Kanboard is a simple, lightweight, self-hosted Kanban board application — a focused project management tool without the complexity/overhead of more feature-heavy alternatives.
Why Choose Kanboard
- Genuinely lightweight, minimal resource requirements
- Simple, focused Kanban-style workflow without excessive feature bloat
- Straightforward self-hosting, no complex dependency stack
Prerequisites
- Docker installed
Step 1 — Run Kanboard with Docker
docker run -d \
--name kanboard \
--restart unless-stopped \
-p 8090:80 \
-v kanboard-data:/var/www/app/data \
-v kanboard-plugins:/var/www/app/plugins \
kanboard/kanboard:latestStep 2 — Access the Web Interface
http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8090Step 3 — Log In with Default Credentials
Username: admin
Password: adminChange this default password immediately after your first login — a well-known default credential is a real security risk if left unchanged.
Step 4 — Create Your First Project
Under Projects, create a new project and define your workflow columns (Backlog, To Do, In Progress, Done, or whatever matches your actual process).
Step 5 — Add Tasks
Create tasks within your project, assigning them to columns, team members, due dates, and priority as needed.
Step 6 — Invite Team Members
Under Settings → Users, create accounts for team members who need access.
Step 7 — Add HTTPS
See How to Install Nginx Proxy Manager with Docker to route a domain with SSL.
Using Swimlanes for Additional Organization
Beyond basic columns, Kanboard supports "swimlanes" — horizontal groupings within a board (by team, priority, or project phase) for additional organizational structure without needing separate boards.
Automating Workflows with Actions
Kanboard supports automated actions (e.g. automatically assigning a task when moved to a specific column) — configure these under project settings to reduce manual repetitive task management.
Extending with Plugins
Kanboard has a plugin ecosystem for additional functionality (time tracking, additional integrations) — install plugins into the mounted plugins volume for extended capability beyond the core feature set.
API Access for Integrations
Kanboard provides a JSON-RPC API, useful for integrating task creation/updates with other tools in your workflow (e.g. automatically creating a task from an incoming support ticket or webhook).
Backing Up Kanboard
docker run --rm -v kanboard-data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/kanboard-backup.tar.gz /dataCommon Errors
Login fails even with correct credentials — verify the data volume is correctly mounted and persisting; a misconfigured volume can cause user data to reset between container restarts.
Continue Reading
- How to Install Nginx Proxy Manager with Docker
- How to Install Gitea (Lightweight Git Server)
- How to Choose Which Self-Hosted App Fits Your Needs
Browse more articles in Popular Self-Hosted Applications.
