ngosang/docker-amule

ngosang/amule

aMule is a multi-platform client for the ED2K file sharing network and based on the windows client eMule. aMule started in August 2003, as a fork of xMule, which is a fork of lMule.

Docker Images

The image is based on debian:trixie-slim and compiles aMule from source code.

Docker images are available in DockerHub and GHCR.

docker pull ngosang/amule
# or
docker pull ghcr.io/ngosang/amule

Docker Tags

Stable:

• latest — Latest stable release.
• 3.0.0-1 — Specific stable version.

Development:

• develop — Latest development build (compiled from aMule master branch).
• develop-20260512-abc1234 — Specific development build: date + aMule upstream commit.

Debug:

• debug — Latest debug build (compiled from aMule master branch).
• debug-20260512-abc1234 — Specific debug build: date + aMule upstream commit.

[!NOTE] The debug images are compiled in Debug mode (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug, full symbols, no optimizations) and ship with the debugging tools gdb, strace, lsof and heaptrack preinstalled, so you can debug crashes and memory issues of the aMule development builds. As a result they are larger and slower than the stable and develop images and are not intended for production use. The stable and develop images are regular optimized builds without these tools.

Supported Architectures

The architectures supported by this image are:

• linux/386
• linux/amd64
• linux/arm/v5
• linux/arm/v7
• linux/arm64/v8
• linux/ppc64le
• linux/riscv64
• linux/s390x

Application Setup

The web interface is at: <your-ip>:4711

[!NOTE] If you don't set GUI_PWD / WEBUI_PWD, a random password is generated on the first start and printed to the container logs. Run docker logs amule to retrieve it.

For better download speed you have to open these ports:

• 4662 TCP
• 4665 UDP
• 4672 UDP

Usage

Here are some example snippets to help you get started creating a container.

[!NOTE] When you start aMule all shared folders are scanned. The user interface will not be available until the process is finished. You can check the logs and CPU usage to know the status.

docker-compose

Compatible with docker-compose v2 schemas.

---
services:
  amule:
    image: ngosang/amule
    container_name: amule
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/London
      - GUI_PWD=<fill_password>
      - WEBUI_PWD=<fill_password>
      - MOD_AUTO_RESTART_ENABLED=true
      - MOD_AUTO_RESTART_CRON=0 6 * * *
      - MOD_AUTO_SHARE_ENABLED=false
      - MOD_AUTO_SHARE_DIRECTORIES=/downloads/incoming;/my_movies
    ports:
      - "4711:4711" # Web interface (amuleweb)
      - "4712:4712" # External connections (amulegui, amulecmd, amuleweb)
      - "4662:4662" # ED2K client-to-client TCP (required for High ID)
      - "4665:4665/udp" # ED2K server UDP (global searches, TCP port +3)
      - "4672:4672/udp" # Extended eMule protocol and Kademlia UDP
    volumes:
      - <fill_amule_configuration_path>:/home/amule/.aMule
      - <fill_amule_downloads_path>:/downloads
    restart: unless-stopped

[!NOTE] aMule stores completed downloads in /downloads/incoming and incomplete downloads in /downloads/temp inside the container. These paths can be changed with the INCOMING_DIR and TEMP_DIR environment variables. You can also mount /downloads/incoming and /downloads/temp as separate volumes, but be aware that completed files will be copied instead of moved, since they would reside on different filesystems.

docker cli

docker run -d \
  --name=amule \
  -p 4711:4711 \
  -p 4712:4712 \
  -p 4662:4662 \
  -p 4665:4665/udp \
  -p 4672:4672/udp \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=Europe/London \
  -e GUI_PWD=<fill_password> `#optional` \
  -e WEBUI_PWD=<fill_password> `#optional` \
  -e MOD_AUTO_RESTART_ENABLED=true `#optional` \
  -e 'MOD_AUTO_RESTART_CRON=0 6 * * *' `#optional` \
  -e MOD_AUTO_SHARE_ENABLED=false `#optional` \
  -e MOD_AUTO_SHARE_DIRECTORIES=/downloads/incoming;/my_movies `#optional` \
  -v <fill_amule_configuration_path>:/home/amule/.aMule \
  -v <fill_amule_downloads_path>:/downloads \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  ngosang/amule

Parameters

Container images are configured using parameters passed at runtime (such as those above). These parameters are separated by a colon and indicate <external>:<internal> respectively. For example, -p 8080:80 would expose port 80 from inside the container to be accessible from the host's IP on port 8080 outside the container.

