main-nginx-proxy

This setup uses a global nginx proxy server to distribute incoming requests to different services based on their domain name. It eliminates the need for a local nginx server on the host and automates Let's Encrypt provisioning.

Setup

git clone --depth=1 --branch=main https://github.com/umexco/main-nginx-proxy.git \
&& rm -rf ./main-nginx-proxy/.git

1. Create global proxy network

Before starting any docker containers, run

docker network create main-nginx-proxy

to create a global proxy network.
All containers that need to communicate with the proxy server must join this network.

2. Config

Customize the email address in docker-compose.yaml at DEFAULT_EMAIL= to obtain certificates

3. Start the proxy server

docker compose up -d

4. Connect other Docker services

To make a service accessible through the proxy server, set the following environment variables in its docker-compose.yaml file:

• LETSENCRYPT_HOST: the target domain for the service
• VIRTUAL_HOST: the target domain for the service
• VIRTUAL_PORT: the service port where the service is accessible

To run a service behind a sub-route, also add the following environment variables:

• VIRTUAL_PATH: path, e.g. VIRTUAL_PATH=/myapp
• VIRTUAL_DEST=/ as rewrite base

The VIRTUAL_PORT may vary depending on the configuration. For example, if you started your application web server using php artisan serve --port=8765, the variable should be set to VIRTUAL_PORT=8765 accordingly.

services:
   helloworld:
      image: nginxdemos/hello
      container_name: hello-world
      environment:
         - LETSENCRYPT_HOST=domain.com
         - VIRTUAL_HOST=domain.com
         - VIRTUAL_PORT=80
      networks:
         - main-nginx-proxy
      restart: unless-stopped

networks:
   main-nginx-proxy:
      external: true

Finally start the service

docker compose up -d

After a few seconds, the new service should be available at the configured domain. The nginx proxy automatically detects the new service after launch and obtains a certificate for the domain if required.

Finished

Special configurations

5. Host services

To make services that run on the host machine available through the proxy service, use the following steps. We assume, the service should use the domain example.com and is running on port 8765

1. Create a example.com.conf in your main-nginx-proxy/docker/nginx/vhost/ directory

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name test123.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://host.docker.internal:8765;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }

    listen 443 ssl;
    ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/certs/test123.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/certs/test123.com.key;
}

2. Mount the config file into the proxy container by adding the volume to the docker-compose.yaml.

volumes:
    - ./docker/nginx/vhost/example.com.conf:/etc/nginx/vhost.d/example.com.conf

3. Apply the new config

Probably recreate the container if your proxy service was already running.

• docker compose up -d --force-recreate nginx

6. Forward www subdomains

IMPORTANT: Before creating this vhost, make sure you have the cert for the TLD with LETSENCRYPT_HOST=domain.com,www.domain.com up and running!

environment:
    - LETSENCRYPT_HOST=domain.com,www.domain.com
    - VIRTUAL_HOST=domain.com

First restart to obtain the www included cert:

docker compose up -d --force-recreate nginx

Then create a config www.domain.com.conf with this content. Using variables in the SSL path is unfortunately not possible due to permissions.

server {
   listen 80;
   listen [::]:80;
   server_name www.domain.com;

   return 301 https://domain.com$request_uri;
}

server {
   listen 443 ssl http2;
   listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
   server_name www.domain.com;

   ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/certs/domain.com.crt;
   ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/certs/domain.com.key;

   return 301 https://domain.com$request_uri;
}

Mount it

volumes:
    - ./docker/nginx/vhost/www.domain.com.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/www.domain.com.conf:ro

Finally restart the nginx-proxy

docker compose up -d --force-recreate nginx

7. Custom extra configuration

If you need adjustments, e.g. to increase the file upload size you can adjust the ./docker/nginx/conf/custom.conf or create a new config file. Make sure to reload or restart the nginx after it.

docker compose up -d --force-recreate nginx