nginx-rp

NGINX reverse proxy for docker-compose.

Base requirements

• docker
• docker-compose

For a fresh ubuntu you can install the above with:

groupadd docker
snap install docker
apt install docker-compose

Upstream servers

The NGINX instances on the upstream servers should not expose ports on the main host.

Change:

...

    ports:
      - 80:80
      - 443:443

...

to:

...

    expose:
      - 80
      - 443

...

Default configuration

1. The domain is set in the nginx/nginx.conf separetly for HTTPS and HTTP. By default it is localhost.local.

stream {
    ...

    map $ssl_preread_server_name $targetUpstream {
        ~^(?<upstream>.+).localhost.local $upstream;
    }

    ...
}

http {
    ...

    map $http_host $targetUpstream {
        ~^(?<upstream>.+).localhost.local $upstream;
        ...
    }

    ...
}

2. By default all configuration is preconfigured for test.localhost.local and test2.localhost.local with:

• test_nginx_1 and test2_nginx_1 NGINX containers (for both HTTP and HTTPS)
• test_default and test2_default networks

Adding new site

1. Add proper docker network to the docker-compose.yml.

⚠️ Change test to a unique name of your choice and test_default to the upstream's container network.

...

services:
  nginx-rp:
    ...
    networks:
      - test
    ...

...

networks:
  test:
    external:
      name: test_default

2. Add proper upstream configuration to the nginx/nginx.conf.

⚠️ Change test to match your subdomain and test_nginx_1 to the upstream's NGINX container name.

For HTTPS:

stream {
    ...

    upstream test {
        server test_nginx_1:443;
    }

    ...
}

For HTTP:

http {
    ...

    upstream test {
        server test_nginx_1:80;
    }

    ...
}

You can also change the default upstream server which is used for docker-compose healhchecking:

http {
    ...

    map $http_host $targetUpstream {
        ...
        default test;
    }

    ...
}

3. Restart or reload the NGINX service.

With restart:

$ docker-compose down
$ docker-compose up -d

Without restart:

⚠️ Change test_default in below command to the upstream's container network.

$ docker network connect test_default nginx-rp_nginx-rp_1
$ docker-compose exec nginx-rp nginx -s reload

Removing the site

1. Remove the network from the docker-compose.yml. See adding new site

2. Remove the upstream configuration from the nginx/nginx.conf. See adding new site

3. Restart or reload the NGINX service:

With restart:

$ docker-compose down
$ docker-compose up -d

Without restart:

⚠️ Change test_default in below command to the upstream's container network.

$ docker-compose exec nginx-rp nginx -s reload
$ docker network disconnect test_default nginx-rp_nginx-rp_1