Introducing our new CEO Don Johnson - Read More

bitnami/nginx

Verified Publisher

By VMware

Updated 1 day ago

Bitnami container image for NGINX

Image
API Management
Security
Web Servers
196

100M+

Bitnami package for NGINX Open Source

What is NGINX Open Source?

NGINX Open Source is a web server that can be also used as a reverse proxy, load balancer, and HTTP cache. Recommended for high-demanding sites due to its ability to provide faster content.

Overview of NGINX Open Source Trademarks: This software listing is packaged by Bitnami. The respective trademarks mentioned in the offering are owned by the respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

TL;DR

docker run --name nginx bitnami/nginx:latest

Why use Bitnami Images?

  • Bitnami closely tracks upstream source changes and promptly publishes new versions of this image using our automated systems.
  • With Bitnami images the latest bug fixes and features are available as soon as possible.
  • Bitnami containers, virtual machines and cloud images use the same components and configuration approach - making it easy to switch between formats based on your project needs.
  • All our images are based on minideb -a minimalist Debian based container image that gives you a small base container image and the familiarity of a leading Linux distribution- or scratch -an explicitly empty image-.
  • All Bitnami images available in Docker Hub are signed with Notation. Check this post to know how to verify the integrity of the images.
  • Bitnami container images are released on a regular basis with the latest distribution packages available.

Looking to use NGINX Open Source in production? Try VMware Tanzu Application Catalog, the commercial edition of the Bitnami catalog.

How to deploy NGINX Open Source in Kubernetes?

Deploying Bitnami applications as Helm Charts is the easiest way to get started with our applications on Kubernetes. Read more about the installation in the Bitnami NGINX Open Source Chart GitHub repository.

Bitnami containers can be used with Kubeapps for deployment and management of Helm Charts in clusters.

Why use a non-root container?

Non-root container images add an extra layer of security and are generally recommended for production environments. However, because they run as a non-root user, privileged tasks are typically off-limits. Learn more about non-root containers in our docs.

Only latest stable branch maintained in the free Bitnami catalog

Starting December 10th 2024, only the latest stable branch of any container will receive updates in the free Bitnami catalog. To access up-to-date releases for all upstream-supported branches, consider upgrading to Bitnami Premium. Previous versions already released will not be deleted. They are still available to pull from DockerHub.

Please check the Bitnami Premium page in our partner Arrow Electronics for more information.

Supported tags and respective Dockerfile links

Learn more about the Bitnami tagging policy and the difference between rolling tags and immutable tags in our documentation page.

You can see the equivalence between the different tags by taking a look at the tags-info.yaml file present in the branch folder, i.e bitnami/ASSET/BRANCH/DISTRO/tags-info.yaml.

Subscribe to project updates by watching the bitnami/containers GitHub repo.

Get this image

The recommended way to get the Bitnami NGINX Open Source Docker Image is to pull the prebuilt image from the Docker Hub Registry.

docker pull bitnami/nginx:latest

To use a specific version, you can pull a versioned tag. You can view the list of available versions in the Docker Hub Registry.

docker pull bitnami/nginx:[TAG]

If you wish, you can also build the image yourself by cloning the repository, changing to the directory containing the Dockerfile and executing the docker build command. Remember to replace the APP, VERSION and OPERATING-SYSTEM path placeholders in the example command below with the correct values.

git clone https://github.com/bitnami/containers.git
cd bitnami/APP/VERSION/OPERATING-SYSTEM
docker build -t bitnami/APP:latest .

Hosting a static website

This NGINX Open Source image exposes a volume at /app. Content mounted here is served by the default catch-all server block.

docker run -v /path/to/app:/app bitnami/nginx:latest

or by modifying the docker-compose.yml file present in this repository:

services:
  nginx:
  ...
    volumes:
      - /path/to/app:/app
  ...

Accessing your server from the host

To access your web server from your host machine you can ask Docker to map a random port on your host to ports 8080 and 8443 exposed in the container.

docker run --name nginx -P bitnami/nginx:latest

Run docker port to determine the random ports Docker assigned.

