Setup an nginx proxy for docker-compose

Roger Stringer

Roger Stringer / May 20, 2021

11 min read

I have a few servers running nginx-proxy using docker-compose, you can bring new sites online quickly by simply adding the network, virtual host info and exposing port 80.

So I thought I'd start with setting that up.

1

Set up your server

I'm going to assume you've got docker and docker-compose installed and skip that initial step.

First, we need to create a network

docker network create nginx-proxy

To get started, create a folder called sites and in that folder, create one called nginx-proxy.

Next, we'll create docker-compose.yaml:

docker-compose.yaml
version: '3'

services:
  nginx-proxy:
    image: nginx:alpine
    container_name: nginx-proxy
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./volumes/conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d
      - ./volumes/vhost:/etc/nginx/vhost.d
      - ./volumes/html:/usr/share/nginx/html
      - ./volumes/certs:/etc/nginx/certs:ro
      - ./nginx-conf.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/nginx-conf.conf:ro
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro

  docker-gen:
    image: nginxproxy/docker-gen
    container_name: nginx-proxy-gen
    command: -notify-sighup nginx-proxy -watch /etc/docker-gen/templates/nginx.tmpl /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
    volumes_from:
      - nginx-proxy
    volumes:
      - ./volumes/conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d
      - ./volumes/vhost:/etc/nginx/vhost.d
      - ./volumes/html:/usr/share/nginx/html
      - ./volumes/certs:/etc/nginx/certs    
      - ./nginx.tmpl:/etc/docker-gen/templates/nginx.tmpl:ro
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/tmp/docker.sock:ro
    labels:
      - "com.github.jrcs.letsencrypt_nginx_proxy_companion.docker_gen"

  acme-companion:
    image: nginxproxy/acme-companion
    container_name: nginx-proxy-acme
    volumes_from:
      - nginx-proxy
    volumes:
      - ./volumes/conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d
      - ./volumes/vhost:/etc/nginx/vhost.d
      - ./volumes/html:/usr/share/nginx/html    
      - ./volumes/certs:/etc/nginx/certs:rw
      - ./volumes/acme:/etc/acme.sh
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro

networks:
  default:
    external:
      name: nginx-proxy

Now, make a file called nginx-conf.conf:

nginx-conf.conf
client_max_body_size 512m;

Along with a final file called nginx.tmpl:

nginx.tmpl
{{ $CurrentContainer := where $ "ID" .Docker.CurrentContainerID | first }}

{{ define "upstream" }}
	{{ if .Address }}
		{{/* If we got the containers from swarm and this container's port is published to host, use host IP:PORT */}}
		{{ if and .Container.Node.ID .Address.HostPort }}
			# {{ .Container.Node.Name }}/{{ .Container.Name }}
			server {{ .Container.Node.Address.IP }}:{{ .Address.HostPort }};
		{{/* If there is no swarm node or the port is not published on host, use container's IP:PORT */}}
		{{ else if .Network }}
			# {{ .Container.Name }}
			server {{ .Network.IP }}:{{ .Address.Port }};
		{{ end }}
	{{ else if .Network }}
		# {{ .Container.Name }}
		{{ if .Network.IP }}
			server {{ .Network.IP }} down;
		{{ else }}
			server 127.0.0.1 down;
		{{ end }}
	{{ end }}

{{ end }}

# If we receive X-Forwarded-Proto, pass it through; otherwise, pass along the
# scheme used to connect to this server
map $http_x_forwarded_proto $proxy_x_forwarded_proto {
  default $http_x_forwarded_proto;
  ''      $scheme;
}

# If we receive X-Forwarded-Port, pass it through; otherwise, pass along the
# server port the client connected to
map $http_x_forwarded_port $proxy_x_forwarded_port {
  default $http_x_forwarded_port;
  ''      $server_port;
}

# If we receive Upgrade, set Connection to "upgrade"; otherwise, delete any
# Connection header that may have been passed to this server
map $http_upgrade $proxy_connection {
  default upgrade;
  '' close;
}

