rtomik-helm-charts/charts/paperless-ngx

Paperless-ngx Helm Chart

A Helm chart for deploying Paperless-ngx document management system on Kubernetes.

Introduction

This chart deploys Paperless-ngx on a Kubernetes cluster using the Helm package manager.

Paperless-ngx is a community-supported supercharged version of paperless: scan, index and archive all your physical documents.

Source code can be found here:

• https://github.com/rtomik/helm-charts/tree/main/charts/paperless-ngx

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes 1.19+
• Helm 3.0+
• PV provisioner support in the underlying infrastructure
• External PostgreSQL database (required)
• External Redis server (required)

External Dependencies

This chart requires external PostgreSQL and Redis services. It does not deploy these dependencies to avoid resource conflicts on centralized servers.

PostgreSQL Setup

Paperless-ngx requires PostgreSQL 11+ as its database backend. Ensure you have:

• A PostgreSQL database created for Paperless-ngx
• Database credentials configured in values.yaml or via secrets

Redis Setup

Redis is required for background task processing. Ensure you have:

• A Redis server accessible from the cluster
• Connection details configured in values.yaml
• Optional: Redis authentication credentials (username/password)
• Optional: Redis key prefix for sharing one Redis server among multiple Paperless instances

The chart supports all Redis authentication methods:

• No authentication: redis://host:port/database
• Password only (requirepass): redis://:password@host:port/database
• Username and password (Redis 6.0+ ACL): redis://username:password@host:port/database

Installing the Chart

To install the chart with the release name paperless-ngx:

$ helm repo add paperless-chart https://rtomik.github.io/helm-charts
$ helm install paperless-ngx paperless-chart/paperless-ngx

Or install directly from this repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/rtomik/helm-charts.git
$ cd helm-charts/charts/paperless-ngx
$ helm install paperless-ngx .

Tip

: List all releases using helm list

Configuration

The following table lists the configurable parameters and their default values.

Global Parameters

Name	Description	Value
nameOverride	String to partially override the release name	""
fullnameOverride	String to fully override the release name	""

Image Parameters

Name	Description	Value
image.repository	Paperless-ngx image repository	ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx
image.tag	Paperless-ngx image tag	latest
image.pullPolicy	Paperless-ngx image pull policy	IfNotPresent

External Dependencies

Name	Description	Value
postgresql.external.enabled	Enable external PostgreSQL configuration	true
postgresql.external.host	External PostgreSQL host	postgresql.default.svc.cluster.local
postgresql.external.port	External PostgreSQL port	5432
postgresql.external.database	External PostgreSQL database name	paperless
postgresql.external.username	External PostgreSQL username	paperless
postgresql.external.existingSecret	Existing secret with PostgreSQL credentials	""
postgresql.external.passwordKey	Key in existing secret for PostgreSQL password	postgresql-password
redis.external.enabled	Enable external Redis configuration	true
redis.external.host	External Redis host	redis.default.svc.cluster.local
redis.external.port	External Redis port	6379
redis.external.database	External Redis database number	0
redis.external.username	Redis username (Redis 6.0+ with ACL)	""
redis.external.password	Redis password (leave empty if no auth required)	""
redis.external.existingSecret	Existing secret with Redis credentials	""
redis.external.passwordKey	Key in existing secret for Redis password	redis-password
redis.external.prefix	Prefix for Redis keys/channels (for multi-instance)	""

Security Configuration

Name	Description	Value
config.secretKey.existingSecret	Name of existing secret for Django secret key	""
config.secretKey.secretKey	Key in the existing secret for Django secret key	secret-key
config.admin.user	Admin username to create on startup	""
config.admin.password	Admin password (use existingSecret for production)	""
config.admin.email	Admin email address	root@localhost
config.admin.existingSecret	Name of existing secret for admin credentials	""

Application Configuration

Name	Description	Value
config.url	External URL for Paperless-ngx (e.g., https://paperless.domain.com)	""
config.allowedHosts	Comma-separated list of allowed hosts	*
config.timeZone	Application timezone	UTC
config.ocr.language	OCR language (3-letter code)	eng
config.ocr.mode	OCR mode (skip, redo, force)	skip
config.consumer.recursive	Enable recursive consumption directory watching	false
config.consumer.subdirsAsTags	Use subdirectory names as tags	false

Persistence Parameters

Name	Description	Value
persistence.data.enabled	Enable persistence for data directory	true
persistence.data.existingClaim	Use an existing PVC for data directory	""
persistence.data.size	Size of data PVC	1Gi
persistence.media.enabled	Enable persistence for media directory	true
persistence.media.existingClaim	Use an existing PVC for media directory	""
persistence.media.size	Size of media PVC	10Gi
persistence.consume.enabled	Enable persistence for consume directory	true
persistence.consume.existingClaim	Use an existing PVC for consume directory	""
persistence.consume.size	Size of consume PVC	5Gi
persistence.export.enabled	Enable persistence for export directory	true
persistence.export.existingClaim	Use an existing PVC for export directory	""
persistence.export.size	Size of export PVC	1Gi

