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Version: v2

Frequently Asked Questions

Container startup​

The container starts but the marketplace is empty​

The marketplace catalog is downloaded from an OCI image at startup. If the download fails (no internet access, image pull timeout, or first-boot race) the marketplace will be empty.

Force a fresh download on the next startup:

docker run ... -e CATALOG_INDEX_REFRESH=true veecode/devportal:2.1.3

The default catalog image is quay.io/veecode/plugin-catalog-index:latest. Override it with CATALOG_INDEX_IMAGE if you host it internally.

The container exits immediately after starting​

Check the logs:

docker logs devportal

Common causes:

  • A required environment variable for one of the selected presets is missing (e.g., GITLAB_HOST is unset for the gitlab preset). The entrypoint logs exactly which variable is missing before exiting with code 78.
  • Two identity presets were selected at once (e.g., github-auth,gitlab). Only one identity preset can be active. The container exits with code 78 and names the conflicting presets.
  • The app-config.local.yaml mount path is wrong or the file has a syntax error. Backstage will fail to start if any mounted config file is invalid YAML.
  • Port 7007 is already in use on the host.

I set a key in app-config.local.yaml but it has no effect​

Config files are merged in a 7-layer order. Your app-config.local.yaml is layer 5, but plugin-generated config (dynamic-plugins-root/app-config.dynamic-plugins.yaml) is layer 6 and loads after it. A plugin's pluginConfig block in dynamic-plugins.yaml can override keys from your local.yaml. See Custom Configuration for the full merge order.

Authentication​

GitLab OAuth sign-in is not working​

Check that you are using the correct variable names. The gitlab preset reads GITLAB_AUTH_CLIENT_ID and GITLAB_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET. Using GITLAB_CLIENT_ID or GITLAB_CLIENT_SECRET will not work.

Also verify the redirect URI in your GitLab OAuth Application matches exactly:

http://localhost:7007/api/auth/gitlab/handler/frame

GitHub sign-in is not working​

The github-auth preset uses GitHub OAuth App credentials for sign-in:

  • GITHUB_AUTH_CLIENT_ID — OAuth App client ID
  • GITHUB_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET — OAuth App client secret

Also include the github preset (which provides SCM catalog access via GITHUB_PAT + GITHUB_ORG). The typical combination is VEECODE_PRESETS=recommended,veecode-theme,github,github-auth.

Keycloak authentication fails at sign-in​

Confirm KEYCLOAK_BASE_URL and KEYCLOAK_REALM are correct — the discovery URL is built from them ($KEYCLOAK_BASE_URL/realms/$KEYCLOAK_REALM). To verify the resolved value, read the preset config directly: docker exec devportal cat /app/app-config.preset-keycloak.yaml.

Also confirm the redirect URI in your Keycloak client:

http://localhost:7007/api/auth/oidc/handler/frame

Presets​

Which preset combination should I use?​

SituationRecommended VEECODE_PRESETS
Just exploring, no authrecommended,veecode-theme
GitHub repos + team sign-inrecommended,veecode-theme,github,github-auth
GitLab repos + sign-inrecommended,veecode-theme,gitlab
Azure DevOps repos + sign-inrecommended,veecode-theme,azure,azure-auth
Keycloak SSOrecommended,veecode-theme,keycloak
OpenLDAP / FreeIPArecommended,veecode-theme,ldap
Microsoft Active Directoryrecommended,veecode-theme,ldap,ldap-ad

Note: ldap-ad is not an identity preset — it's a composition layer that overrides ldap defaults for Active Directory.

I set VEECODE_PRESETS but nothing changed​

Preset names are case-sensitive and lowercase. Check the container logs at startup — the entrypoint logs VEECODE: applying preset "<name>" for each active preset. If the line is absent, the variable was not passed to the container.

note

If you migrated from V1 and still have VEECODE_PROFILE in your environment, the entrypoint ignores it and emits a warning. Replace it with VEECODE_PRESETS.

Plugins​

How do I enable a bundled plugin?​

The easiest path is the in-portal Marketplace — search for the plugin and click Enable. Alternatively, add an entry to your operator dynamic-plugins.yaml:

plugins:
  - package: 'oci://${PLUGIN_REGISTRY}/backstage-plugin-kubernetes:bs_1.52.0__0.12.20!backstage-plugin-kubernetes'
    disabled: false

See Dynamic Plugins for mount instructions.

Why do I only set plugins: in dynamic-plugins.yaml, not includes:?​

In V2 the entrypoint owns the includes: chain. On every boot it copies your mounted dynamic-plugins.yaml to a writable shadow and rebuilds includes: to prepend the marketplace state and each selected preset's plugin fragment. Any includes: you write yourself is replaced.

So you provide only a top-level plugins: list:

plugins:
  - package: './dynamic-plugins/dist/my-plugin-dynamic'
    disabled: false

You cannot accidentally lose the pre-installed plugins — the core plugins are declared directly in dynamic-plugins.yaml with preInstalled: true and are always merged in. (This differs from V1, where the defaults had to be included manually.) If your mounted dynamic-plugins.yaml is malformed YAML, the boot aborts with exit code 78 rather than silently dropping plugins.

Kubernetes install​

How do I install DevPortal V2 on Kubernetes?​

The canonical path is the veecode-devportal-platform Helm chart published in the next-charts repo:

helm repo add next-charts https://veecode-platform.github.io/next-charts
helm repo update next-charts
helm search repo veecode-devportal-platform   # → chart 0.1.0, app 2.1.3

Create a Secret with the variables required by your chosen presets (see the per-preset matrix), then install:

helm install devportal next-charts/veecode-devportal-platform \
  --set 'presets={recommended,github,github-auth}' \
  --set existingSecret=my-devportal-creds

Use existingSecret (a Secret you manage) for production. The credentials: { KEY: value } values shortcut is available for development but stores credentials in the Helm release in plaintext.

If you prefer not to use Helm, the raw examples/deploy/k8s.yaml in the devportal-platform repo is the no-Helm fallback, but the Helm chart is the recommended path for any ongoing deployment. See Kubernetes (Helm chart) for the full install guide.

Getting more help​

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