Installing SearXNG on a

Software Installation — Step-by-Step

We will install SearXNG using Docker Compose. This approach ensures application isolation, simplifies dependency management, and facilitates updates. For 2026, Docker and Docker Compose are the de facto standard for deploying many web services.

1. Installing Docker Engine and Docker Compose

First, let's install the necessary Docker components. We will use the official Docker repositories to get the latest versions.

# Обновление индекса пакетов (актуально на 2026 год)
sudo apt update

# Установка пакетов, необходимых для использования репозитория Docker через HTTPS
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg

# Добавление официального GPG ключа Docker
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

# Добавление репозитория Docker в APT-источники
echo \
  "deb [arch="$(dpkg --print-architecture)" signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  "$(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")" stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Обновление индекса пакетов после добавления репозитория Docker
sudo apt update

# Установка Docker Engine, Docker CLI и Docker Compose (актуальные версии на 2026 год)
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

# Добавление текущего пользователя в группу docker для работы с Docker без sudo
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Применение изменений для группы docker (необходимо перелогиниться или выполнить newgrp docker)
newgrp docker

# Проверка установки Docker
docker run hello-world

The docker run hello-world command should output a welcome message, confirming a successful Docker installation.

2. Creating a Directory for SearXNG and Configuration

Let's create a working directory for SearXNG, where all configuration files and Docker Compose will be stored.

mkdir ~/searxng
cd ~/searxng

3. Creating the docker-compose.yml File

Create the docker-compose.yml file. This file will define how Docker should run SearXNG.

nano docker-compose.yml

Paste the following content. This is a basic configuration using the official SearXNG image and Caddy as a reverse proxy for HTTPS.

version: '3.8'

services:
  searxng:
    image: searxng/searxng:latest # Актуальная версия SearXNG на 2026 год
    container_name: searxng
    ports:
      - "8080:8080" # SearXNG будет доступен на порту 8080 внутри контейнера
    volumes:
      - ./searxng_settings.yml:/etc/searxng/settings.yml:ro # Монтируем наш конфиг
      - ./data/searxng:/data # Директория для данных и кэша SearXNG
    environment:
      - SEARXNG_BASE_URL=https://ВАШ_ДОМЕН_ДЛЯ_SEARXNG/ # Замените на ваш домен
      - SEARXNG_URL=http://searxng:8080/ # Внутренний URL для Caddy
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - searxng_network

  caddy:
    image: caddy:2-alpine # Актуальная версия Caddy на 2026 год
    container_name: caddy
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro # Монтируем наш конфиг Caddy
      - ./data/caddy:/data # Директория для данных Caddy (сертификаты Let's Encrypt)
    environment:
      - CADDY_EMAIL=ВАШ[email protected] # Email для Let's Encrypt
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - searxng_network

networks:
  searxng_network:
    driver: bridge

Important: Replace ВАШ_ДОМЕН_ДЛЯ_SEARXNG with your actual domain (e.g., searx.mydomain.com) and ВАШ[email protected] with your email address to receive notifications from Let's Encrypt.

4. Configuring the searxng_settings.yml File

SearXNG has many settings that can be changed in the settings.yml file. To start, we will create a basic file.

nano searxng_settings.yml

Paste the following minimal content. For a complete list of settings, refer to the official SearXNG documentation.

# searxng_settings.yml - Пример базовой конфигурации

# Общие настройки
debug: False
limiter: True # Включить ограничение скорости запросов
user_agent: 'SearXNG/1.3' # Пример user-agent, актуальный на 2026 год

# Настройки приватности
no_cookie_tracking: True
no_session_tracking: True
no_result_urls_tracking: True

# Настройки движков (пример - включены основные)
# Для полного списка и настройки см. https://docs.searxng.org/admin/settings.html#engines
engines:
  - google
  - duckduckgo
  - bing
  - wikipedia
  - startpage
  - yandex

# Настройки интерфейса (опционально)
# theme: simple
# autocomplete: 'duckduckgo'

# Дополнительные опции
# image_proxy: True
# timezone: 'Europe/Moscow'

# Secret key для защиты сессий (ОБЯЗАТЕЛЬНО СГЕНЕРИРУЙТЕ СВОЙ!)
secret_key: "СГЕНЕРИРУЙТЕ_СВОЙ_СЕКРЕТНЫЙ_КЛЮЧ"

Very important: Replace "СГЕНЕРИРУЙТЕ_СВОЙ_СЕКРЕТНЫЙ_КЛЮЧ" with a random string. You can generate it, for example, like this:

python3 -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))'

Copy the generated string and paste it into searxng_settings.yml.

5. Creating the Caddyfile

Caddy will act as a reverse proxy, forwarding requests to SearXNG and automatically configuring HTTPS using Let's Encrypt.

nano Caddyfile

Paste the following content:

ВАШ_ДОМЕН_ДЛЯ_SEARXNG {
    # Замените на ваш домен, например, searx.mydomain.com
    # Caddy автоматически получит SSL-сертификат от Let's Encrypt

    reverse_proxy searxng:8080 {
        # Перенаправляет запросы к SearXNG контейнеру
        header_up Host {host}
        header_up X-Real-IP {remote_ip}
        header_up X-Forwarded-For {remote_ip}
        header_up X-Forwarded-Proto {scheme}
    }

    # Дополнительные заголовки для безопасности (рекомендуется)
    header {
        Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains"
        X-Frame-Options DENY
        X-Content-Type-Options nosniff
        X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"
        Referrer-Policy no-referrer-when-downgrade
    }

    # Логирование (опционально)
    log {
        output file /data/access.log {
            roll_size 10mb
            roll_keep 5
            roll_keep_for 720h
        }
        format json
    }
}

Important: Replace ВАШ_ДОМЕН_ДЛЯ_SEARXNG with your actual domain. Ensure that the DNS A-record for this domain points to your VPS's IP address. Without a correct DNS record, Caddy will not be able to obtain an SSL certificate.

6. Running SearXNG with Docker Compose

After creating all the necessary files, you can start SearXNG.

# Создание директории для данных Caddy и SearXNG
mkdir -p data/caddy data/searxng

# Запуск контейнеров в фоновом режиме
docker compose up -d

# Проверка статуса запущенных контейнеров
docker compose ps

The docker compose ps command should show that the searxng and caddy containers are running and in Up status. If Caddy doesn't start immediately, give it a few minutes to obtain the Let's Encrypt certificate. You can check Caddy's logs if issues arise:

docker compose logs caddy

Now your private metasearch engine SearXNG should be accessible via your domain name over HTTPS.