$ docker port nginx
8080/tcp -> 0.0.0.0:32769

You can also manually specify the ports you want forwarded from your host to the container.

docker run -p 9000:8080 bitnami/nginx:latest

Access your web server in the browser by navigating to http://localhost:9000.

Configuration

Adding custom server blocks

The default nginx.conf includes server blocks placed in /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/. You can mount a my_server_block.conf file containing your custom server block at this location.

For example, in order add a server block for www.example.com:

Step 1: Write your my_server_block.conf file with the following content

server {
  listen 0.0.0.0:8080;
  server_name www.example.com;
  root /app;
  index index.htm index.html;
}

Step 2: Mount the server block as a volume

docker run --name nginx \
  -v /path/to/my_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_server_block.conf:ro \
  bitnami/nginx:latest

or by modifying the docker-compose.yml file present in this repository:

services:
  nginx:
  ...
    volumes:
      - /path/to/my_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_server_block.conf:ro
  ...
Adding custom stream server blocks

Similar to server blocks, you can include server blocks for the NGINX Stream Core Module mounting them at /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/stream_server_blocks/. In order to do so, it's also necessary to set the NGINX_ENABLE_STREAM environment variable to yes.

Step 1: Write your my_stream_server_block.conf file with the following content

upstream backend {
    hash $remote_addr consistent;

    server backend1.example.com:12345 weight=5;
    server 127.0.0.1:12345            max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s;
    server unix:/tmp/backend3;
}

server {
    listen 12345;
    proxy_connect_timeout 1s;
    proxy_timeout 3s;
    proxy_pass backend;
}

Step 2: Mount the stream server block as a volume

docker run --name nginx \
  -e NGINX_ENABLE_STREAM=yes \
  -v /path/to/my_stream_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/stream_server_blocks/my_stream_server_block.conf:ro \
  bitnami/nginx:latest

or by modifying the docker-compose.yml file present in this repository:

services:
  nginx:
  ...
    environment:
      - NGINX_ENABLE_STREAM=yes
  ...
    volumes:
      - /path/to/my_stream_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/stream_server_blocks/my_stream_server_block.conf:ro
  ...
Using custom SSL certificates

NOTE: The steps below assume that you are using a custom domain name and that you have already configured the custom domain name to point to your server.

Step 1: Prepare your certificate files

In your local computer, create a folder called certs and put your certificates files. Make sure you rename both files to server.crt and server.key respectively:

mkdir -p /path/to/nginx-persistence/certs
cp /path/to/certfile.crt /path/to/nginx-persistence/certs/server.crt
cp /path/to/keyfile.key  /path/to/nginx-persistence/certs/server.key

Step 2: Provide a custom Server Block for SSL connections

Write your my_server_block.conf file with the SSL configuration and the relative path to the certificates:

  server {
    listen       8443 ssl;

    ssl_certificate      bitnami/certs/server.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key  bitnami/certs/server.key;

    ssl_session_cache    shared:SSL:1m;
    ssl_session_timeout  5m;

    ssl_ciphers  HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers  on;

    location / {
      root   html;
      index  index.html index.htm;
    }
  }

Step 3: Run the NGINX Open Source image and open the SSL port

Run the NGINX Open Source image, mounting the certificates directory from your host.

docker run --name nginx \
  -v /path/to/my_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_server_block.conf:ro \
  -v /path/to/nginx-persistence/certs:/certs \
  bitnami/nginx:latest

or by modifying the docker-compose.yml file present in this repository:

services:
  nginx:
  ...
    volumes:
    - /path/to/nginx-persistence/certs:/certs
    - /path/to/my_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_server_block.conf:ro
  ...
Solving redirection issues

By default redirections issued by NGINX Open Source image will be relative. If you need to activate absolute redirections you can set NGINX_ENABLE_ABSOLUTE_REDIRECT to yes. You should pay attention to the port where the container is listening, because it won't appear in redirections unless you set also NGINX_ENABLE_PORT_IN_REDIRECT to yes.