# Apply fix for very long server names
server_names_hash_bucket_size 128;

# Default dhparam
{{ if (exists "/etc/nginx/dhparam/dhparam.pem") }}
ssl_dhparam /etc/nginx/dhparam/dhparam.pem;
{{ end }}

# Set appropriate X-Forwarded-Ssl header
map $scheme $proxy_x_forwarded_ssl {
  default off;
  https on;
}

gzip_types text/plain text/css application/javascript application/json application/x-javascript text/xml application/xml application/xml+rss text/javascript;

log_format vhost '$host $remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] '
                 '"$request" $status $body_bytes_sent '
                 '"$http_referer" "$http_user_agent"';

access_log off;

{{ if $.Env.RESOLVERS }}
resolver {{ $.Env.RESOLVERS }};
{{ end }}

{{ if (exists "/etc/nginx/proxy.conf") }}
include /etc/nginx/proxy.conf;
{{ else }}
# HTTP 1.1 support
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_buffering off;
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection $proxy_connection;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $proxy_x_forwarded_proto;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Ssl $proxy_x_forwarded_ssl;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Port $proxy_x_forwarded_port;

# Mitigate httpoxy attack (see README for details)
proxy_set_header Proxy "";
{{ end }}

{{ $enable_ipv6 := eq (or ($.Env.ENABLE_IPV6) "") "true" }}
server {
	server_name _; # This is just an invalid value which will never trigger on a real hostname.
	listen 80;
	{{ if $enable_ipv6 }}
	listen [::]:80;
	{{ end }}
	access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log vhost;
	return 503;
}

{{ if (and (exists "/etc/nginx/certs/default.crt") (exists "/etc/nginx/certs/default.key")) }}
server {
	server_name _; # This is just an invalid value which will never trigger on a real hostname.
	listen 443 ssl http2;
	{{ if $enable_ipv6 }}
	listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
	{{ end }}
	access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log vhost;
	return 503;

	ssl_session_tickets off;
	ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/certs/default.crt;
	ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/certs/default.key;
}
{{ end }}

{{ range $host, $containers := groupByMulti $ "Env.VIRTUAL_HOST" "," }}

{{ $host := trim $host }}
{{ $is_regexp := hasPrefix "~" $host }}
{{ $upstream_name := when $is_regexp (sha1 $host) $host }}

# {{ $host }}
upstream {{ $upstream_name }} {

{{ range $container := $containers }}
	{{ $addrLen := len $container.Addresses }}

	{{ range $knownNetwork := $CurrentContainer.Networks }}
		{{ range $containerNetwork := $container.Networks }}
			{{ if (and (ne $containerNetwork.Name "ingress") (or (eq $knownNetwork.Name $containerNetwork.Name) (eq $knownNetwork.Name "host"))) }}
				## Can be connected with "{{ $containerNetwork.Name }}" network

				{{/* If only 1 port exposed, use that */}}
				{{ if eq $addrLen 1 }}
					{{ $address := index $container.Addresses 0 }}
					{{ template "upstream" (dict "Container" $container "Address" $address "Network" $containerNetwork) }}
				{{/* If more than one port exposed, use the one matching VIRTUAL_PORT env var, falling back to standard web port 80 */}}
				{{ else }}
					{{ $port := coalesce $container.Env.VIRTUAL_PORT "80" }}
					{{ $address := where $container.Addresses "Port" $port | first }}
					{{ template "upstream" (dict "Container" $container "Address" $address "Network" $containerNetwork) }}
				{{ end }}
			{{ else }}
				# Cannot connect to network of this container
				server 127.0.0.1 down;
			{{ end }}
		{{ end }}
	{{ end }}
{{ end }}
}

{{ $default_host := or ($.Env.DEFAULT_HOST) "" }}
{{ $default_server := index (dict $host "" $default_host "default_server") $host }}

