Outline

Deploy and Host Outline on Sealos

Outline is an open-source team knowledge base for internal documentation, product specs, meeting notes, and support answers. This template deploys Outline with PostgreSQL, Redis, optional attachment storage, and a public HTTPS endpoint on Sealos Cloud.

About Hosting Outline

Outline runs as a single web application backed by PostgreSQL for workspace data and Redis for collaboration, caching, and real-time coordination. Sealos provisions the required database services, persistent storage, internal networking, and HTTPS ingress from the template.

For the simplest self-hosted setup, this template defaults to Email Magic Link authentication. Users enter their email address and sign in from a one-time link or verification code sent by SMTP. Outline still does not provide traditional local username/password registration; OAuth providers such as OpenID Connect, Google, and Slack remain available when you prefer external SSO.

Common Use Cases

• Internal Knowledge Base: Publish team handbooks, engineering notes, policies, and process documentation.
• Product Documentation: Maintain product specs, release notes, roadmaps, and decision records in one collaborative workspace.
• Support and Onboarding: Create searchable answers, onboarding guides, and operational runbooks for growing teams.
• Markdown Collaboration: Write and edit structured documents with real-time collaboration and Markdown-compatible workflows.

Dependencies for Outline Hosting

The Sealos template includes all required runtime dependencies for Outline hosting.

Deployment Dependencies

• Outline Documentation - Official product and self-hosting documentation
• Outline GitHub Repository - Source code and release history
• OpenID Connect Setup - Generic OIDC provider configuration
• Google OAuth Setup - Google sign-in configuration
• Slack OAuth Setup - Slack sign-in configuration
• SMTP account from your mail provider - Required for Email Magic Link sign-in and optional transactional email

Implementation Details

Architecture Components:

This template deploys the following services:

• Outline Web Service: Runs outlinewiki/outline:1.8.0-1 and serves the web UI, API, and authentication callbacks on port 3000.
• PostgreSQL: Kubeblocks-managed PostgreSQL postgresql-16.4.0 stores Outline workspace data in the outline database.
• Redis: Kubeblocks-managed Redis 7.2.7 supports collaboration, caching, and background coordination.
• Attachment Storage: Uses either a Sealos object storage bucket for S3-compatible uploads or a local persistent volume mounted at /var/lib/outline/data.
• Ingress and App Link: Exposes Outline through a Sealos-managed HTTPS ingress and App resource.

Configuration:

• auth_provider defaults to email for Email Magic Link sign-in.
• Email Magic Link requires smtp_host, smtp_port, smtp_username, smtp_password, and smtp_from_email.
• auth_provider can also be set to oidc, google, or slack when you want external OAuth/SSO.
• OIDC deployments require oidc_client_id, oidc_client_secret, oidc_auth_uri, oidc_token_uri, and oidc_userinfo_uri.
• Google and Slack deployments require their matching OAuth client ID and client secret.
• The OAuth/OIDC redirect URL must match your deployed domain, for example https://<your-outline-domain>/auth/oidc.callback, https://<your-outline-domain>/auth/google.callback, or https://<your-outline-domain>/auth/slack.callback.
• secret_key and utils_secret are generated by default and should be kept stable for an existing deployment.
• smtp_enabled can be enabled for transactional email when using OAuth providers; it is effectively required when auth_provider is email.

License Information:

Outline is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1. This Sealos template is provided under the repository license.

Why Deploy Outline on Sealos?

Sealos is an AI-assisted Cloud Operating System built on Kubernetes that unifies application deployment, networking, storage, and lifecycle management. By deploying Outline on Sealos, you get:

• One-Click Deployment: Deploy Outline, PostgreSQL, Redis, storage, service, ingress, and App link from one template.
• Simpler Sign-In: Use Email Magic Link by default instead of setting up OAuth before first launch.
• Managed Public Access: Sealos creates an HTTPS endpoint for your Outline workspace automatically.
• Persistent Data: PostgreSQL, Redis, and optional local attachment storage use persistent volumes.
• Easy Configuration: Configure email sign-in, OAuth/OIDC, SMTP, and storage options through deployment inputs.
• Operational Simplicity: Use the Canvas, AI dialog, and resource cards for post-deployment adjustments without writing Kubernetes YAML.