Service Parameters

Name	Description	Value
service.type	Kubernetes Service type	ClusterIP
service.port	Service HTTP port	8000

Ingress Parameters

Name	Description	Value
ingress.enabled	Enable ingress record generation	false
ingress.className	IngressClass name	""
ingress.annotations	Additional annotations for the Ingress resource	See values.yaml
ingress.hosts	Array of host and path objects	See values.yaml
ingress.tls	TLS configuration	See values.yaml

Usage Examples

Basic Installation

helm install paperless-ngx . \
  --set postgresql.external.host=my-postgres.example.com \
  --set postgresql.external.password=secretpassword \
  --set redis.external.host=my-redis.example.com

Production Installation with External Secrets

# values-production.yaml
config:
  url: "https://paperless.example.com"
  allowedHosts: "paperless.example.com"
  secretKey:
    existingSecret: "paperless-secrets"
    secretKey: "django-secret-key"
  admin:
    user: "admin"
    existingSecret: "paperless-admin-secrets"

postgresql:
  # External PostgreSQL connection details
  external:
    enabled: true
    host: "postgres-cluster-pooler.dbs.svc.cluster.local"
    port: 5432
    database: "paperless"
    username: "paperless"
    # Use existingSecret for credentials
    existingSecret: "paperless-db-credentials"
    passwordKey: "password"

redis:
  external:
    host: "redis.cache.svc.cluster.local"
    port: 6379
    database: 0
    # Use existingSecret for Redis credentials
    existingSecret: "paperless-redis-credentials"
    passwordKey: "password"
    # Optional: Use prefix to share Redis among multiple instances
    prefix: "paperless-prod"

ingress:
  enabled: true
  className: "nginx"
  hosts:
    - host: paperless.example.com
      paths:
        - path: /
          pathType: Prefix
  tls:
    - secretName: paperless-tls
      hosts:
        - paperless.example.com

helm install paperless-ngx . -f values-production.yaml

Redis Authentication Examples

Redis with Password Only (requirepass)

helm install paperless-ngx . \
  --set redis.external.host=redis.example.com \
  --set redis.external.password=myredispassword

Or with existing secret:

redis:
  external:
    host: "redis.example.com"
    existingSecret: "redis-auth-secret"
    passwordKey: "redis-password"

Redis with Username and Password (Redis 6.0+ ACL)

helm install paperless-ngx . \
  --set redis.external.host=redis.example.com \
  --set redis.external.username=paperless-user \
  --set redis.external.password=myredispassword

Multiple Paperless Instances on One Redis Server

Use the prefix parameter to avoid key collisions:

# Instance 1
redis:
  external:
    host: "shared-redis.example.com"
    password: "sharedpassword"
    prefix: "paperless-prod"

# Instance 2
redis:
  external:
    host: "shared-redis.example.com"
    password: "sharedpassword"
    prefix: "paperless-staging"

Security Considerations

1. Use external secrets for production deployments to store sensitive data like database passwords, Redis passwords, and the Django secret key.
2. Set a proper PAPERLESS_URL when exposing the application externally.
3. Configure ALLOWED_HOSTS to restrict which hosts can access the application.
4. Use HTTPS when exposing the application to the internet.
5. Secure Redis: Always use authentication (password or username/password) for Redis in production environments. Use existingSecret instead of plain text passwords.
6. Container Security: The container runs as root initially to allow s6-overlay to set up the runtime environment, then drops privileges to UID 1000. This is required for the Paperless-ngx Docker image to function properly.

Volumes and Data

Paperless-ngx uses several directories:

• Data directory: Contains the search index, classification model, and SQLite database (if used)
• Media directory: Contains all uploaded documents and thumbnails
• Consume directory: Drop documents here for automatic processing
• Export directory: Used for document exports

All directories can be configured with separate PVCs and storage classes.

Using Existing PVCs

The chart supports using existing PersistentVolumeClaims instead of creating new ones. This is useful for:

• Migrating from an existing Paperless-ngx deployment
• Using pre-provisioned storage with specific settings
• Sharing volumes across deployments

To use an existing PVC, specify the existingClaim parameter for the relevant volume:

persistence:
  data:
    enabled: true
    existingClaim: "my-existing-data-pvc"
  media:
    enabled: true
    existingClaim: "my-existing-media-pvc"
  export:
    enabled: true
    existingClaim: ""  # Will create new PVC
  consume:
    enabled: true
    existingClaim: ""  # Will create new PVC

When existingClaim is specified:

• The chart will NOT create a new PVC
• The specified PVC must already exist in the same namespace
• storageClass, size, and accessMode parameters are ignored for that volume
• You can mix existing and new PVCs (some volumes with existingClaim, others without)

Uninstalling the Chart

To uninstall/delete the paperless-ngx deployment:

helm uninstall paperless-ngx

The command removes all the Kubernetes components associated with the chart and deletes the release.

Contributing

Please feel free to contribute by opening issues or pull requests at: https://github.com/rtomik/helm-charts

License

This Helm chart is licensed under the MIT License.

Links

• Paperless-ngx Documentation
• Paperless-ngx GitHub Repository
• Docker Hub