updated the readme

README.md

@@ -1,4 +1,55 @@
-![MailerQ | The most powerful MTA](https://media.copernica.com/logos/mailerq-logo.svg "MailerQ | The most powerful MTA")
+![MailerQ | The Most Powerful MTA](https://media.copernica.com/logos/mailerq-logo.svg "MailerQ | The Most Powerful MTA")
 
 # Dockerfiles for the MailerQ Server
-This repository contains Dockerfiles for the MailerQ server from version 5.14.0 and upward. 
+This repository contains Dockerfiles for the MailerQ server from version 5.14.0 and upward.
+
+## License
+To use the Docker images, you need a MailerQ license key. If you already have a license, you can fetch your license key [here](https://www.mailerq.com/product/license); otherwise, you can request a trial license on the MailerQ [website](https://www.mailerq.com/product/license/trial).
+
+## Getting Started
+The easiest way to run MailerQ for the first time is to use our example [docker-compose.yaml](#docker-compose), as this includes the required RabbitMQ and MySQL instances and a minimal configuration file.
+
+### Docker Compose
+An example `docker-compose.yaml` is provided in the [docker-compose](https://github.com/CopernicaMarketingSoftware/mailerq-server-docker/tree/main/docker-compose) folder. Next to the docker-compose file, you'll find a minimal config that works out of the box with the example. The docker-compose is based on the MailerQ-Server-Frontend image, which makes the MailerQ management console available on [localhost:8080](http://localhost:8080).
+
+To run docker-compose, you need to set the environment variable `LICENSE_KEY` on your host system with a valid MailerQ [license](#license).
+
+### Docker File
+If you want to use the MailerQ images without using the docker-compose file, you need to make RabbitMQ and MySQL instances available for MailerQ.
+
+#### Config File
+You need a minimal configuration file so MailerQ can connect to RabbitMQ and MySQL.
+```yaml
+# the database address
+database-address: mysql://user:password@host:port/database
+
+# the queue settings
+rabbitmq-address: amqp://user:password@host:port/vhost
+
+# print application log to stdout
+application-log: stdout
+```
+
+If you want to run MailerQ with the management console, you also need to provide the following.
+```yaml
+# Minimal management console configuration
+www-port: 80
+www-dir: /usr/share/mailerq/www
+www-auth: hardcoded://mailerq:mailerq
+```
+
+#### License Key
+A requirement, next to the config file, is the MailerQ license key or file. You can either mount an existing license file or give the `LICENSE_KEY` environment variable to the Dockerfile so it can generate a license.
+
+#### Example
+##### Without Management Console
+```bash
+docker build ./MailerQ-Server/ -t mailerq-server
+docker run -e LICENSE_KEY=<your_mailerq_license_key> -v /path/to/minimal-config.txt:/etc/mailerq/config.txt mailerq-server
+```
+
+##### With Management Console
+```bash
+docker build ./MailerQ-Server-Frontend/ -t mailerq-server-frontend
+docker run -e LICENSE_KEY=<your_mailerq_license_key> -v /path/to/minimal-config.txt:/etc/mailerq/config.txt mailerq-server
+```

docker-compose/docker-compose.yaml

@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ services:
     container_name: mailerq
 
     # build the Dockerfile in the mailerq directory
-    build: ../MailerQ-Server/
+    build: ../MailerQ-Server-Frontend/
 
     # pass on the MailerQ license key
     environment:

docker-compose/mailerq.config.txt

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # Database configuration, needed to store runtime configuration settings.
 # Also the reload-interval in seconds, the number of threads for DKIM dns
 # lookups, and whether database integrity should be checked on startup.
-
 database-address:           mysql://root:root@mysql/mailerq
 
 # the queue settings