Deploy Nginx Proxy Manager with Docker: Step‑by‑Step Guide & Advanced Config

Project Goal

Provide a simple way for users to create reverse‑proxy hosts with SSL termination via a web UI, keeping the setup as low‑friction as possible.

Features

Beautiful, secure management UI built with Tabler.

Create forwarding domains, redirects, streams and 404 hosts without knowing Nginx.

Free Let’s Encrypt SSL or custom certificates.

Access list and basic HTTP authentication for hosts.

Advanced Nginx configuration for super‑users.

User management, permissions and audit logs.

Quick Setup

Install Docker and Docker‑Compose.

Create a docker-compose.yml similar to the following:

version: '3.8'
services:
  app:
    image: 'jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:latest'
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - '80:80'
      - '81:81'
      - '443:443'
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
      - ./letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt

Start the stack:

docker-compose up -d
# If using docker‑compose‑plugin
docker compose up -d

Access the UI at http://127.0.0.1:81 with the default credentials:

Email: [email protected]
Password: changeme

After first login you will be prompted to change the password.

Advanced Configuration

Using a Docker network

Create a custom network to keep upstream services isolated:

docker network create scoobydoo

Add the network to docker-compose.yml:

networks:
  default:
    external: true
    name: scoobydoo

Example with Portainer shows how the network can be referenced.

Docker healthcheck

Add a healthcheck to the service if desired:

healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "/bin/check-health"]
  interval: 10s
  timeout: 3s

https://github.com/NginxProxyManager/nginx-proxy-manager