docker_compose_profiles.md
March 13, 2026 · View on GitHub
Docker Compose profiles in iam-proxy-italia
Profiles are a good way to optimize and extend a single Docker Compose file. The official docker manual says about profiles:
Profiles help you adjust your Compose application for different environments or use cases by selectively activating services. Services can be assigned to one or more profiles; unassigned services start by default, while assigned ones only start when their profile is active. This setup means specific services, like those for debugging or development, to be included in a single compose.yml file and activated only as needed.
In this Docker Compose project, profiles are used to limit startup to strictly necessary services.
The services iam-proxy-italia and satosa-nginx do not have a profile and are started every time. All other services are started by selecting one or more of the following profiles:
Profile categories
- storage_mongo – start MongoDB (session storage for OIDC and Wallet)
- mongoexpress – start MongoDB and Mongo Express (web UI)
- saml2 – SAML2-related services: Django SAML2 SP, SPID SAML checker
- oidc – OIDC-related services: trust-anchor, CIE provider, relying-party demo (requires storage for backend)
- wallet – enable MongoDB for Wallet (OpenID4VP / OpenID4VCI) backends
- dev – development/test: SAML2 SP and SPID checker (same stack as saml2 for dev)
- demo – start all demo services (storage, SAML2, OIDC, Wallet-related)
You can specify the required profile with --profile option in Docker Compose. Example with the demo profile to start all services:
docker compose --profile demo up
You can specify multiple profiles. Example with storage_mongo and saml2:
docker compose --profile storage_mongo --profile saml2 up
Using the environment variable:
COMPOSE_PROFILES=dev,storage_mongo docker compose up
The run-docker-compose.sh script can start selected profiles via its options.
Summary tables
Profile by service
| Service | Profiles |
|---|---|
| satosa-mongo | demo, storage_mongo, mongoexpress, oidc, wallet |
| satosa-mongo-express | demo, mongoexpress |
| relying-party-demo-mongo | demo, storage_mongo, oidc |
| django_sp | demo, dev, saml2 |
| spid-samlcheck | demo, dev, saml2 |
| trust-anchor | demo, storage_mongo, oidc |
| cie-provider | demo, storage_mongo, oidc |
| relying-party-demo | demo, storage_mongo, oidc |
| satosa-nginx | (none – always on) |
| iam-proxy-italia | (none – always on) |
Services by profile
| Profile | Services |
|---|---|
| (no profiles) | satosa-nginx, iam-proxy-italia |
| storage_mongo | satosa-mongo, satosa-nginx, iam-proxy-italia |
| mongoexpress | satosa-mongo, satosa-mongo-express, satosa-nginx, iam-proxy-italia |
| saml2 | django_sp, spid-samlcheck, satosa-nginx, iam-proxy-italia |
| oidc | satosa-mongo, trust-anchor, cie-provider, relying-party-demo-mongo, relying-party-demo, satosa-nginx, iam-proxy-italia |
| wallet | satosa-mongo, satosa-nginx, iam-proxy-italia |
| dev | django_sp, spid-samlcheck, satosa-nginx, iam-proxy-italia |
| demo | all of the above |
Semantic grouping (SAML2 vs OIDC vs Wallet)
| Stack | Profiles that include it | Services |
|---|---|---|
| SAML2 | saml2, dev, demo | django_sp (djangosaml2), spid-samlcheck |
| OIDC | oidc, demo | trust-anchor, cie-provider, relying-party-demo-mongo (init), relying-party-demo, satosa-mongo (OIDC storage) |
| Wallet | wallet, demo | satosa-mongo (OpenID4VP/OpenID4VCI storage); proxy runs in iam-proxy-italia |
| Storage | storage_mongo, mongoexpress | satosa-mongo, satosa-mongo-express |
Profile by option in run-docker-compose.sh
| Option | Profile |
|---|---|
-p | no profiles |
-m | storage_mongo |
-M | mongoexpress |
-d | dev |
| (none) | demo |
Insights
- For more details on iam-proxy-italia Docker Compose read Docker Compose readme.
- For more details on run-docker-compose.sh read run-docker-compose.sh.