{{/* Get the VIRTUAL_PROTO defined by containers w/ the same vhost, falling back to "http" */}}
{{ $proto := trim (or (first (groupByKeys $containers "Env.VIRTUAL_PROTO")) "http") }}

{{/* Get the NETWORK_ACCESS defined by containers w/ the same vhost, falling back to "external" */}}
{{ $network_tag := or (first (groupByKeys $containers "Env.NETWORK_ACCESS")) "external" }}

{{/* Get the HTTPS_METHOD defined by containers w/ the same vhost, falling back to "redirect" */}}
{{ $https_method := or (first (groupByKeys $containers "Env.HTTPS_METHOD")) "redirect" }}

{{/* Get the SSL_POLICY defined by containers w/ the same vhost, falling back to "Mozilla-Intermediate" */}}
{{ $ssl_policy := or (first (groupByKeys $containers "Env.SSL_POLICY")) "Mozilla-Intermediate" }}

{{/* Get the HSTS defined by containers w/ the same vhost, falling back to "max-age=31536000" */}}
{{ $hsts := or (first (groupByKeys $containers "Env.HSTS")) "max-age=31536000" }}

{{/* Get the VIRTUAL_ROOT By containers w/ use fastcgi root */}}
{{ $vhost_root := or (first (groupByKeys $containers "Env.VIRTUAL_ROOT")) "/var/www/public" }}


{{/* Get the first cert name defined by containers w/ the same vhost */}}
{{ $certName := (first (groupByKeys $containers "Env.CERT_NAME")) }}

{{/* Get the best matching cert  by name for the vhost. */}}
{{ $vhostCert := (closest (dir "/etc/nginx/certs") (printf "%s.crt" $host))}}

{{/* vhostCert is actually a filename so remove any suffixes since they are added later */}}
{{ $vhostCert := trimSuffix ".crt" $vhostCert }}
{{ $vhostCert := trimSuffix ".key" $vhostCert }}

{{/* Use the cert specified on the container or fallback to the best vhost match */}}
{{ $cert := (coalesce $certName $vhostCert) }}

{{ $is_https := (and (ne $https_method "nohttps") (ne $cert "") (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/certs/%s.crt" $cert)) (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/certs/%s.key" $cert))) }}

{{ if $is_https }}

{{ if eq $https_method "redirect" }}
server {
	server_name {{ $host }};
	listen 80 {{ $default_server }};
	{{ if $enable_ipv6 }}
	listen [::]:80 {{ $default_server }};
	{{ end }}
	access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log vhost;
	return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}
{{ end }}

server {
	server_name {{ $host }};
	listen 443 ssl http2 {{ $default_server }};
	{{ if $enable_ipv6 }}
	listen [::]:443 ssl http2 {{ $default_server }};
	{{ end }}
	access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log vhost;

	{{ if eq $network_tag "internal" }}
	# Only allow traffic from internal clients
	include /etc/nginx/network_internal.conf;
	{{ end }}