User / Group Identifiers

When using volumes (-v flags) permissions issues can arise between the host OS and the container, we avoid this issue by allowing you to specify the user PUID and group PGID.

Ensure any volume directories on the host are owned by the same user you specify and any permissions issues will vanish like magic.

In this instance PUID=1000 and PGID=1000, to find yours use id user as below:

  $ id username
    uid=1000(dockeruser) gid=1000(dockergroup) groups=1000(dockergroup)

Custom Web UI theme

The Docker image ships with the default aMule Web UI theme. The previously bundled AmuleWebUI-Reloaded theme has been removed because it is not compatible with aMule 3.0.0.

You can still use a custom theme by mounting it as an external volume inside the web server templates directory (/usr/share/amule/webserver/<ThemeName>) and pointing the Template option to it in the amule.conf file:

services:
  amule:
    # ... rest of the service definition ...
    volumes:
      - /path/to/my-theme:/usr/share/amule/webserver/MyTheme

Then edit the amule.conf file and set Template=MyTheme. Leave Template= empty to use the default theme.

UPnP

[!NOTE] The normal configuration uses the default bridge networking with the ports: mappings shown above, forwarding those ports on your router manually if needed. Only use UPnP if your router supports it and you specifically want automatic port forwarding, or if you are stuck with a Low ID and cannot forward ports by hand.

aMule is compiled with UPnP support, which lets aMule automatically open the required ports on a UPnP-capable router so you get a High ID without manually forwarding ports.

UPnP needs direct access to the host network to talk to the router, so it only works when the container runs with host networking. Set network_mode: host and do not add a ports: section: in host networking the container shares the host network stack directly, so the ports: mappings are ignored.

---
services:
  amule:
    image: ngosang/amule
    container_name: amule
    network_mode: host   # required for UPnP (do not add a `ports:` section)
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/London
      - GUI_PWD=<fill_password>
      - WEBUI_PWD=<fill_password>
    volumes:
      - <fill_amule_configuration_path>:/home/amule/.aMule
      - <fill_amule_downloads_path>:/downloads
    restart: unless-stopped

You also have to enable UPnP in aMule itself, then restart the container. In amule.conf set UPnPEnabled=1, which forwards the eD2k TCP port (4662) and the UDP ports (4665, 4672). Optionally UPnPECEnabled=1 forwards the External Connections port and UPnPWebServerEnabled=1 forwards the Web UI port.

[!NOTE] UPnPTCPPort (default 50000) is not a forwarded port — it is the local port aMule's UPnP stack uses to communicate with the router. Leave it at the default unless it conflicts with another service. If you run a local firewall, allow local TCP 50000 and UDP 1900.

Modifications

The Docker image includes some unofficial features. All of them are optional.

Auto restart mod

We have implemented a cron scheduler to restart aMule from time to time. To enable this mod set these environment variables:

• MOD_AUTO_RESTART_ENABLED=true
• MOD_AUTO_RESTART_CRON=0 6 * * * => Cron mask is configurable. In the example it restarts everyday at 6:00h.

Auto share mod

By default, aMule only shares the "incoming" directory and shared folders cannot be selected in the Web UI.

We have added this option in the Docker image. The configuration is updated when the container starts. It writes the listed directories as recursive shared roots (shareddir-recursive.dat), so aMule shares each directory together with all of its sub-directories. New sub-directories created later are shared automatically too (see AutoRescanSharedDirs below). aMule regenerates shareddir.dat (the union of all shared directories) on startup.

• MOD_AUTO_SHARE_ENABLED=true
• MOD_AUTO_SHARE_DIRECTORIES=/downloads/incoming;/my_movies => List of directories separated by semicolon ';'. Subdirectories will be shared too.

Shared directories scanning

These options are enabled by default in the generated amule.conf and control how aMule scans the shared directories. You can change them by editing amule.conf in the config volume.

• AutoRescanSharedDirs=1 => aMule watches the shared directories and detects changes (new files and sub-directories) automatically, without a manual "Reload shared files". New sub-directories under a recursive root are shared on the fly. Set to 0 to disable the watcher.
• FollowSymlinksInShares=1 => aMule follows symbolic links while scanning the shared directories. Set to 0 to skip symlinked files and directories entirely.