Nginx Configuration Generator

Convert your settings.json to a complete nginx-proxy.conf file with either Python or JavaScript.

🚀 Quick Start

Using Python

# Generate nginx-proxy.conf from settings.json
python3 generate_nginx_config.py

# Custom input/output files
python3 generate_nginx_config.py --input my-settings.json --output my-nginx.conf

# Preview without writing to file
python3 generate_nginx_config.py --dry-run

Using Node.js/JavaScript

# Generate nginx-proxy.conf from settings.json
node generate_nginx_config.js

# Custom input/output files
node generate_nginx_config.js --input my-settings.json --output my-nginx.conf

# Preview without writing to file
node generate_nginx_config.js --dry-run

⚙️ Settings.json Format

[
    {
        "domain": "example.com",
        "forwarding": "127.0.0.1:3003",
        "type": "https-only",
        "ca-bundle": "cert/example.com/ca-bundle.txt",
        "private-key": "cert/example.com/private-key.txt"
    },
    {
        "domain": "api.example.com",
        "forwarding": "192.168.1.100:8000",
        "type": "https",
        "rate-limit": {
            "/": 100,
            "/api": 10,
            "/upload": 2
        },
        "websocket": false
    },
    {
        "domain": "dev.example.com",
        "forwarding": "host.docker.internal:50030",
        "type": "https"
    }
]

📋 Configuration Options

Required Fields

• domain: The domain name to serve (e.g., "example.com")
• forwarding: Backend server address and port (e.g., "127.0.0.1:3000")

Optional Fields

• type: Connection type - "http" (HTTP only), "https" (HTTPS + HTTP forwarding), or "https-only" (HTTPS with HTTP redirect) (default: "https-only")
• ca-bundle: Path to SSL certificate file (relative to /etc/nginx/ssl/)
• private-key: Path to SSL private key file (relative to /etc/nginx/ssl/)
• rate-limit: Rate limiting per minute - can be a number (applies to all paths) or object with path-specific limits (default: no limits)
• websocket: Enable WebSocket support (default: true)
• compression: Enable gzip compression (default: true)
• security-headers: Enable security headers (default: true)

🔒 SSL Certificate Handling

Option 1: Specify Custom Paths

{
    "domain": "example.com",
    "forwarding": "127.0.0.1:3000",
    "type": "https-only",
    "ca-bundle": "example.com/fullchain.pem",
    "private-key": "example.com/privkey.pem"
}

Option 2: Use Default Let's Encrypt Structure

{
    "domain": "example.com",
    "forwarding": "127.0.0.1:3000",
    "type": "https-only"
}

This will use:

• Certificate: /etc/nginx/ssl/example.com/fullchain.pem
• Private Key: /etc/nginx/ssl/example.com/privkey.pem

🔀 Connection Type Options

Option 1: HTTP Only (type: "http")

{
    "domain": "legacy.example.com",
    "forwarding": "192.168.1.50:80",
    "type": "http"
}

• Only HTTP is available, no SSL certificates required
• HTTP requests to http://legacy.example.com/test are forwarded to http://192.168.1.50:80/test
• Useful for legacy systems or internal services

Option 2: HTTPS with HTTP Forwarding (type: "https")

{
    "domain": "dev.example.com",
    "forwarding": "host.docker.internal:50030",
    "type": "https"
}

• HTTP requests to http://dev.example.com/test are forwarded to http://host.docker.internal:50030/test
• HTTPS requests to https://dev.example.com/test are forwarded to http://host.docker.internal:50030/test
• Useful for development environments or when backend doesn't support HTTPS

Option 3: HTTPS Only with HTTP Redirect (type: "https-only", default)

{
    "domain": "example.com",
    "forwarding": "127.0.0.1:3000",
    "type": "https-only"
}

• HTTP requests to http://example.com/test are redirected to https://example.com/test
• Only HTTPS requests reach the backend
• Recommended for production environments

🚦 Rate Limiting Configuration

Option 1: Simple Rate Limiting (Legacy)

{
    "domain": "api.example.com",
    "forwarding": "127.0.0.1:8000",
    "rate-limit": 100
}

• Applies 100 requests/minute limit to all paths

Option 2: Path-Specific Rate Limiting

{
    "domain": "api.example.com",
    "forwarding": "127.0.0.1:8000",
    "rate-limit": {
        "/": 200,
        "/api": 50,
        "/api/upload": 5,
        "/test/*/endpoint": 10
    }
}

• "/": 200 requests/minute for root and unmatched paths
• "/api": 50 requests/minute for API endpoints
• "/api/upload": 5 requests/minute for upload endpoint (more specific, takes precedence)
• "/test/*/endpoint": 10 requests/minute for wildcard pattern (matches /test/abc/endpoint, /test/123/endpoint, etc.)

