The Qiita article presents two ways to deploy SonarQube with Docker Compose: a trial setup using its embedded database and a deployment using PostgreSQL.

Prerequisites

Install Docker and Docker Compose.

Trial setup with the embedded database

SonarQube includes an H2 database for evaluation, so no separate database container is needed. Without persistent volumes, deleting the container also deletes its data; use this setup for trials.

Create compose.yml:

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version: "3"

services:
  sonarqube:
    image: sonarqube:latest
    container_name: sonarqube
    ports:
      - "9000:9000"
    environment:
      - SONAR_ES_BOOTSTRAP_CHECKS_DISABLE=true
    volumes:
      - ./sq-logs:/opt/sonarqube/logs
      - ./sq-data:/opt/sonarqube/data
      - ./sq-extensions:/opt/sonarqube/extensions

Start the service from that directory:

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docker-compose up -d

Open http://localhost:9000 and confirm the login page appears. The default credentials are admin / admin; change the password after signing in.

SonarQube login page

Setup with PostgreSQL

For a persistent deployment, run SonarQube and PostgreSQL in separate containers:

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services:
  sonarqube:
    image: sonarqube:latest
    ports:
      - "9000:9000"
    environment:
      SONAR_JDBC_USERNAME: sonarqube_user
      SONAR_JDBC_PASSWORD: sonarqube_pw
      SONAR_JDBC_URL: jdbc:postgresql://postgres-db:5432/sonarqube_db
      SONAR_TELEMETRY_ENABLE: "false"
    volumes:
      - ./sq-logs:/opt/sonarqube/logs
      - ./sq-data:/opt/sonarqube/data
      - ./sq-extensions:/opt/sonarqube/extensions

  postgres-db:
    image: postgres:17
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: sonarqube_user
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: sonarqube_pw
      POSTGRES_DB: sonarqube_db
    volumes:
      - ./pg-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

The JDBC username, password, and URL in SonarQube must match the PostgreSQL settings. Docker Compose lets containers communicate through service names. Configure volumes for both services to persist their data.

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docker-compose up -d

Then open http://localhost:9000 and wait for SonarQube to connect to PostgreSQL and finish initialization.

Summary

The embedded database is useful for a quick trial; PostgreSQL is suitable when data must persist. For actual operation, pin image versions and manage database credentials appropriately.