Self-hosted documentation

Fern documentation websites are hosted on Fern’s infrastructure by default. Self-hosting allows you to deploy your documentation site on your own infrastructure to meet specific security or compliance requirements.

When to use self-hosting

Self-hosting is typically required for organizations that operate without internet access, have strict compliance requirements, or need full control over their documentation servers.

When you self-host, you’re responsible for server setup, security, maintenance, and deciding how to make the documentation accessible to your users.

Setup process

Fern provides your documentation site as a ready-to-run Docker container that you can deploy on your own infrastructure. For detailed instructions, see Set up self-hosted documentation.

1. Authenticate with Docker Hub - Use the organization access token (OAT) provided by Fern to log in
2. Download the Docker image - Pull the fernenterprise/fern-self-hosted image
3. Upload your fern folder - Add your documentation source files to the container
4. Run the container - Start your local server using standard Docker commands
5. Deploy - Set up your server environment and publish the documentation
6. Receive updated Docker images - Fern releases new versions of the Docker image that your team can evaluate and deploy when ready.

Architecture diagram

Monitoring and health checks

The self-hosted container includes health check endpoints on port 8081 for Kubernetes and Helm deployments.