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Getting started: Starting Quill

Achieved so far in Getting Started:
Signing up - your deployment has a name, a license key, and a dashboard API key.

Prerequisites​

Before starting Quill, make sure you have:

  • Docker, on the machine that will run Quill, at the public IP address you gave at sign-up.
    • Docker Desktop on Windows and macOS, or Docker Engine on Linux.
  • Port 443 available on Quill's machine.
  • Internet access from Quill's machine to Docker Hub and to api.ravendb.net.
  • The Docker command and the dashboard API key you copied at the end of signing up.
    • The command carries your license key.
    • The API key signs you into the management dashboard.

Starting Quill​

Running the Docker command​

Open a terminal on Quill's machine and run the Docker command.
Its two forms differ only in the character that continues a command across lines.

docker run --sig-proxy=false --name quill-baloo \
  -p 443:443 \
  -e QUILL_LICENSE_KEY=QUILL-... \
  -e QUILL_API_KEY=primary/QUILLDASH-... \
  -v quill-baloo-data:/var/lib/quill \
  ravendb/quill-nightly:latest

The Docker command carries your license key and your dashboard API key: share it with no one.
For example, pasting the command into a support ticket or a chat exposes both keys.

The command's parts:

PartDescription
--sig-proxy=falseQuill runs in the terminal you start it in, where an interruption, e.g., Ctrl+C, would ordinarily reach the container and stop it. This setting keeps interruptions from reaching Quill, so it will keep on running.
--name quill-balooNames the container quill- followed by your deployment's name, so later commands can address Quill by name.
-p 443:443Publishes port 443, Quill's only external port.
-e QUILL_LICENSE_KEY=...Your license key, which Quill uses to fetch the certificate and configuration for your domain.
-e QUILL_API_KEY=...Your dashboard API key, exactly as issued, prefix included.
-v quill-baloo-data:/var/lib/quillA Docker volume holding everything Quill keeps: its settings, its certificate, and your mirrored data. When Quill is updated, the new container mounts this same volume.
ravendb/quill-nightly:latestQuill's image.

The Docker command does not return to the prompt.
Quill goes on running even after you close the terminal you ran it in, since its container is run by the Docker service.

Watching Quill come up​

Quill reports its progress in the terminal you ran the Docker command in, one line at a time, with the seconds elapsed since the container started.
The first run is longer, since Quill also fetches the certificate and configuration for your domain.

  Logs:      /var/lib/quill/logs/{ravendb,web,proxy,certwatch}.log
2026-08-26 10:23:42  Sharpening the quill... (5s)
2026-08-26 10:23:48  Warming up the inkwell... (10s)
2026-08-26 10:23:53  Dipping the quill... (15s)
2026-08-26 10:23:58  Unrolling the parchment... (20s)
2026-08-26 10:24:03  Status:    READY
                     Dashboard: https://dashboard.baloo.myquill.ai
                     Database:  https://db.baloo.myquill.ai

  • Status: READY: indicates that your deployment can be accessed.
  • Dashboard: this is where you sign in to manage Quill.
  • Database: reaches the RavenDB server inside the container, allowing you to read the mirrored data directly.

When Quill does not come up​

If Quill stops before reaching Status: READY, the terminal reports the failure.

  • A failed activation prints Status: FAILED, a Reason: naming what went wrong, and a Details: line naming the log the error is written to.

    2026-09-03 13:12:37  Sharpening the quill... (5s)
    2026-09-03 13:12:42  Status:    FAILED
                         Reason:    activation failed: the license key was not recognized
                         Details:   /var/lib/quill/logs/web.log

  • Two kinds of failure print an ERROR: message and a Details: line naming the log the error is written to.

    • Quill was started without its license key:

      2026-09-03 13:09:50  ERROR:     QUILL_LICENSE_KEY is not set, so the appliance cannot activate.
                           Details:   /var/lib/quill/logs/web.log

    • Quill did not become ready within its startup grace period:

      2026-09-03 13:14:20  ERROR:     still not ready after 180s.
                           Details:   /var/lib/quill/logs/web.log

  • To read the log that holds the error, replace <name> in the command below with your deployment name and <log> with the file named on the Details: line, then run the command:

    docker exec quill-<name> sh -c "tail -40 /var/lib/quill/logs/<log>"

    e.g., for the deployment baloo and the failures above:

    docker exec quill-baloo sh -c "tail -40 /var/lib/quill/logs/web.log"

Signing in to the management dashboard​

Open the Dashboard address the terminal printed (e.g., https://dashboard.baloo.myquill.ai) in a browser.
Quill asks for the dashboard API key that was displayed and sent to you by email at the end of signing up.

Sign in

  1. Dashboard API key
    Enter the dashboard API key you copied at the end of signing up.

  2. Continue
    Click to sign in.
    The management dashboard opens on My apps, where Connecting your database begins.

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