Basic usage

Basic usage (with the nginx-proxy container)

Three writable volumes must be declared on the nginx-proxy container so that they can be shared with the letsencrypt-nginx-proxy-companion container:

• /etc/nginx/certs to store certificates, private keys and ACME account keys (readonly for the nginx-proxy container).
• /etc/nginx/vhost.d to change the configuration of vhosts (required so the CA may access http-01 challenge files).
• /usr/share/nginx/html to write http-01 challenge files.

Example of use:

Step 1 - nginx-proxy

Start nginx-proxy with the three additional volumes declared:

$ docker run --detach \
    --name nginx-proxy \
    --publish 80:80 \
    --publish 443:443 \
    --volume /etc/nginx/certs \
    --volume /etc/nginx/vhost.d \
    --volume /usr/share/nginx/html \
    --volume /var/run/docker.sock:/tmp/docker.sock:ro \
    jwilder/nginx-proxy

Binding the host docker socket (/var/run/docker.sock) inside the container to /tmp/docker.sock is a requirement of ninx-proxy.

Step 2 - letsencrypt-nginx-proxy-companion

Start the letsencrypt-nginx-proxy-companion container, getting the volumes from nginx-proxy with --volumes-from:

$ docker run --detach \
    --name nginx-proxy-letsencrypt \
    --volumes-from nginx-proxy \
    --volume /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \
    jrcs/letsencrypt-nginx-proxy-companion

The host docker socket has to be bound inside this container too, this time to /var/run/docker.sock.

Step 3 - proxied container(s)

Once both nginx-proxy and letsencrypt-nginx-proxy-companion containers are up and running, start any container you want proxied with environment variables VIRTUAL_HOST and LETSENCRYPT_HOST both set to the domain(s) your proxied container is going to use.

VIRTUAL_HOST control proxying by nginx-proxy and LETSENCRYPT_HOST control certificate creation and SSL enabling by letsencrypt-nginx-proxy-companion.

Certificates will only be issued for containers that have both VIRTUAL_HOST and LETSENCRYPT_HOST variables set to domain(s) that correctly resolve to the host, provided the host is publicly reachable.

$ docker run --detach \
    --name your-proxied-app
    --env "VIRTUAL_HOST=subdomain.yourdomain.tld" \
    --env "LETSENCRYPT_HOST=subdomain.yourdomain.tld" \
    --env "LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL=mail@yourdomain.tld" \
    nginx

Albeit optional, it is recommended to provide a valid email address through the LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL environment variable, so that Let's Encrypt can warn you about expiring certificates and allow you to recover your account.

The containers being proxied must expose the port to be proxied, either by using the EXPOSE directive in their Dockerfile or by using the --expose flag to docker run or docker create.

If the proxied container listen on and expose another port than the default 80, you can force nginx-proxy to use this port with the VIRTUAL_PORT environment variable.

Example using Grafana (expose and listen on port 3000):

$ docker run --detach \
    --name grafana
    --env "VIRTUAL_HOST=othersubdomain.yourdomain.tld" \
    --env "VIRTUAL_PORT=3000" \
    --env "LETSENCRYPT_HOST=othersubdomain.yourdomain.tld" \
    --env "LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL=mail@yourdomain.tld" \
    grafana/grafana

Repeat Step 3 for any other container you want to proxy.