2.6 -- Folder Structure

Context

Before installing services, create a consistent folder hierarchy. This prevents the "files everywhere" effect that makes maintenance impossible. This convention is used throughout the playbook.

Step 1: Create the Folder Structure

$ mkdir -p ~/docker/vault
$ mkdir -p ~/docker/postgres
$ mkdir -p ~/scripts
$ mkdir -p ~/backups/postgres
$ mkdir -p ~/backups/vault
$ mkdir -p ~/logs

Resulting Folder Structure

~/
├── docker/
│   ├── vault/              # docker-compose.yml + Vault config
│   │   ├── docker-compose.yml
│   │   ├── config/
│   │   └── data/
│   └── postgres/           # docker-compose.yml + PostgreSQL data
│       ├── docker-compose.yml
│       └── data/
├── scripts/                # Custom scripts (health check, deploy, backup)
│   ├── health-check.sh
│   ├── deploy.sh
│   └── backup-postgres.sh
├── backups/                # Local backups
│   ├── postgres/           # SQL dumps
│   └── vault/              # Vault snapshots
├── logs/                   # Application logs (outside journalctl)
└── .openclaw/              # Created automatically by OpenClaw (section 11)

Conventions

Step 2: Make Scripts Executable

The folder is empty for now, but get into the habit:

$ chmod +x ~/scripts/*.sh 2>/dev/null || true

Common Mistakes

• Putting all docker-compose.yml files in the same place: Each service gets its own folder. Otherwise volumes will mix.
• Creating folders as root: Create everything as deploy (your user). Otherwise Docker will hit permission issues.
• Forgetting the backups folder: Backups are configured in the following sections. The folder must exist.

Verification

$ ls -la ~/docker/
$ ls -la ~/scripts/
$ ls -la ~/backups/

Expected results: the folders exist and belong to your user (not root).

Estimated Time

5 minutes.