Nginx Reverse Proxy

PublishedFebruary 26, 2018

Examples for using Jason Wilder’s Automated Nginx Reverse Proxy for Docker. This solution uses docker-compose files and Jason’s trusted reverse proxy image that contains a configuration using virtual hosts for routing Docker containers.

To set this up, create these directories in a project folder: nginx-proxy, whoami and an optional third one for a node.js app named nodeapp. For the nodeapp, create a Docker image using the these instructions.

project
- nginx-proxy
  - docker-compose.yml
- nodeapp
  - docker-compose.yml
- whoami
  - docker-compose.yml

Docker Network

Create a Docker network named nginx-proxy to bridge all of the containers together.

docker network create nginx-proxy

In the nginx-proxy folder, create a new docker-compose.yml file as follows:

docker-compose.yml

version: '3'

services:
  nginx-proxy:
    image: jwilder/nginx-proxy
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/tmp/docker.sock:ro

networks:
  default:
    external:
      name: nginx-proxy

In the whoami folder, create a new docker-compose.yml file as follows:

docker-compose.yml

version: '3'

services:
  app:
    image: emilevauge/whoami
    environment:
      - VIRTUAL_HOST=local.docker.whoami.com

networks:
  default:
    external:
      name: nginx-proxy

After building the myapp-node image as instructed here, create a new docker-compose.yml file nodeapp folder as follows:

docker-compose.yml

version: '3'

services:
  app:
    image: myapp-node
    user: "node"
    working_dir: /home/node/app
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - VIRTUAL_HOST=local.docker.nodeapp.com
    expose:
      - "3000"
    command: "node app.js"

networks:
  default:
    external:
      name: nginx-proxy

Take note of the expose and VIRTUAL_HOST environment variables in the docker-compose.yml files for the app services. The nginx-proxy service uses these values to route traffic to the respective container.

Hosts

To test out the nginx-proxy virtual host routing locally, update your hosts file as follows:

127.0.0.1    local.docker.nodeapp.com
127.0.0.1    local.docker.whoami.com

Docker Compose

Use docker-compose up to build, (re)create, start, and attach containers for a service. We’re adding the -d option for detached mode to run the container in the background.

First, bring up the nginx-proxy container.

# change to the nginx-proxy directory
cd nginx-proxy

docker-compose up -d

Bring up the whoami container. Verify that it is running as expected in a web browser at http://local.docker.whoami.com

# change to the whoami directory
cd ../whaomi

docker-compose up -d

Bring up the nodeapp container. Verify that it is running as expected in a web browser at http://local.docker.nodeapp.com

# change to the nodeapp directory
cd ../nodeapp

docker-compose up -d

Use docker-compose down to stop and remove containers created by docker-compose up. Additionally, docker-compose stop can be used to stop a running container without removing it. Use docker-compose start to restart an existing container.

Add more folders and docker-compose.yml files as needed. The nginxy-proxy container is mounted to the host docker socket using this /var/run/docker.sock:/tmp/docker.sock volume. Every time a container is added, nginx-proxy has access to the events from the socket and creates the configuration file needed to route traffic and restart nginx making the changes available immediately.

Resources

Docker