1
Install Docker
Choose your operating system and follow the install instructions.
Download and install Docker Desktop for Mac from the official Docker website. Supports both Intel and Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3).
Verify installation
docker --version
Make sure Docker Desktop is running before executing any
docker commands.
Download and install Docker Desktop for Windows. Requires WSL 2 backend — Docker Desktop will guide you through enabling it.
Verify installation (PowerShell)
docker --version
Run PowerShell or Command Prompt as Administrator for best results.
Install Docker Engine directly via your package manager. The commands below work on Ubuntu / Debian.
Install Docker Engine
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y docker.io
Start & enable Docker
sudo systemctl start docker && sudo systemctl enable docker
Run without sudo (optional)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER && newgrp docker
2
Pull the Expense Tracker image
Download the official image from Docker Hub.
Run the command below to pull the latest version of the image to your local machine.
Pull image
docker pull abhix09/expense-tracker
The image is hosted on Docker Hub as abhix09/expense-tracker. You can also use
:latest or a specific version tag.
3
Configure environment variables
Set these variables when running the container.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
SECRET_KEY |
change-me |
Flask secret key — set a long random string in production. |
JWT_SECRET_KEY |
change-me-jwt |
Signs JWT tokens — must be kept private. |
MONGO_URI |
mongodb://localhost:27017 |
MongoDB connection string. |
MONGO_DB_NAME |
expense_tracker |
Name of the MongoDB database to use. |
FLASK_ENV |
production |
Set to development for debug mode. |
4
Run the container
Start Expense Tracker with a single command.
Replace the placeholder values with your own secrets and MongoDB URI, then run:
One-liner
docker run -d -p 5000:5000 --name expense-tracker -e SECRET_KEY=your-secret -e JWT_SECRET_KEY=your-jwt-secret -e MONGO_URI=mongodb://host.docker.internal:27017 abhix09/expense-tracker
Check container is running
docker ps
host.docker.internal lets the container reach MongoDB running on your host machine. On Linux you may need to pass --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway instead.