	{{ if eq $ssl_policy "Mozilla-Modern" }}
	ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
	ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256';
	{{ else if eq $ssl_policy "Mozilla-Intermediate" }}
	ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
	ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES128-SHA256:AES256-SHA256:AES128-SHA:AES256-SHA:!DSS';
	{{ else if eq $ssl_policy "Mozilla-Old" }}
	ssl_protocols SSLv3 TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
	ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-DSS-AES128-GCM-SHA256:kEDH+AESGCM:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-DSS-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256:DHE-DSS-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:EDH-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES128-SHA256:AES256-SHA256:AES128-SHA:AES256-SHA:AES:DES-CBC3-SHA:HIGH:SEED:!aNULL:!eNULL:!EXPORT:!DES:!RC4:!MD5:!PSK:!RSAPSK:!aDH:!aECDH:!EDH-DSS-DES-CBC3-SHA:!KRB5-DES-CBC3-SHA:!SRP';
	{{ else if eq $ssl_policy "AWS-TLS-1-2-2017-01" }}
	ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
	ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES128-SHA256:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES256-SHA256';
	{{ else if eq $ssl_policy "AWS-TLS-1-1-2017-01" }}
	ssl_protocols TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
	ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES128-SHA256:AES128-SHA:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES256-SHA256:AES256-SHA';
	{{ else if eq $ssl_policy "AWS-2016-08" }}
	ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
	ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES128-SHA256:AES128-SHA:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES256-SHA256:AES256-SHA';
	{{ else if eq $ssl_policy "AWS-2015-05" }}
	ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
	ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES128-SHA256:AES128-SHA:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES256-SHA256:AES256-SHA:DES-CBC3-SHA';
	{{ else if eq $ssl_policy "AWS-2015-03" }}
	ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
	ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES128-SHA256:AES128-SHA:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES256-SHA256:AES256-SHA:DHE-DSS-AES128-SHA:DES-CBC3-SHA';
	{{ else if eq $ssl_policy "AWS-2015-02" }}
	ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
	ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES128-SHA256:AES128-SHA:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES256-SHA256:AES256-SHA:DHE-DSS-AES128-SHA';
	{{ end }}

	ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
	ssl_session_timeout 5m;
	ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:50m;
	ssl_session_tickets off;

	ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/certs/{{ (printf "%s.crt" $cert) }};
	ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/certs/{{ (printf "%s.key" $cert) }};

	{{ if (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/certs/%s.dhparam.pem" $cert)) }}
	ssl_dhparam {{ printf "/etc/nginx/certs/%s.dhparam.pem" $cert }};
	{{ end }}

	{{ if (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/certs/%s.chain.pem" $cert)) }}
	ssl_stapling on;
	ssl_stapling_verify on;
	ssl_trusted_certificate {{ printf "/etc/nginx/certs/%s.chain.pem" $cert }};
	{{ end }}

	{{ if (not (or (eq $https_method "noredirect") (eq $hsts "off"))) }}
	add_header Strict-Transport-Security "{{ trim $hsts }}" always;
	{{ end }}

	{{ if (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/%s" $host)) }}
	include {{ printf "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/%s" $host }};
	{{ else if (exists "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/default") }}
	include /etc/nginx/vhost.d/default;
	{{ end }}

	location / {
		{{ if eq $proto "uwsgi" }}
		include uwsgi_params;
		uwsgi_pass {{ trim $proto }}://{{ trim $upstream_name }};
		{{ else if eq $proto "fastcgi" }}
		root   {{ trim $vhost_root }};
		include fastcgi.conf;
		fastcgi_pass {{ trim $upstream_name }};
		{{ else }}
		proxy_pass {{ trim $proto }}://{{ trim $upstream_name }};
		{{ end }}

		{{ if (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/htpasswd/%s" $host)) }}
		auth_basic	"Restricted {{ $host }}";
		auth_basic_user_file	{{ (printf "/etc/nginx/htpasswd/%s" $host) }};
		{{ end }}
		{{ if (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/%s_location" $host)) }}
		include {{ printf "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/%s_location" $host}};
		{{ else if (exists "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/default_location") }}
		include /etc/nginx/vhost.d/default_location;
		{{ end }}
	}
}

{{ end }}

{{ if or (not $is_https) (eq $https_method "noredirect") }}

server {
	server_name {{ $host }};
	listen 80 {{ $default_server }};
	{{ if $enable_ipv6 }}
	listen [::]:80 {{ $default_server }};
	{{ end }}
	access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log vhost;

	{{ if eq $network_tag "internal" }}
	# Only allow traffic from internal clients
	include /etc/nginx/network_internal.conf;
	{{ end }}

