Alignment techniques for calamitic liquid crystals are well developed and play a crucial role in liquid crystal devices. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the alignment of discotic liquid crystals. Only recently the integration of discotic liquid crystals into optical and electronic devices stimulated the development of new alignment techniques for discotic nematic and columnar mesophases. This mini-review attempts a brief summary of the challenges and recent success stories. Two new approaches to the alignment of discotic columnar mesophases will also be presented.