BenchPress

Press a button. Get a Frappe bench. Self-hosted, Docker-powered, VPN-secured.

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The Problem

Setting up a Frappe/ERPNext development environment is painful:

1. Manual setup — Install bench CLI, MariaDB, Redis, Node.js, wkhtmltopdf, and a dozen other dependencies
2. Dependency conflicts — Different projects need different versions, and your OS gets polluted
3. No isolation — One broken bench can affect everything on your machine
4. No remote access — Team members can't SSH into each other's dev environments
5. Repetitive work — Every new project means repeating the same 30-minute setup ritual

There's no simple way to say "Give me a fresh Frappe bench with ERPNext and HRMS" and have it running in minutes.

The Solution

BenchPress is a self-hosted Frappe Cloud alternative built as a Frappe app. It automates the entire bench lifecycle through a web UI:

1. Create a Lab — Define a template with your desired apps (CRM, ERPNext, HRMS, etc.) and resource limits
2. Build once — Docker image with all apps baked in, cached for instant reuse
3. Deploy in clicks — Each bench runs in its own Docker container with MariaDB, Redis, and all services included
4. SSH via WireGuard — Secure VPN access into any container, no exposed ports
5. Real-time logs — Watch Docker builds and deployments stream live in the browser

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   BenchPress (Frappe App)             │
│                                                      │
│  Labs (Templates)          Bench Instances           │
│  ┌──────────────┐         ┌─────────────────────┐    │
│  │ CRM Lab      │─deploy─→│ Container           │    │
│  │ • frappe+crm │         │ • MariaDB + Redis   │    │
│  │ • 512m, 1cpu │         │ • SSH + WireGuard   │    │
│  └──────────────┘         │ • bench start       │    │
│  ┌──────────────┐         └─────────────────────┘    │
│  │ ERP Lab      │─deploy─→│ Container           │    │
│  │ • frappe+erp │         │ • Full ERP stack    │    │
│  │ • 1g, 2cpu   │         │ • WG IP: 10.10.0.3 │    │
│  └──────────────┘         └─────────────────────┘    │
│                                                      │
│  Docker Engine ←──── Docker SDK (Python)             │
│  WireGuard     ←──── wg CLI (subprocess)             │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

How It Works

• Lab = A reusable template defining which Frappe apps to install, the Frappe version, and resource limits (CPU, memory). Created via the Desk UI.
• Build = Docker image with all apps baked in during docker build. Built once per lab, cached for all future deploys.
• Deploy = Spin up a container from the lab image → start MariaDB/Redis/SSH → configure WireGuard VPN → create Frappe site → install apps.
• Access = SSH into the container via WireGuard VPN (ssh frappe@10.10.0.X), run bench start, and access your Frappe site.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Backend	Frappe Framework (Python)
Frontend	HTML/CSS/JS + Bootstrap 5 (no build step)
Containers	Docker (Python SDK)
VPN	WireGuard (kernel-level, host-managed)
Database	MariaDB (inside each container)
Queue	Redis + RQ (inside each container)
Realtime	Frappe WebSocket (frappe.publish_realtime)

Features

• Lab Templates — Define reusable bench configurations with apps, versions, and resource limits
• One-Click Deploy — Background job handles image build, container creation, site setup
• Live Build Logs — GitHub CI-style log viewer with realtime streaming via WebSocket
• WireGuard VPN — Auto-configured per container, SSH access without exposing ports
• Resource Controls — CPU and memory limits per lab, configurable from the UI
• Container Management — Start, stop, restart, delete benches from the dashboard
• Stats Monitoring — CPU and memory usage polled every 2 minutes
• Site Management — Create multiple Frappe sites per bench, install apps per site

Installation

Prerequisites

• A running Frappe bench (v15+)
• Docker Engine installed and running
• WireGuard installed on the host (wg and wg-quick commands)
• The bench user must be in the docker group

Setup

# Get the app
bench get-app https://github.com/user/benchpress --branch develop
bench --site your-site install-app benchpress
bench --site your-site migrate

# Install the Docker SDK
bench pip install docker

# Start the bench
bench start

Configure

1. Go to BenchPress Settings in the Desk
2. Set the Docker socket path (default: unix:///var/run/docker.sock)
3. Set the base domain and WireGuard server details
4. Create your first Lab with the desired apps
5. Click Actions > Build Image to build the Docker image
6. Create a Bench Instance from the lab and deploy

Development

# Clear cache after changes
bench --site your-site clear-cache

# Run migrations after DocType changes
bench --site your-site migrate

# Run linters
cd apps/benchpress
pre-commit run --all-files

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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Built for FOSS Hack 2026 by Venkatesh