according to their documentation nodebb only supports mongodb or redis.
nodebb is easy enough without docker, just need nodejs and the db, and use the cli ./nodebb start ./nodebb stop etc.
i use a oneshot systemd service to start it at boot:
[Unit] Description=mpp.community nodebb After=mongod.service [Service] User=mppc Group=mppc WorkingDirectory=/srv/mppc/forum/ Type=oneshot ExecStart=/srv/mppc/forum/nodebb start RemainAfterExit=yes ExecStop=/srv/mppc/forum/nodebb stop [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target