wrolpi-help/docs/controller/services.md
Roland a6cace93f8
Document SQLite database and remove Postgres references.
WROLPi no longer runs PostgreSQL; the API database is SQLite in the media
directory and maps use PMTiles. Update help pages, service tables, and
example diagnostics accordingly.
2026-07-18 13:17:27 -06:00

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Service Management

The Controller allows you to manage all WROLPi services from a single interface.

Managed Services

The following services are managed by the Controller:

Service Port Description
wrolpi-controller 80 System management (this service)
wrolpi-api 8081 Backend API server
wrolpi-app 3000 React frontend application
wrolpi-help 8086 Documentation server
wrolpi-kiwix 8085 Offline wiki server (Kiwix)
caddy 80/443 Web server and reverse proxy
smbd / nmbd 445 Samba file sharing

Development services (shown only when running):

  • wrolpi-api-dev - API in debug mode
  • wrolpi-app-dev - Frontend in development mode
  • wrolpi-upgrade - System upgrade process

Service Controls

Starting a Service

Click the Start button next to a stopped service to start it. The status will update once the service is running.

Service start button

Stopping a Service

Click the Stop button to stop a running service. Use caution when stopping critical services like Caddy.

Service stop button

Restarting a Service

Click the Restart button to stop and start a service. This is useful when a service is misbehaving or after configuration changes.

Service restart button

Enabling/Disabling at Boot

Toggle the boot switch to control whether a service starts automatically when the system boots. This is only available in native mode (systemd).

Service boot toggle

Viewing Service Logs

Click the Logs button to view recent log output for a service.

Service logs button

Log Options

  • Lines - Number of log lines to retrieve (100-5000)
  • Download - Save logs as a text file for offline analysis

Service log options

Auto-Scroll

When viewing logs, scroll to the bottom to enable auto-refresh. New log entries will appear automatically. Scroll up to pause auto-refresh.

Restart All Services

The "Restart All Services" button restarts all WROLPi services in sequence. The Controller restarts itself last to ensure the operation completes.

This is useful after:

  • System configuration changes
  • Recovering from errors
  • Applying updates

Restart all services button

Docker Mode

In Docker deployments, the Controller manages Docker containers instead of systemd services:

  • Container start/stop/restart is available
  • Boot toggle is not available (managed by Docker Compose)
  • Container names differ from native systemd service names

Docker Container Architecture

Caddy handles HTTPS termination and reverse proxying for all services in a single web container:

Container Port Description
web 8443 Caddy reverse proxy (HTTPS)
api 8081 Backend API
app - React frontend
controller 8080 Controller service (HTTP)
help 8086 Help documentation (via Caddy)
zim 8085 Kiwix wiki server (via Caddy)
samba 445 Samba file sharing

The API database is SQLite at /media/wrolpi/config/wrolpi.db (no database container).

The following screenshot is from a healthy WROLPi running in Docker containers

Docker mode services