How to install TeamSpeak with Docker

With Docker, you can create TeamSpeak server instances and perform updates quickly and easily. Our in­struc­tions contain all the necessary in­stal­la­tion steps that you need.

What is the advantage of using TeamSpeak in Docker?

TeamSpeak is a popular voice-over-IP platform (VoIP for short) used for real-time com­mu­ni­ca­tion. If you want to run TeamSpeak on Linux, Docker is an optimal way to install and manage your own TeamSpeak server. Container tech­nol­o­gy offers isolation, porta­bil­i­ty, rapid de­ploy­ment, resource ef­fi­cien­cy, ver­sion­ing and security, sim­pli­fy­ing server man­age­ment and in­creas­ing flex­i­bil­i­ty.

How to install a TeamSpeak server on Linux with Docker

Before in­stalling the TeamSpeak server, you should check that Docker is available on your Linux system. Docker is a con­tainer­iza­tion tech­nol­o­gy that makes it possible to run ap­pli­ca­tions and their de­pen­den­cies in isolated con­tain­ers. If Docker is not installed on your system, you can download it from the official Docker website.

Step 1: Update system and install curl

First you should update your system. If you want to access the Docker in­stal­la­tion script, you’ll also need the curl method.

apt update
apt upgrade
apt install curl

Step 2: Install Docker

To install and run Docker on a Linux server, open a terminal and enter the following commands:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

Once installed, you can start the Docker service and set it to activate au­to­mat­i­cal­ly every time the system starts up:

sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Step 3: Install Docker Compose

Docker Compose is a helpful tool for or­ga­niz­ing Docker con­tain­ers, es­pe­cial­ly when multiple con­tain­ers interact with each other. To install Docker Compose, use the following command:

sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/latest/download/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

You can also find detailed in­for­ma­tion on in­stalling Docker Compose on Ubuntu in our Digital Guide.

Step 4: Create a working directory

Now, create a working directory for your TeamSpeak server and then switch to this directory. The folder serves as a central storage location for all project data and con­fig­u­ra­tions, fa­cil­i­tat­ing ad­min­is­tra­tion later on. You can choose the name for the directory.

mkdir teamspeak-server
cd teamspeak-server

Step 5: Configure Docker Compose

Next, create a file named docker-compose.yml in your working directory. This file will contain the con­fig­u­ra­tion for your TeamSpeak Docker container. Use a text editor of your choice to create the docker-compose.yml file and add the following content:

version: '3.1'
services:
    teamspeak:
        image: teamspeak
        restart: always
        ports:
            - 9987:9987/udp
            - 10011:10011
            - 30033:30033
        environment:
            TS3SERVER_LICENSE: accept
        volumes:
            - ./teamspeak-server:/var/ts3server/

This Docker Compose con­fig­u­ra­tion defines a TeamSpeak server container as well as several important settings:

• image: This defines the TeamSpeak Docker image that is used to create the container.
• ports: Here is where the ports are con­fig­ured that are used to access the TeamSpeak server. TeamSpeak uses the ports 9987/UDP, 10011 and 30033 by default.
• en­vi­ron­ment: En­vi­ron­ment variables have been set up, including the ac­cep­tance of the TeamSpeak license via TS3SERVER_LICENSE: accept.
• volumes: A volume has been created to store the TeamSpeak server data.

Step 6: Start the TeamSpeak Docker container

In your working directory, use the following command to start the TeamSpeak server container:

docker-compose up -d

The -d parameter means the container is executed in the back­ground.

Step 7: Retrieve TeamSpeak Server database password

To configure your TeamSpeak server, you need the server admin password. You can retrieve it from the container logs.

docker-compose logs | grep "ServerAdmin privilege key created"

Make a note of the password, as you’ll need it to log in as a server admin.

Step 8: Configure TeamSpeak server

Open your web browser and enter the IP address of your server followed by Port 9987 in the address bar (e.g. http://your_IP:9987). You will be prompted to enter the server admin password. Use the password you received in step 7.

Now you can configure your TeamSpeak server according to your re­quire­ments and add users.

Step 9: Secure your data

You should back up your TeamSpeak server data regularly to prevent data loss. You can create a backup of the TeamSpeak Docker volume by entering the following command:

docker run --rm --volumes-from teamspeak-server -v $(pwd):/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/teamspeak-backup.tar /var/ts3server

This command creates a backup of the TeamSpeak data directory and saves it as teamspeak-backup.tar in your current directory.

Step 10: Update the TeamSpeak server

TeamSpeak regularly releases updates to improve security and func­tion­al­i­ty. To keep your TeamSpeak server up to date, you need to update the TeamSpeak Docker image and rebuild the container. Follow the TeamSpeak image release notes to ensure optimal server per­for­mance.

Step 11: Configure the firewall

For your TeamSpeak server to work properly, you need to adjust the firewall rules on your Linux server. Open the necessary ports defined in the Docker Compose con­fig­u­ra­tion. This may vary depending on the firewall software you are using, but normally these are ports 9987/UDP, 10011 and 30033.

Summary

In­stalling a TeamSpeak server with Docker on Linux provides an efficient and well-isolated com­mu­ni­ca­tion platform for your team. By following the steps above, you can set up and configure your own TeamSpeak server quickly and easily.

Make sure you perform regular backups to protect your data, and keep your TeamSpeak server up to date to benefit from the latest features and security updates. With Docker, managing your TeamSpeak server on Linux is a simple task.