Containers exit immediately after startup due to missing web/crontabs directory in quick start guide #2194
Description
Description
When following the official quick start guide for deploying Jitsi Meet with Docker, the containers start successfully but exit almost immediately (receiving SIGTERM signals). This results in the stack failing to remain running.
Previously, deployments using older releases worked without issues using the same setup script. Recent deployments with the latest release (e.g., stable-10655 or similar) exhibit this behavior consistently.
This appears to be caused by a mismatch between the documented directory creation command and the requirements in docker-compose.yml. Specifically, the web service mounts ${CONFIG}/web/crontabs:/var/spool/cron/crontabs:Z, but the quick start guide's mkdir command does not create the web/crontabs subdirectory. If this directory is absent, the bind mount fails (or causes initialization issues), leading to container termination.
Similar issues have been reported in the past:
- Self-hosting guide needs a change #1353 (Self-hosting guide needs a change – explicitly mentions missing web/crontabs)
- Bind mount failed: '/root/.jitsi-meet-cfg/web/crontabs' does not exists #1387 (Bind mount failed: '/root/.jitsi-meet-cfg/web/crontabs' does not exist)
Steps to Reproduce
- Download and extract the latest release:
wget $(wget -q -O - https://api.github.com/repos/jitsi/docker-jitsi-meet/releases/latest | grep zip | cut -d" -f4)
unzip
cd
text2. Copy and configure.env:
cp env.example .env
./gen-passwords.sh
text3. Create directories exactly as per the quick start guide:
mkdir -p ~/.jitsi-meet-cfg/{web,transcripts,prosody/config,prosody/prosody-plugins-custom,jicofo,jvb,jigasi,jibri}
text4. Start the stack:
docker compose up -d
text### Expected Behavior
All containers (web, prosody, jicofo, jvb) should start and remain running indefinitely, allowing access to the Jitsi Meet interface.
Actual Behavior
Containers initialize (e.g., generate keys, start services) but exit shortly after with SIGTERM/KILL signals. Logs show no explicit errors, but the stack does not stay up.
Example logs from containers:
- web: Generates self-signed keys, starts Nginx, then exits.
- jvb/jicofo/prosody: Start services, then receive SIGTERM and shut down.
Running docker compose logs web may reveal bind mount-related issues if the directory is missing.
Environment
- Docker version: [您的 Docker 版本，例如 20.10.x 或更高]
- Docker Compose version: [您的版本]
- Host OS: [例如 Ubuntu 22.04 或 CentOS]
- Jitsi release: Latest (downloaded on 2025-12-29, commit around 8c3f7ca or stable-10655)
Suggested Fix
Update the quick start guide's directory creation command to include additional subdirectories required by volume mounts, for example:
mkdir -p ~/.jitsi-meet-cfg/{web/{crontabs,letsencrypt,keys},transcripts,prosody/config,prosody/prosody-plugins-custom,jicofo,jvb,jigasi,jibri}
textThis resolves the issue locally and aligns with existing volume definitions in docker-compose.yml.
Thank you for maintaining this project. This change would prevent confusion for new and upda