Autostart a container on the VPU

This document explains how to automatically start your container automatically after a VPU reboot.

What you need before you begin

The container image is already available on the VPU (either pulled from a registry or loaded locally).
You have a folder on the VPU where you can store your docker-compose.yml file.

The VPU already provides a systemd user service at .config/systemd/user/oem-dc-autostart.service. We will enable this service to start your Docker Compose project automatically.

Docker Compose (beginner-friendly overview)

Docker Compose lets you define how to run one or more containers in a single file named docker-compose.yml. The file describes:

Which image to run (your container image)
How to restart the container if it stops
Which ports to expose (if the app has a web UI)
Where to store data (volumes)

Create a folder and place a docker-compose.yml file in it, for example:

mkdir -p /home/oem/my_docker

Important

    This directory does not persist across firmware updates or factory resets.

Save your Compose file at:

nano /home/oem/my_docker/docker-compose.yml

Sample `docker-compose.yml`

The following file creates a service called jupyter, based on the image jupyter, and exposes port 8888 so you can access it from the VPU.

services:
    jupyter:
        image: jupyter
        restart: unless-stopped
        ports:
            - "8888:8888"

Start / stop the container (manual)

A docker-compose.yml can be started from its directory using docker-compose up.

cd /home/oem/my_docker
docker-compose up -d

Note

-d runs the containers in detached mode (in the background). For more detailed explanation, refer to Docker CLI documentation

Check if it is running:

docker-compose ps

To stop the container, navigate to the directory where docker-compose file is located and execute

docker-compose down

To view logs (helpful for troubleshooting):

docker-compose logs -f

Auto-start the container after a VPU reboot

To restart the container automatically, enable the following user service:

systemctl --user enable oem-dc-autostart.service

To start it right away without rebooting:

systemctl --user start oem-dc-autostart.service

To check the status of the user service:

systemctl --user status oem-dc-autostart.service

To disable the automatic Docker start again:

systemctl --user disable oem-dc-autostart.service

Hint: oem-dc-autostart.service only makes sure that Docker itself is started after boot. It does not report the status of your container and does not by itself guarantee that a container will start. Make sure your container uses a suitable restart policy such as always or unless-stopped. For details, see the official Docker documentation on start containers automatically.

Persist data on the VPU (volumes)

Data stored inside a container is lost when the container is removed. To keep data between restarts, use a volume or a host folder.

Example using a host folder:

services:
    app:
        image: your-image
        restart: unless-stopped
        volumes:
            - /home/oem/data:/app/data

For more details, see Docker volumes.