# 1.5.14 Invoice Ninja
Invoice Ninja is a free, open-source invoicing, expenses, and time-tracking application for freelancers and small businesses, offering features like custom-branded invoices, recurring billing, online payments via 40+ gateways, project and task management, and expense tracking
Invoice Ninja is by far the most comfortable invoice system that I have used so far for my small freelance business in the hospitality industry. It has more features that I will ever need but it makes invoicing employers just so streamlined and easy. Instead of manually making all your invoices, sending emails, keeping track of payments, due dates, manual payments and more. Invoice Ninja makes this all a smooth experience for both you and the person that needs to pay you.
# 01. Docker Installation
Alright, so if you have a small business or you are simply a freelancer in any field then Invoice Ninja might be for you. It is quite an easy install but you need to know a couple of gotcha's to get things rolling. I show you here my method that works for me, and you can just copy paste that. However, there are of course other workflows possible as well.
According to its official documentation
Docker Compose File
```yaml
services:
app:
build:
context: .
image: invoiceninja/invoiceninja-debian:${TAG:-latest}
restart: unless-stopped
env_file:
- ./.env
volumes:
# - ./php/php.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/invoiceninja.ini:ro
# - ./php/php-fpm.conf:/usr/local/etc/php-fpm.d/invoiceninja.conf:ro
# - ./supervisor/supervisord.conf:/etc/supervisor/conf.d/supervisord.conf:ro
- app_public:/var/www/html/public
- app_storage:/var/www/html/storage
depends_on:
mysql:
condition: service_healthy
redis:
condition: service_healthy
nginx:
image: nginx:alpine
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- 8333:80
volumes:
- ./nginx:/etc/nginx/conf.d:ro
- app_public:/var/www/html/public:ro
- app_storage:/var/www/html/storage:ro
depends_on:
app:
condition: service_healthy
mysql:
image: mysql:8
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_DATABASE}
MYSQL_USER: ${DB_USERNAME}
MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_ROOT_PASSWORD}
volumes:
- mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql
healthcheck:
test:
- CMD
- mysqladmin
- ping
- -h
- localhost
- -u${MYSQL_USER}
- -p${MYSQL_PASSWORD}
redis:
image: redis:alpine
restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
- redis_data:/data
healthcheck:
test:
- CMD
- redis-cli
- ping
volumes:
app_public:
driver: local
app_storage:
driver: local
mysql_data:
driver: local
redis_data:
driver: local
networks: {}
```
.env
```yaml
# IN application vars
TAG=latest
APP_URL=https://invoice.rfeyn.org
APP_KEY=base64:gDCwop+h+/KcHsrCzc7tt4lbqcqH8hzMnm3x3+8oGnM=
API_SECRET=Kikkers49$91
APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=true
REQUIRE_HTTPS=false
PHANTOMJS_PDF_GENERATION=false #Turn this function off to generate pdf with snappdf
PDF_GENERATOR=snappdf
TRUSTED_PROXIES='*'
CACHE_DRIVER=redis
QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis
SESSION_DRIVER=redis
REDIS_HOST=redis
REDIS_PASSWORD=null
REDIS_PORT=6379
FILESYSTEM_DISK=debian_docker
# DB connection
DB_HOST=mysql
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=ninjadplancer
DB_USERNAME=ninja
DB_PASSWORD=sf9823fsjlfkjwioefjlskfh0923jfklsdjf
DB_ROOT_PASSWORD=sdpoifj293fj09030rjnsnedfo3498t
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
# Create initial user
# Default to these values if empty
IN_USER_EMAIL=dp@p2pnode.org
IN_PASSWORD=nvQi5W14blOnpv
# IN_USER_EMAIL=
# IN_PASSWORD=
# Mail options
MAIL_MAILER=log
MAIL_HOST=smtp.porkbun.com
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=dp@p2pnode.org
MAIL_PASSWORD=PuV9#@pUca49C70e2V46&keg
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS='dp@p2pnode.org'
MAIL_FROM_NAME="DPLancer Invoices"
# MySQL
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=sdpoifj293fj09030rjnsnedfo3498t
MYSQL_USER=ninja
MYSQL_PASSWORD=sf9823fsjlfkjwioefjlskfh0923jfklsdjf
MYSQL_DATABASE=ninjadplancer
# GoCardless/Nordigen API key for banking integration
NORDIGEN_SECRET_ID=
NORDIGEN_SECRET_KEY=
IS_DOCKER=true
SCOUT_DRIVER=null
#SNAPPDF_CHROMIUM_PATH=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable
```