Easy-to-use Docker container with Nginx configured to force HTTPS (thanks to Let's Encrypt) to any given HTTP backend server (configured via the $BACKEND environment variable).

Usage with Docker Engine (a.k.a. just "Docker")

Setup

Before starting an instance of this container, you need to install Let's Encrypt certificates:

docker run -p 80:80 -v letsencrypt-data:/etc/letsencrypt/ \
  michaelbaudino/nginx-letsencrypt-reverse-proxy \
  letsencrypt-install --domain <example.com> --email <[email protected]>

ℹ️ Port 80 must not be already bound by another process/server and must be accessible from the outside world for this procedure to work.

Run

To start an instance in foreground, use the following command:

docker run -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -v letsencrypt-data:/etc/letsencrypt/ -e BACKEND="<backend_url>" michaelbaudino/nginx-letsencrypt-reverse-proxy

Where <backend_url> should be replaced by your application address in Nginx format, which is pretty much an URL without protocol (e.g. some.backend.com:8080) or a Unix socket prefixed with unix: (e.g. unix:/var/run/backend.sock).

💡 If you'd rather start an instance running in the background, just add the -d switch (and eventually name your instance using the --name switch for easier later use).

💡 Nginx logs are available using the docker logs command.

Options

You can set optional settings using the following environment variables:

# Disable HTTPS Strict-Transport-Security (default: true)
HSTS=false

Renew

To renew Let's Encrypt certificates, run (the container must be already running):

docker exec -it <container> letsencrypt-renew

Where <container> is either the container ID (as shown by docker ps) or the container name (as assigned with the --name switch of docker run).

Usage with Docker Compose

Adapt this sample docker-compose.yml file to your own needs:

version: "2"
volumes:
  letsencrypt-data:
    driver: local
services:
  nginx:
    image: michaelbaudino/nginx-letsencrypt-reverse-proxy
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - letsencrypt-data:/etc/letsencrypt/
    environment:
      BACKEND: "your-backend:8080"
      HSTS: true
    depends_on: [your-backend]
  your-backend:
    image: ...
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"

ℹ️ The nginx service needs to depend_on the backend service otherwise services boot order randomness might cause Nginx to fail to resolve the backend name.

Setup

Before starting an instance of this container, you need to install Let's Encrypt certificates:

docker-compose run nginx --service-ports --no-deps letsencrypt-install --domain <example.com> --email <[email protected]>

ℹ️ Port 80 must not be already bound by another process/server and must be accessible from the outside world for this procedure to work.

Run

Just run as usual using:

docker-compose up

🐳 🎉

Renew

To renew Let's Encrypt certificates, run (the container must be already running):

docker-compose exec nginx letsencrypt-renew

Development

1. Clone this repository
2. Do your changes
3. Build with docker build .
4. If other people might benefit your changes, please submit a pull request

Staging Let's Encrypt server

The --staging switch can be appended to both letsencrypt-install and letsencrypt-renew commands for testing purposes: it retrieves certificates from the staging Let's Encrypt server to avoid reaching the production server rate limit.

The letsencrypt-renew command also takes an optional --force-renew switch (to renew certificates regardless their expiration date).

💡 Any valid letsencrypt / certbot switches can actually been appended to both letsencrypt-install and letsencrypt-renew commands: they will be passed as is. Check out letsencrypt / certbot documentation for more details.

Internal network

If your Docker host is on an internal network (behind a router, not directly connected to Internet), you will need to add a NAT rule to your router configuration to redirect traffic on port 80 from the outside world to your private IP address.

Since the ACME protocol requires the use of port 80, there's no way to use another port.

License

This code is distributed under the MIT license terms (see LICENSE.md).

Logos concatenated in logo.svg are trademarks of their respective owners (Docker Inc., Nginx Inc. and Internet Security Research Group).