Deployment Guide

1. Open the Outline template and click Deploy Now.
2. Keep the default email authentication provider for the simplest login flow, then fill in your SMTP settings. Outline uses SMTP to send one-time sign-in links or verification codes.
3. Optional: choose oidc, google, or slack instead if you already have an OAuth/SSO provider. Configure the matching client ID, client secret, and callback URL in that provider.
4. Choose attachment storage:
   • s3 creates and uses a Sealos object storage bucket.
   • local stores attachments on a persistent volume attached to the Outline pod.
5. Wait for deployment to complete, typically 2-3 minutes. After deployment, Sealos redirects you to the Canvas.
6. Open the generated Outline URL from the App resource. On a new installation, create the first workspace and admin user. Later sign-ins use the configured Email Magic Link or OAuth provider.

Configuration

After deployment, you can configure Outline through:

• AI Dialog: Describe changes such as resource tuning or environment updates and let Sealos apply them.
• Resource Cards: Open the StatefulSet, database, Redis, storage, or ingress cards to inspect and adjust resources.
• SMTP Provider Console: Manage sender address, SMTP host, port, username, password, and mail delivery status.
• Identity Provider Console: Manage OAuth/OIDC users, redirect URLs, client IDs, and client secrets when using an external provider.

Authentication Notes

Email Magic Link

Email Magic Link is the default and simplest option for this template. Configure SMTP during deployment, open the Outline URL, and create the first workspace/admin user on the initial setup screen. After setup, users sign in by entering their email address and opening the link or code sent to their mailbox.

Make sure smtp_from_email is a valid sender address accepted by your mail provider. If mail delivery is blocked, Outline can be healthy but users will not receive sign-in links.

OAuth and SSO

For OIDC, configure your provider with the deployed callback URL:

https://<your-outline-domain>/auth/oidc.callback

For Google OAuth, use:

https://<your-outline-domain>/auth/google.callback

For Slack OAuth, use:

https://<your-outline-domain>/auth/slack.callback

If the provider credentials or redirect URL are incorrect, the Outline page can load and pass health checks, but sign-in will fail at the provider callback step.

Scaling

To scale or tune Outline:

1. Open the Canvas for your deployment.
2. Click the Outline StatefulSet resource card.
3. Adjust CPU, memory, storage, or replica settings as needed.
4. Apply the changes in the dialog.

Keep PostgreSQL and Redis available before restarting Outline. Cold starts can take longer while the database initializes and migrations run.

Troubleshooting

Email sign-in link does not arrive

• Cause: SMTP settings are missing, incorrect, blocked by the mail provider, or smtp_from_email is not an allowed sender.
• Solution: Verify SMTP host, port, username, password, sender address, and provider security settings. Check spam folders and mail provider delivery logs.

OAuth sign-in callback fails

• Cause: Missing or incorrect OAuth/OIDC provider configuration.
• Solution: Verify the selected provider inputs and confirm the provider dashboard uses the exact callback URL for your deployed domain.

Application starts before dependencies are ready

• Cause: PostgreSQL, Redis, or the database initialization job is still starting.
• Solution: Wait for the PostgreSQL and Redis clusters to reach Running and for the pg-init job to complete, then restart the Outline StatefulSet if needed.

Attachment uploads fail

• Cause: Storage type or bucket credentials are misconfigured.
• Solution: Use s3 for Sealos object storage or local for a persistent volume, then confirm the corresponding storage resource exists.

Additional Resources

• Outline Documentation
• Outline GitHub
• Sealos Discord

License

This Sealos template is provided under the repository license. Outline itself is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1.