Where Long-Running Docker Compose Apps Live on a VPS

A VPS that runs several Compose stacks needs one decision made once: where the files live.

Start with the standard directories

Linux separates service data from vendor software.

• /srv holds data that the machine serves.
• /opt holds third-party bundles installed outside the package manager.

> A long-running Compose stack is service data, so /srv is its home.

Keep the stack together

The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard would put configuration in /etc and data under /srv. Compose works against that split. It resolves relative bind-mount paths from the directory that holds the compose file, so separating configuration from data forces an absolute path into every volume line.

One directory per stack keeps it organised:

/srv/
  app-one/
    docker-compose.yml
    .env
    data/
    media/
  app-two/
    docker-compose.yml
    .env
    data/

Then cd /srv/app-one && docker compose up -d works, a backup takes one path, and Ansible manages one tree per stack instead of three.

Practical rules

• Give every stack its own directory under /srv, named after the service.
• Keep .env beside the compose file and set its permissions to 600.
• Bind-mount data into subdirectories of the stack, so a move copies everything in one step.
• Run each stack as its own user, with ownership of its directory and nothing else.
• Back up the whole stack directory, compose file included, and restore it the same way.

The standard exists to keep a system predictable. The stack directory exists to keep a deployment operable. On a Compose host, operability wins.