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This guide helps you solve common issues when deploying or running Pala.

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Installation & Setup Issues

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Setup screen doesn’t appear

Symptoms: Going to /admin redirects to sign-in instead of setup Causes:
  1. Superuser already exists (from environment variables or previous setup)
  2. Volume persisted from previous deployment
Solutions:
If you set PALA_SUPERUSER_EMAIL and PALA_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD, a superuser was created automatically. Use those credentials to sign in.
# Stop container
docker-compose down

# Check volume
docker volume inspect palacms-data

# If you want to start fresh, delete the volume
docker volume rm palacms-data

# Restart
docker-compose up -d
Deleting the volume deletes all your data. Only do this for fresh installs.

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Can’t access after deployment

Symptoms: Browser can’t reach your Pala instance Diagnostics: 
# Check if container is running
docker ps | grep palacms

# Check logs
docker logs palacms

# Check if port is accessible
curl http://localhost:8080
Solutions: 
# Check why it stopped
docker logs palacms

# Restart it
docker start palacms
  1. Check firewall allows port 8080 (or your configured port)
  2. Verify port mapping in docker-compose.yml: - "8080:8080"
  3. Check if another service is using port 8080:
sudo lsof -i :8080
  1. Check DNS settings point to your server IP
  2. Wait for DNS propagation (up to 48 hours)
  3. Test with server IP directly: http://YOUR_IP:8080

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Runtime Issues

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”No space left on device” error

Cause: Docker volume or host system out of disk space Solutions: 
# Check Docker disk usage
docker system df

# Clean up unused images/containers
docker system prune -a

# Check host disk space
df -h

# If needed, resize volume or upgrade server

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Database locked errors

Symptoms: Errors mentioning “database is locked” Cause: Multiple processes trying to write to SQLite simultaneously Solutions:
  1. Ensure only one Pala container is running:
docker ps | grep palacms
  1. Restart the container:
docker-compose restart
  1. If persists, check for file permissions:
docker exec palacms ls -la /app/pb_data

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Publishing fails or times out

Symptoms: Publish button hangs or shows error Diagnostics: 
# Check container logs during publish
docker logs -f palacms
Common Causes:
Check browser console for JavaScript errors. Fix any Svelte compilation errors in your blocks.
Increase Docker memory limit:
services:
  palacms:
    # ... other config
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: 2G
Check if your server can reach external CDNs (for Svelte compiler):
docker exec palacms curl -I https://esm.sh

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Performance Issues

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Slow editor loading

Causes:
  • Large blocks with heavy dependencies
  • Slow network connection
  • Server resource constraints
Solutions:
  • Remove unused dependencies
  • Split large blocks into smaller ones
  • Use lazy loading for images
Upgrade to a larger VPS or increase Railway/Fly.io resources.
Configure gzip in your reverse proxy (see Deployment Guide).
Point your domain through Cloudflare for caching and compression.

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Slow published site

Diagnostics: Common Fixes:
  • Optimize images (compress, use WebP)
  • Minimize JavaScript bundle size
  • Enable caching headers in reverse proxy
  • Use a CDN

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Docker Issues

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Image pull fails

Error: Error response from daemon: manifest for ghcr.io/palacms/palacms:latest not found Solutions:
  1. Check if you’re spelling the image name correctly
  2. Check your internet connection
  3. Try pulling manually:
docker pull ghcr.io/palacms/palacms:latest

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Permission errors with volume

Error: permission denied when accessing /app/pb_data Solution: 
# Check volume permissions
docker exec palacms ls -la /app

# Fix permissions
docker exec palacms chown -R 1000:1000 /app/pb_data

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Container keeps restarting

Diagnostics: 
# Check why it's restarting
docker logs palacms --tail=50

# Check restart policy
docker inspect palacms | grep -A 5 RestartPolicy
Common Causes:
  • Application crash (check logs)
  • Port already in use
  • Out of memory
  • Volume mount issues

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Authentication Issues

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Can’t sign in

Symptoms: “Invalid credentials” error Checks:
  1. Verify email/password are correct
  2. Check if account exists:
docker exec palacms ./palacms admin ls
  1. Reset password via PocketBase admin:
  • Go to https://your-domain.com/_/
  • Sign in with superuser
  • Reset user password

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Locked out of admin

Solution: Create new superuser via command line: 
docker exec -it palacms ./palacms admin create \
  [email protected] \
  new-secure-password

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Migration & Upgrade Issues

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Data loss after upgrade

Prevention: Always backup before upgrading: 
# Backup pb_data
docker cp palacms:/app/pb_data ./backup_$(date +%Y%m%d)

# Then upgrade
docker-compose pull && docker-compose up -d
Recovery: Restore from backup: 
# Stop container
docker-compose down

# Restore backup
docker cp ./backup_20250101 palacms:/app/pb_data

# Restart
docker-compose up -d

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Blocks not working after upgrade

Cause: Svelte version incompatibility Solution:
  1. Check release notes for breaking changes
  2. Update block code to match new Svelte version
  3. Re-publish all sites

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Network & SSL Issues

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SSL certificate errors

Common Causes:
Certbot should auto-renew. If not:
sudo certbot renew
sudo systemctl restart nginx
Ensure all assets load via HTTPS. Check:
  • Image URLs in blocks
  • External scripts in head/foot HTML
  • CSS file references
Make sure you’re using certificates from a trusted CA (Let’s Encrypt, not self-signed).

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CORS errors

Symptoms: Browser console shows CORS errors Cause: Accessing Pala from a different domain than configured Solution: Ensure PALA_APP_URL matches the domain you’re accessing from.

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Getting Help

If you’re still stuck:
  1. Check the logs:
docker logs palacms --tail=100 -f
  1. Search existing issues:
  2. Ask for help:
  3. File a bug report:
    • Include: OS, Docker version, Pala version, full error logs
    • Create Issue

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Next Steps

Deployment Guide

Review deployment best practices

Environment Variables

Configure Pala properly