Quick Start Guide

Get DFIRe up and running with our interactive installation wizard. This guide walks you through deployment and initial setup.

Prerequisites

Before installing DFIRe, ensure you have:

  • A Linux host - Ubuntu 22.04+ or similar distribution
  • Docker and Docker Compose installed
  • Database credentials - External PostgreSQL database (recommended) or hosted DBaaS such as AWS RDS, Azure Database, or Google Cloud SQL
  • At least 4 GB RAM available (8 GB recommended)
  • At least 20 GB disk space for the application and evidence storage

New to Docker? Install Docker Engine from docker.com. The installation includes Docker Compose.

Production deployments: We strongly recommend using an external PostgreSQL database rather than a containerized database. This ensures data persistence, easier backups, and better performance.

Installation

DFIRe uses an interactive installation wizard that guides you through the deployment process.

  1. Prepare your installation directory

    Create a directory for DFIRe. We recommend /opt/dfire:

    sudo mkdir -p /opt/dfire
cd /opt/dfire
  2. Download and run the installation wizard 
    curl -fsSL https://dfire.fi/install.sh -o install.sh
chmod +x install.sh
sudo ./install.sh

    The wizard will guide you through:

    • Database configuration (connection details for your PostgreSQL instance)
    • Domain and URL settings
    • Admin user creation
    • Security key generation
  3. Choose your HTTPS configuration

    The installer offers two options for HTTPS:

    • Integrated nginx with Let's Encrypt - The installer configures nginx and automatically obtains SSL certificates
    • External reverse proxy - Use your existing reverse proxy (nginx, Traefik, Caddy, etc.) to handle HTTPS termination
  4. Complete the installation

    The wizard will pull Docker images, configure the environment, and start all services. Once complete, it displays the URL to access DFIRe.

First Login

After installation completes:

  1. Open your browser and navigate to your configured domain
  2. Log in with the admin credentials you created during installation
  3. Read and accept the End User License Agreement (EULA)
  4. You'll be taken to the Dashboard
DFIRe Dashboard

Trial Mode and Licensing

DFIRe starts in Trial Mode for 30 days, giving you full access to all features.

What happens after the trial?

After 30 days without a license:

  • The application switches to read-only mode
  • You can still view all existing cases and data
  • No data is deleted - your work is preserved
  • New cases, evidence, and notes cannot be created

Critical: During installation, a CREDENTIAL_ENCRYPTION_KEY is generated. This key encrypts stored credentials such as webhook secrets and your license key. Back up this key immediately. Without it, these credentials cannot be recovered and will need to be reconfigured. The key is stored in your .env file.

Obtaining a License

To continue using DFIRe after the trial period, purchase a license from our pricing page or contact contact@dfire.fi.

For an extended trial period for evaluation purposes, contact contact@dfire.fi.

Next Steps

Now that DFIRe is running:

Tip: SSO is the recommended authentication method for production deployments. Local user accounts do not support multi-factor authentication.

Getting Help

If you run into issues: