this looks like it does the trick - first time will issue a config procedure (I know we have redundant files in enigma-bbs-pre but that's a price for the enhanced deployment ease)

docker/Dockerfile

@@ -4,20 +4,12 @@ LABEL maintainer="dave@force9.org"
 
 ENV NVM_DIR /root/.nvm
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive
-
-# enigma storage mounts
-VOLUME /enigma-bbs/art
-VOLUME /enigma-bbs/config
-VOLUME /enigma-bbs/db
-VOLUME /enigma-bbs/filebase
-VOLUME /enigma-bbs/logs
-VOLUME /enigma-bbs/mods
-VOLUME /mail
-
 COPY . /enigma-bbs
 
-# Do some installing!
+# Do some installing! (and alot of cleaning up) keeping it in one step for less docker layers
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
+# - if you need to debug i recommend to break the steps with individual RUNs)
+RUN apt-get update \
+    && apt-get install -y \
     git \
     curl \
     build-essential \
@@ -29,18 +21,35 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
     lhasa \
     unrar-free \
     p7zip-full \
-  && npm install -g pm2 \
+    && npm install -g pm2 \
-  && cd /enigma-bbs && npm install --only=production \
+    &&  cd /enigma-bbs && npm install --only=production \
-  && apt-get remove build-essential python libssl-dev git curl -y && apt-get autoremove -y \
+    && pm2 start main.js \
-  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* /tmp/* /var/tmp/* \
+    &&  mkdir -p /enigma-bbs-pre/art \
-  && apt-get clean
+    && mkdir /enigma-bbs-pre/mods \
+    && mkdir /enigma-bbs-pre/config \
+    && cp -rp art/* ../enigma-bbs-pre/art/ \
+    && cp -rp mods/* ../enigma-bbs-pre/mods/ \
+    && cp -rp config/* ../enigma-bbs-pre/config/ \
+    && apt-get remove build-essential python libssl-dev git curl -y \
+    && apt-get autoremove -y \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* /tmp/* /var/tmp/* \
+    && apt-get clean
 
 # sexyz
 COPY docker/bin/sexyz /usr/local/bin
 
+# enigma storage mounts
+VOLUME /enigma-bbs/art
+VOLUME /enigma-bbs/config
+VOLUME /enigma-bbs/db
+VOLUME /enigma-bbs/filebase
+VOLUME /enigma-bbs/logs
+VOLUME /enigma-bbs/mods
+VOLUME /mail
+
 # Enigma default port
 EXPOSE 8888
 
 WORKDIR /enigma-bbs
 
-CMD ["pm2-runtime", "main.js"]
+ENTRYPOINT ["/enigma-bbs/docker/bin/docker-entrypoint.sh"]

docker/bin/docker-entrypoint.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+prepopvols=("config" "mods" "art")
+bbspath=/enigma-bbs
+bbsstgp=/enigma-bbs-pre
+if [[ ! -f $bbspath/config/config.hjson ]]; then
+    for dir in "${prepopvols[@]}"
+    do
+        if [ -n "$(find "$bbspath/$dir" -maxdepth 0 -type d -empty 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
+            cp -rp $bbsstgp/$dir/* $bbspath/$dir/
+        else
+            echo "WARN skipped $bbspath/$dir - vol Not empty/not a new setup - possible bad state"
+        fi
+    done
+    ./oputil.js config new
+fi
+pm2-runtime main.js

docs/installation/docker.md

@@ -6,20 +6,39 @@ title: Docker
 for every operating system on the [Docker website](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/).**
 
 ## Quick Start
+prepare a folder where you are going to save your bbs files.
+- Generate some config for your BBS: \
+you can perform this step from anywhere - but make sure to consistently run it from the same place to retain your config inside the docker guest
+```
+docker run -it --rm -p 8888:8888 \
+--name "EnigmaBBS" \
+-v "$(pwd)/config:/enigma-bbs/config" \
+-v "$(pwd)/db:/enigma-bbs/db" \
+-v "$(pwd)/logs:/enigma-bbs/logs" \
+-v "$(pwd)/filebase:/enigma-bbs/filebase" \
+-v "$(pwd)/art:/enigma-bbs/art" \
+-v "$(pwd)/mods:/enigma-bbs/mods" \
+-v "$(pwd)/mail:/mail" \
+enigmabbs:latest
+```
+- Run it: \
+you can use the same command as above, just daemonize and drop interactiveness (we needed it for config but most of the time docker will run in the background)
+````
+docker run -d --rm -p 8888:8888 \
+--name "EnigmaBBS" \
+-v "$(pwd)/config:/enigma-bbs/config" \
+-v "$(pwd)/db:/enigma-bbs/db" \
+-v "$(pwd)/logs:/enigma-bbs/logs" \
+-v "$(pwd)/filebase:/enigma-bbs/filebase" \
+-v "$(pwd)/art:/enigma-bbs/art" \
+-v "$(pwd)/mods:/enigma-bbs/mods" \
+-v "$(pwd)/mail:/mail" \
+enigmabbs:latest
+```
 
-- Generate some config for your BBS:
+:bulb: Configuration will be stored in `$(pwd)/enigma-bbs/config`.
-  ```
-  docker run -it -v "${HOME}/enigma-bbs/config:/enigma-bbs/config" enigmabbs/enigma-bbs:latest oputil.js config new
-  ```
 
-- Run it:
+:bulb: Windows users - you'll need to switch out `$(pwd)/enigma-bbs/config` for a Windows-style path.
-  ```
-  docker run -p 8888:8888 -v "${HOME}/enigma-bbs/config:/enigma-bbs/config" enigmabbs/enigma-bbs:latest
-  ```
-
-:bulb: Configuration will be stored in `${HOME}/enigma-bbs/config`.
-
-:bulb: Windows users - you'll need to switch out `${HOME}/enigma-bbs/config` for a Windows-style path.
 
 ## Volumes