Docker Fleet Management for DevOps Teams – Replace SSH, VPNs, and Disconnected Tools with One Secure Platform
One platform replaces your SSH clients, VPN, and container dashboard. Manage every server from anywhere.
Most DevOps teams managing Docker-based infrastructure reach the same inflection point: the toolchain that worked for a few servers starts to show its seams as the fleet grows. SSH sessions multiply. VPN configurations become a maintenance overhead. Container dashboards offer visibility but no automation. CI pipelines trigger builds but not deployments. And every new team member adds another set of credentials to manage and track.
Daployi is Docker fleet management software built to replace this fragmentation – giving DevOps teams a single, secure platform for host access, container deployments, automation, and observability across every server in the fleet.
Eliminate VPNs and SSH Key Management
The Daployi agent communicates outbound from each registered host to the Daployi server. This zero-trust architecture means no inbound firewall ports need to be opened on any machine, and no VPN infrastructure is required to establish a secure connection. DevOps engineers can securely access server terminals, manage files, and trigger deployments from anywhere in the world – without Putty, Termius, or a corporate VPN.
Equally important: SSH key management disappears. Instead of distributing, tracking, and rotating individual SSH keys for every team member and every server, an IT manager creates a user profile in Daployi and grants granular access to specific projects, servers, or device groups. Access is revocable instantly. No credentials are handed to new hires.
The attack surface is dramatically reduced.
Daployi · DevOps access & security
Replace SSH and VPN with zero-trust host access
No open ports. No shared keys. No VPN clients. Secure server access from anywhere — built into your deployment platform.
Traditional SSH & VPN
Inbound ports must be open
SSH and management ports exposed on every server in the fleet.
SSH keys per team member
Keys distributed, tracked, and rotated manually across every server and engineer.
VPN required for remote access
Each engineer needs a configured VPN client to reach internal infrastructure.
Onboarding requires credentials
New hires receive direct server credentials — increasing the attack surface immediately.
Offboarding is slow and fragile
Revoking a departing engineer’s access requires removing keys from every server manually.
No access audit trail
No central record of who accessed which server, when, or what they changed.
With Daployi
Zero open inbound ports
Agent initiates outbound connections only. No firewall exceptions required.
Role-based access control
Users get granular, project-scoped permissions — no SSH keys to distribute or rotate.
Access from anywhere, no VPN
In-browser terminal and file browser work from any network — no VPN client needed.
Onboarding in minutes
Create a user profile, assign project access. No credentials handed to new hires.
Instant centralised offboarding
Revoke access once in Daployi — takes effect across every server immediately.
Full audit trail, always on
Every session, command, and file operation logged centrally and filterable.
The practical impact for DevOps teams
Faster onboarding
New engineers are productive in minutes — not hours spent configuring VPN and SSH.
Reduced attack surface
No open ports, no shared credentials, no VPN exposure — across every server in the fleet.
Work from anywhere
Full terminal and file access from any browser, any network — no VPN, no Putty, no Termius.
Audit-ready by default
Every action logged automatically — no extra tooling needed for compliance or incident reviews.
0open ports
No inbound firewall exposure on any server.
0SSH keys
No keys to distribute, track, rotate, or revoke.
100%logged
Every session and action recorded centrally.
Native CI/CD Integration Built for Docker Fleets
Docker does not natively support automated CI/CD deployments across a fleet of hosts. The common workaround – Watchtower – is a basic open-source tool that monitors image changes on a per-device basis but offers no pipeline integration, variable support, or on-demand triggering.
Daployi fills this gap with a purpose-built REST API and a native GitHub Action. When a new image is built and tested, the pipeline triggers Daployi to roll out the update across every target server automatically. Pre- and post-deploy scripts run as part of the rollout. Every deployment is tied to a template version with a full audit trail from commit to production. GitLab CI, Jenkins, and any pipeline supporting HTTP requests are all compatible.
Deployment Templates and Global Variables
Daployi’s deployment templates define the complete deployment configuration – Docker Compose files, environment variables, pre- and post-deploy scripts, and alert settings – in a single versioned object. Roll out a template to one server or a hundred with a single action.
