# Nakama docker-compose fails with "compose file is invalid; services.nakama.depends\_on contains an invalid type"

**URL:** <https://forum.heroiclabs.com/t/nakama-docker-compose-fails-with-compose-file-is-invalid-services-nakama-depends-on-contains-an-invalid-type/5148>\
**Category:** Local Setup\
**Tags:** getting-started\
**Created:** [April 5, 2024, 12:17pm UTC](https://forum.heroiclabs.com/t/nakama-docker-compose-fails-with-compose-file-is-invalid-services-nakama-depends-on-contains-an-invalid-type/5148 "2024-04-05T12:17:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![unfa](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.heroiclabs.com/unfa/32/2134_2.png) [@unfa](https://forum.heroiclabs.com/u/unfa)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 12:17pm UTC](https://forum.heroiclabs.com/t/nakama-docker-compose-fails-with-compose-file-is-invalid-services-nakama-depends-on-contains-an-invalid-type/5148/1 "2024-04-05T12:17:09Z")

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Hi!

I’m trying to install Nakama on a Debian-based Linode VPS.  
The system is ` 4.19.0-26-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.304-1 (2024-01-09) x86_64 GNU/Linux`.  
Docker version `18.09.1, build 4c52b90`  
docker-compose version `1.21.0, build unknown`

Attempting to install Nakama goes like this:

```bash
root@unfa:/opt/nakama# docker-compose -f docker-compose-postgres.yml up
ERROR: The Compose file './docker-compose-postgres.yml' is invalid because:
services.nakama.depends_on contains an invalid type, it should be an array

```

I am using the [exact file](https://github.com/heroiclabs/nakama/blob/master/docker-compose.yml) pulled from official Nakama Github / Getting started guide.

I’ve created an `/opt/nakama` folder, downloaded the yaml file there and tried to get it to run.

I have succeeded doing this on my desktop Arch Linux installation, but not on this VPS running Debian Stable.

What am I doing wrong? Please help 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sesposito](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.heroiclabs.com/sesposito/32/2594_2.png) [@sesposito](https://forum.heroiclabs.com/u/sesposito)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 12:27pm UTC](https://forum.heroiclabs.com/t/nakama-docker-compose-fails-with-compose-file-is-invalid-services-nakama-depends-on-contains-an-invalid-type/5148/2 "2024-04-05T12:27:05Z")

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Hello @unfa, I suspect this issue is caused by the Debian packaged Docker version being out-of-date and hence not having support for the `depends_on` directive, if you’ve installed it from the package manager, I suggest you try to install it from here: [Install Docker Engine on Debian | Docker Docs](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/debian/).

Hope this helps.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![unfa](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.heroiclabs.com/unfa/32/2134_2.png) [@unfa](https://forum.heroiclabs.com/u/unfa)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://forum.heroiclabs.com/t/nakama-docker-compose-fails-with-compose-file-is-invalid-services-nakama-depends-on-contains-an-invalid-type/5148/3 "2024-05-21T17:57:21Z")

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Thanks!

Ah, I see I’m on Debian 10 (Buster). I should probably update to 11 or 12 (Bookworm).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![unfa](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.heroiclabs.com/unfa/32/2134_2.png) [@unfa](https://forum.heroiclabs.com/u/unfa)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://forum.heroiclabs.com/t/nakama-docker-compose-fails-with-compose-file-is-invalid-services-nakama-depends-on-contains-an-invalid-type/5148/4 "2024-05-24T13:01:14Z")

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Ok, a friend of mine has figured it out. It wasn’t about Debian version, but about something else. Upgrading from `docker-compose` to `docker compose` or something.