LDM is conventions-driven and highly customizable. Choose a topic below for detailed information:

1. Getting Started

• Installation Guide — Setting up macOS (Colima/OrbStack), Linux, and Windows (WSL2).
• LDM Conventions & Features — Default stacks, ports, database options, and key features.
• Compatibility Matrix — Supported host OS, Docker providers, and engines.
• Troubleshooting & Diagnostics — Logs, Docker deadlocks, port conflicts, and common fixes.

2. Core Operational Guides

• Fresh Vanilla Start — Launching empty Liferay instances for quick tests.
• PaaS "Golden Path" Local Dev — Fetching backups and replicating Liferay Cloud environments locally.
• Liferay Workspace Local Dev — Linking workspaces with LDM for customization development.
• Workspace Import & Packaging — Importing workspaces and exporting/restoring portable .ldmp packages.
• Runtime Overrides & Fragments — Dynamic substitution and environment-aware client extension patching.
• Properties Hierarchy & Precedence — The 5-layer cascading properties and # !important overrides.
• Sharing & Tunnels — Securely sharing local stacks publicly using tunnels.
• Liferay Version Upgrades — Safely upgrading Liferay Docker image tags, database backup snapshots, and schema auto-upgrades.
• Data Management — Snapshots, pre-warmed seeds, and assets.
• Networking, DNS & Zero-Config SSL — Traefik routing, hostname mappings, and trust certificates.

3. Developer & Integration Resources

• AI Command Center & LDM MCP Server — Powering AI workflows with LDM FastMCP tools.
• Advanced CLI Overrides — Colorless/ASCII outputs and global cli defaults.
• End-to-End Testing with LDM — Using LDM as an orchestration layer for automated CI/CD and local tests.
• Architecture Diagrams & Overview — Visual environment diagrams, hybrid volumes, routing, and lifecycles.
• Testing & Validation — Running unit and E2E test suites.
• Release Playbook — Pipeline standards and release workflow triggers.

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For a complete structured table of contents, visit the Documentation Index.

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Last Updated: 2026-07-20 | Last Reviewed: 2026-07-09