For DevOps teams dealing with complex JSON configurations or multi-line environment variables, Daployi includes a multi-line variable editor that allows clean formatting during editing. At deployment time, the system automatically strips the formatting back to a single line – ensuring environment variables are never broken by formatting artefacts.
Global variables defined at the template level are available across Compose files, scripts, and deployment configurations fleet-wide – eliminating per-device configuration steps and preventing drift.
Scripts in Daployi run with full root access to the host machine, enabling complete control over the server environment – not just the container layer. Advanced script triggers give DevOps teams precise control over execution timing:
Daployi · Script automation
Advanced script triggers
Full root access. Four trigger modes. Total control over when and how scripts run across your entire fleet.
The four trigger modes
Additional scripting capabilities
Full root access
Scripts run with full root access to the host OS — not just the container layer. Total control over the underlying machine.
Parameterised variables
Define global variables operators fill in at runtime — date ranges, file paths, batch sizes — without editing the underlying script.
Conditional execution
Scripts check device-side conditions before acting — verify a process is idle before pulling a new image, preventing data loss mid-update.
4trigger modes
Precise control over when every script runs.
Rootaccess
Full host OS control — not limited to the container layer.
Fleetwide
Execute across any number of hosts in a single action.
Conditional deployments are also supported. Scripts can check device-side conditions before pulling a new image – for example, verifying that a process is idle before applying an update – preventing data loss or service interruption during rolling deployments.
Streamlined Team Onboarding and Access Control
Role-based access control in Daployi is project-scoped. Team members are assigned roles that define exactly what they can see and do – a junior engineer might have permission to view metrics and deploy from existing templates, while a senior engineer has full administrative control. Projects are fully isolated from one another.
Onboarding a new team member means creating a user profile and assigning project access – not distributing SSH keys, configuring VPN clients, or granting direct server credentials. Offboarding is equally clean: access is revoked centrally and takes effect immediately.
Observability and Audit Trails
Daployi provides real-time CPU, memory, disk, and network metrics for every registered host, alongside uptime monitoring, a process viewer, and a deployment history log – all in one dashboard. Customisable alerts notify teams via Slack, Discord, or webhooks when containers fail, devices go offline, or resource thresholds are breached.
Every deployment, terminal session, script execution, configuration change, and API call is recorded in a full audit trail, filterable by project, user, event type, and time range. This supports both internal incident investigations and compliance requirements without additional tooling.
One-Click Rollback and Deployment Safety
Every deployment is versioned. If a release causes issues, reverting to the previous working state – including Compose files, environment variables, and full configuration – takes a single click and can be applied fleet-wide simultaneously. Daployi also supports scheduled deployment windows: devices can receive notification of a new version from the CI pipeline but only apply the update at a scheduled time or when a specific device-side condition is met – critical for teams managing production infrastructure with defined maintenance windows.
How Daployi Compares to Portainer for Server Fleet Management
Portainer is a capable tool for managing containers on individual servers. For teams managing a growing fleet of Docker hosts, however, its limitations become apparent: no cross-node script execution, no native CI/CD integration for container fleets, no global variables for parameterised deployments, and alerts only via external plugins. Daployi was designed specifically for fleet-scale operations, making it a more capable choice for DevOps teams managing distributed Docker infrastructure.
Daployi · Platform comparison
Daployi vs Portainer for Docker fleet management
Portainer excels at single-server visibility. Daployi is built for the fleet — CI/CD, cross-node scripting, global variables, and built-in alerts included.
When to choose each platform
Choose Portainer if…
You are managing containers on a single server or a very small cluster, primarily need a UI for container visibility, and do not require fleet-wide automation, scripting, or CI/CD pipeline integration.
Choose Daployi if…
You are managing a growing fleet of Docker hosts, need CI/CD pipeline integration, want to run scripts across multiple nodes simultaneously, or require built-in alerts and global variable management.
7features ahead
Daployi leads on every fleet-critical capability.
1platform
Replaces SSH clients, VPN, dashboards, and CI plugins.
0plugins needed
Alerts, CI, scripting, and access all built in natively.
Docker and Podman Support
Daployi is optimised for both Docker and Podman environments. Teams running Podman-based container infrastructure can register their hosts and manage deployments, scripts, templates, and observability through Daployi in exactly the same way as Docker-based environments.