Rate Limiting Features

✅ Path specificity: More specific paths take precedence over general ones ✅ Wildcard support: Use * for pattern matching ✅ Burst handling: Includes burst=5 nodelay for smooth traffic handling ✅ Per-domain zones: Each domain gets separate rate limiting zones ✅ Backward compatibility: Number format still works as before

🎯 Generated Features

The scripts automatically generate:

✅ HTTP to HTTPS redirects ✅ SSL/TLS configuration with modern cipher suites ✅ Security headers (XSS, CSRF, etc.) ✅ Rate limiting for API endpoints ✅ WebSocket support for real-time apps ✅ Gzip compression for better performance ✅ Proper proxy headers for backend services ✅ Connection timeouts and keep-alive settings

📁 Example Settings for Multiple Domains

[
    {
        "domain": "website.com",
        "forwarding": "127.0.0.1:3000",
        "type": "https-only"
    },
    {
        "domain": "api.website.com",
        "forwarding": "127.0.0.1:8000",
        "type": "https-only",
        "rate-limit": {
            "/": 300,
            "/api/v1": 100,
            "/api/v1/upload": 10
        },
        "websocket": false
    },
    {
        "domain": "admin.website.com",
        "forwarding": "127.0.0.1:9000",
        "type": "https-only",
        "rate-limit": 50,
        "security-headers": true
    },
    {
        "domain": "legacy.website.com",
        "forwarding": "192.168.1.50:80",
        "type": "http",
        "compression": false
    },
    {
        "domain": "dev.website.com",
        "forwarding": "host.docker.internal:3001",
        "type": "https",
        "security-headers": false
    }
]

🔧 Command Line Options

Option	Description
--input, -i	Input settings JSON file (default: settings.json)
--output, -o	Output nginx config file (default: nginx-proxy.conf)
--dry-run	Print config to stdout instead of writing to file
--help, -h	Show help message

🚀 Integration with Docker

After generating your config:

1. Update your nginx-proxy.conf:

   python3 generate_nginx_config.py

2. Restart nginx container:

   docker-compose restart proxy-nginx

3. Check nginx syntax:

   docker-compose exec proxy-nginx nginx -t

🛠️ Advanced Usage

Environment-Specific Configs

# Development
python3 generate_nginx_config.py --input settings-dev.json --output nginx-dev.conf

# Production
python3 generate_nginx_config.py --input settings-prod.json --output nginx-prod.conf

# Staging
python3 generate_nginx_config.py --input settings-staging.json --output nginx-staging.conf

Automated Deployment

#!/bin/bash
# deploy.sh
python3 generate_nginx_config.py --input production-settings.json
docker-compose exec proxy-nginx nginx -t && docker-compose restart proxy-nginx

📝 Notes

• The scripts validate your settings.json before generating the config
• SSL certificates must be placed in the correct directory structure
• Rate limiting is applied to /api/ endpoints by default
• WebSocket connections are supported automatically
• All generated configs include modern security best practices

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "Settings file not found"

   • Ensure settings.json exists in the current directory
   • Use --input to specify a different file

2. "Invalid JSON"

   • Validate your JSON syntax using an online JSON validator
   • Check for trailing commas or missing quotes

3. "Missing required field"

   • Ensure each domain has both domain and forwarding fields
   • Check spelling and format of required fields

Debug Your Config

# Test generated config syntax
docker-compose exec proxy-nginx nginx -t

# View generated upstream servers
grep -A5 "upstream" nginx-proxy.conf

# Check SSL certificate paths
grep "ssl_certificate" nginx-proxy.conf