Deploy Zela

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Manage your Docker servers and the apps on them from one web dashboard.

Manage your Docker servers and the apps on them from one web dashboard.

Zela is an open-source control plane for Docker clusters. Connect your own Linux servers as workers, deploy container images to them, watch health and logs, and replace failed copies automatically. It includes encrypted networking between servers and MCP support so an AI assistant can help operate the cluster. The template runs the manager from the repository's Dockerfile, keeping its state in files with no database to set up.

Deploy Zela to NEXUS AI · Zela on GitHub · Tested 2026-10-18 · Apache-2.0 license

Security

Sign-in is required from the first start. Zela creates a random 64-character token in /data/admin-token, and its API answers 401 without it. Keep the token private: it is your administrator password.

What gets created

Before you deploy

How to deploy

  1. Press Deploy. Sign in or create a NEXUS AI account and you return to the same page.
  2. Choose a name for your URL, review the settings, and press Deploy again.
  3. Wait for the build, then open your URL when the status is Running.

After it deploys

  1. Read your sign-in token: nexus exec <deployment-id> cat /data/admin-token
  2. Open your URL and paste the token into the sign-in screen
  3. Connect your first server as a worker by following the Zela live setup guide

Your data

Zela keeps its state in files under /data inside the container. Stopping and starting keeps them; rebuilding the deployment starts fresh with a new token.

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About NEXUS AI

NEXUS AI is an agentic AI app builder and full-stack deployment platform. Explore the AI App Builder, learn more on the About page, read the documentation, or contact the team through nexusai.run/contact.

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