Nginx

What is Nginx?

Nginx is a fast, low-memory HTTP server and reverse proxy, the default web server in Laradock. It terminates HTTP/HTTPS requests and forwards PHP requests to php-fpm over FastCGI.

Start Nginx

docker compose up -d nginx

Nginx's compose.yml declares depends_on: php-fpm, so Compose starts php-fpm automatically. You'll still want a database and any other services your app needs, for example:

docker compose up -d nginx mysql workspace

Stop Nginx

docker compose stop nginx

Configuration

All settings live in nginx/defaults.env and can be overridden by adding the same line to your own .env:

Variable	Default	What it does
NGINX_HOST_HTTP_PORT	80	Host-side port mapped to container port 80.
NGINX_HOST_HTTPS_PORT	443	Host-side port mapped to container port 443.
NGINX_HOST_LOG_PATH	./logs/nginx/	Host folder mounted to /var/log/nginx inside the container.
NGINX_SITES_PATH	./nginx/sites/	Host folder mounted to /etc/nginx/sites-available, one file per site.
NGINX_PHP_UPSTREAM_CONTAINER	php-fpm	Container name Nginx proxies PHP requests to (build arg).
NGINX_PHP_UPSTREAM_PORT	9000	Port on the upstream PHP container (build arg).
NGINX_SSL_PATH	./nginx/ssl/	Host folder mounted to /etc/nginx/ssl, for your certificates.

The container also publishes ${VARNISH_BACKEND_PORT}:81, the port Varnish uses to talk back to Nginx when you run it behind Varnish as a cache.

Add a site config

Every file in nginx/sites/ is loaded automatically. There's a default.conf that serves the app root on localhost, plus several *.conf.example templates for common frameworks (laravel.conf.example, symfony.conf.example, node.conf.example, confluence.conf.example, laravel_varnish.conf.example).

To add a site:

cp nginx/sites/laravel.conf.example nginx/sites/laravel.conf

Edit server_name and root to match your app, then restart:

docker compose restart nginx

The laravel.conf.example template already routes .php requests to fastcgi_pass php-upstream;, which resolves to NGINX_PHP_UPSTREAM_CONTAINER:NGINX_PHP_UPSTREAM_PORT, and denies access to .ht* files.

Enable SSL

Uncomment the SSL lines in your site config:

listen 443 ssl;
listen [::]:443 ssl ipv6only=on;
ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/default.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/default.key;

Place your certificate and key in the folder pointed to by NGINX_SSL_PATH (./nginx/ssl/ by default), then restart the container.

Change the exposed port

NGINX_HOST_HTTP_PORT=8080
NGINX_HOST_HTTPS_PORT=8443

docker compose up -d nginx

Common issues

• 502 Bad Gateway. Nginx can't reach PHP-FPM. Confirm php-fpm is running (docker compose ps php-fpm) and that NGINX_PHP_UPSTREAM_CONTAINER/NGINX_PHP_UPSTREAM_PORT match its actual name and port.
• New site file has no effect. Config in nginx/sites/ is picked up on container start, run docker compose restart nginx after adding or editing a file.
• Port already in use on your host. Another web server (or another Laradock project) is already bound to 80/443. Change NGINX_HOST_HTTP_PORT/NGINX_HOST_HTTPS_PORT and restart.
• Domain doesn't resolve. Add it to /etc/hosts pointing at 127.0.0.1, and set server_name in the site config to match.

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Need a different web server? See Apache, Caddy, or OpenResty. New to Laradock? Start with Getting Started.