ente-cli

Minimal Alpine container for the Ente CLI with configurable loop or cron scheduling for automated exports.

Built from source on every push via GitHub Actions and published to Docker Hub.

Features

• Static ente-cli binary built from the latest ente-io/ente source
• Loop-based scheduled exports by default
• Optional Alpine BusyBox cron scheduling (configurable via environment variables or a mounted crontab)
• Minimal image (~15 MB, Alpine + binary + BusyBox crond)
• No CGO dependencies

Quick Start

# Create directories
mkdir -p cli-data export

# Start
docker compose up -d

# One-time login
docker exec -it ente-cli /usr/local/bin/ente-cli account add

Docker Compose Examples

The following examples use the same data volumes and differ only in the scheduler configuration. Use one of them as your compose.yaml.

Loop scheduler

This is the default. It runs an export immediately when the container starts, then waits six hours between runs.

services:
  ente-cli:
    image: wittchy/ente-cli:${IMAGE_TAG:-latest}
    container_name: ente-cli
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      SCHEDULER: loop
      LOOP_INTERVAL: 21600
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-size: "10m"
        max-file: "3"
    volumes:
      - ${ENTE_DATA_PATH}/cli-data:/cli-data:rw
      - ${ENTE_DATA_PATH}/data:/data:rw
    networks:
      - proxy

networks:
  proxy:
    external: true

Cron scheduler

This uses Alpine BusyBox crond and runs exports at the scheduled clock times. The container generates its crontab from CRON_SCHEDULE.

Cron runs one export immediately at container startup, then waits for the next matching clock time. A schedule such as 0 */6 * * * therefore runs once on startup and subsequently at six-hour boundaries.

services:
  ente-cli:
    image: wittchy/ente-cli:${IMAGE_TAG:-latest}
    container_name: ente-cli
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      SCHEDULER: cron
      CRON_SCHEDULE: "0 */6 * * *"
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-size: "10m"
        max-file: "3"
    volumes:
      - ${ENTE_DATA_PATH}/cli-data:/cli-data:rw
      - ${ENTE_DATA_PATH}/data:/data:rw
    networks:
      - proxy

networks:
  proxy:
    external: true

Scheduling Configuration

For the loop scheduler, set the interval in seconds:

environment:
  SCHEDULER: loop
  LOOP_INTERVAL: 21600

For the cron scheduler, set a standard five-field cron expression:

environment:
  SCHEDULER: cron
  CRON_SCHEDULE: "0 */6 * * *"

In cron mode, the container creates /etc/crontabs/root from CRON_SCHEDULE when that file does not already exist. To manage the complete crontab yourself, mount it at that path:

environment:
  SCHEDULER: cron
volumes:
  - ${ENTE_CRONTAB_PATH}:/etc/crontabs/root:ro

The mounted file must contain the full BusyBox crontab entry, including the command. For example:

Schedule	Crontab line
Daily at 2 AM	0 2 * * * /entrypoint.sh --run-export >> /proc/1/fd/1 2>&1
Every 6 hours	0 */6 * * * /entrypoint.sh --run-export >> /proc/1/fd/1 2>&1
Every 30 minutes	*/30 * * * * /entrypoint.sh --run-export >> /proc/1/fd/1 2>&1

Full format:

0 */6 * * * /entrypoint.sh --run-export >> /proc/1/fd/1 2>&1

crond runs in the foreground in cron mode, so it remains the container's main process. BusyBox scheduler diagnostics and both scheduler modes' export start message, command output, and completion message are written to standard output, so they are visible in Docker, Portainer, and Arcane live logs. BusyBox cron uses the container's timezone; configure the timezone if local-time scheduling is required.

At startup, the container also logs the selected scheduler, for example:

Selected scheduler: loop (every 21600 seconds)

or:

Selected scheduler: cron
Starting Alpine BusyBox crond in foreground (logging to stdout)...

CLI Usage

# List accounts
docker exec -it ente-cli /usr/local/bin/ente-cli account list

# Run an export manually
docker exec -it ente-cli /usr/local/bin/ente-cli export

Volumes

Path	Purpose
/cli-data	Account credentials & config (persist across restarts)
/data	Export destination (decrypted files)
/etc/crontabs/root	Optional cron schedule (mounted read-only)

Building

The image is built automatically by GitHub Actions on every push to main and pushed to wittchy/ente-cli:latest on Docker Hub.

To build locally:

docker build -t wittchy/ente-cli:latest .

Security Notes

• Exports are decrypted on disk — protect the /data and /cli-data volumes
• Back up /cli-data to avoid re-authenticating
• Do not expose the Docker host or Portainer to the internet

License

The ente-cli binary is licensed under AGPL-3.0.