	{{ if (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/%s" $host)) }}
	include {{ printf "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/%s" $host }};
	{{ else if (exists "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/default") }}
	include /etc/nginx/vhost.d/default;
	{{ end }}

	location / {
		{{ if eq $proto "uwsgi" }}
		include uwsgi_params;
		uwsgi_pass {{ trim $proto }}://{{ trim $upstream_name }};
		{{ else if eq $proto "fastcgi" }}
		root   {{ trim $vhost_root }};
		include fastcgi.conf;
		fastcgi_pass {{ trim $upstream_name }};
		{{ else }}
		proxy_pass {{ trim $proto }}://{{ trim $upstream_name }};
		{{ end }}
		{{ if (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/htpasswd/%s" $host)) }}
		auth_basic	"Restricted {{ $host }}";
		auth_basic_user_file	{{ (printf "/etc/nginx/htpasswd/%s" $host) }};
		{{ end }}
		{{ if (exists (printf "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/%s_location" $host)) }}
		include {{ printf "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/%s_location" $host}};
		{{ else if (exists "/etc/nginx/vhost.d/default_location") }}
		include /etc/nginx/vhost.d/default_location;
		{{ end }}
	}
}

{{ if (and (not $is_https) (exists "/etc/nginx/certs/default.crt") (exists "/etc/nginx/certs/default.key")) }}
server {
	server_name {{ $host }};
	listen 443 ssl http2 {{ $default_server }};
	{{ if $enable_ipv6 }}
	listen [::]:443 ssl http2 {{ $default_server }};
	{{ end }}
	access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log vhost;
	return 500;

	ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/certs/default.crt;
	ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/certs/default.key;
}
{{ end }}

{{ end }}
{{ end }}

Once these have been created in that folder, you can then start the containers:

docker-compose up -d --build

This will start up nginx on the server.

2

Configure your apps

Now that we have nginx-proxy running, we can set up any app and just point it to the nginx-proxy network along with the virtual host info.

Setting these env variables:

VIRTUAL_HOST: www.domain.com
LETSENCRYPT_HOST: www.domain.com
LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL: youremail@yourmail.com

will configure the virtual host and lets encrypt to point to the site in question.

I'll demonstrate with wordpress:

Let's make a folder in your sites folder called wp.

First, create .dockerignore:

.dockerignore
# comment
*/temp*
*/*/temp*
temp?
volumes/wordpress/*

Now, let's make our docker-compose.yaml file:

docker-compose.yaml
version: '3'

services:
    mysql:
        image: mariadb
        expose:
            - 3306
        volumes:
            - ./volumes/db-data:/var/lib/mysql
        environment:
            - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=whateverpassyouwant
        restart: always
    wordpress:
        image: wordpress:5.7-php7.4-apache
        expose:
          - 80
        working_dir: /var/www/html
        volumes:
          - ./volumes/wordpress:/var/www/html/
        environment:
            - WORDPRESS_DB_NAME=wpdb
            - WORDPRESS_TABLE_PREFIX=wp_
            - WORDPRESS_DB_HOST=mysql
            - WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD=whateverpassyouwant
            - VIRTUAL_HOST=wp.yourdomain.com
            - LETSENCRYPT_HOST=SAME_AS_VIRTUAL_HOST
            - LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL=your@email.com
        links:
            - mysql
        restart: always

networks:
  default:
    external:
      name: nginx-proxy

Ok, hit save, and run:

docker-compose up -d --build

Once it finishes, you'll have wordpress running on the domain you specified in your VIRTUAL_HOST.

One final piece, if the container you want set up doesn’t use PORT 80, you can also set nginx to proxy to the port the container does use:

version: '3'

services:

  whoami:
    image: jwilder/whoami
    expose:
      - "8000"
    environment:
      - VIRTUAL_HOST=whoami.yourdomain.com
      - LETSENCRYPT_HOST=SAME_AS_VIRTUAL_HOST
      - LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL=your@email.com
      - VIRTUAL_PORT=8000

networks:
  default:
    external:
      name: nginx-proxy

Setting VIRTUAL_PORT will tell nginx what port to proxy the domain to.

We'll expand on this more in future posts, but this is a start.

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