In the following lines you can see different examples what explain how redirections work. All of them will assume that we have the following content in the server block my_redirect_server_block.conf:

server {
  listen 0.0.0.0:8080;
  server_name www.example.com;
  root /app;
  index index.htm index.html;
  location /test/ {
    return 301 /index.html;
  }
}

Default configuration

docker run --name nginx --rm -p 9000:8080 \
  -v /path/to/my_redirect_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_redirect.conf:ro \
  bitnami/nginx:latest

As mentioned, default redirections issued by NGINX Open Source image will be relative. The client should build the final URL

$ curl -kI http://localhost:9000/test/
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
...
Location: /index.html
...
$ curl -w %{redirect_url}\\n -o /dev/null http://localhost:9000/test/
http://localhost:9000/index.html

Please keep in mind that some old clients could be not compatible with relative redirections.

Absolute redirect enabled

docker run --name nginx --rm -p 9000:8080 \
  -v /path/to/my_redirect_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_redirect.conf:ro \
  -e NGINX_ENABLE_ABSOLUTE_REDIRECT=yes \
  bitnami/nginx:latest

As result, the container will reply with a full URL in the Location header but it doesn't have the port. This is useful if you are exposing the container in standard ports (80 or 443)

$ curl -kI http://localhost:9000/test/
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
...
Location: http://localhost/index.html
...

Port in redirect enabled

docker run --name nginx --rm -p 9000:8080 \
  -v /path/to/my_redirect_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_redirect.conf:ro \
  -e NGINX_ENABLE_ABSOLUTE_REDIRECT=yes \
  -e NGINX_ENABLE_PORT_IN_REDIRECT=yes \
  bitnami/nginx:latest

In this case the container will include the port where it is listening to in redirections, not the port where it is exposed (in the example 8080 vs 9000)

$ curl -kI http://localhost:9000/test/
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
...
Location: http://localhost:8080/index.html
...

To amend this situation and build reachable URLs, you have to run the container listening in the same port that you are exposing

docker run --name nginx --rm -p 9000:9000 \
  -v /path/to/my_redirect_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_redirect.conf:ro \
  -e NGINX_ENABLE_ABSOLUTE_REDIRECT=yes \
  -e NGINX_ENABLE_PORT_IN_REDIRECT=yes \
  -e NGINX_HTTP_PORT_NUMBER=9000
  bitnami/nginx:latest
Full configuration

The image looks for configurations in /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/nginx.conf. You can overwrite the nginx.conf file using your own custom configuration file.

docker run --name nginx \
  -v /path/to/your_nginx.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/nginx.conf:ro \
  bitnami/nginx:latest

or by modifying the docker-compose.yml file present in this repository:

services:
  nginx:
  ...
    volumes:
      - /path/to/your_nginx.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/nginx.conf:ro
  ...

Reverse proxy to other containers

NGINX can be used to reverse proxy to other containers using Docker's linking system. This is particularly useful if you want to serve dynamic content through an NGINX frontend. To do so, add a server block like the following in the /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks/ folder:

server {
    listen 0.0.0.0:8080;
    server_name yourapp.com;
    access_log /opt/bitnami/nginx/logs/yourapp_access.log;
    error_log /opt/bitnami/nginx/logs/yourapp_error.log;

    location / {
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header HOST $http_host;
        proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;

        proxy_pass http://[your_container_alias]:[your_container_port];
        proxy_redirect off;
    }
}

Further Reading:

Logging

The Bitnami NGINX Open Source Docker image sends the container logs to the stdout. To view the logs:

docker logs nginx

or using Docker Compose:

docker-compose logs nginx

You can configure the containers logging driver using the --log-driver option if you wish to consume the container logs differently. In the default configuration docker uses the json-file driver.

Customize this image

The Bitnami NGINX Open Source Docker image is designed to be extended so it can be used as the base image for your custom web applications.

Extend this image

Before extending this image, please note there are certain configuration settings you can modify using the original image:

If your desired customizations cannot be covered using the methods mentioned above, extend the image. To do so, create your own image using a Dockerfile with the format below:

FROM bitnami/nginx
### Put your customizations below
...

Here is an example of extending the image with the following modifications:

  • Install the vim editor
  • Modify the NGINX configuration file
  • Modify the ports used by NGINX
  • Change the user that runs the container
FROM bitnami/nginx

### Change user to perform privileged actions
USER 0
### Install 'vim'
RUN install_packages vim
### Revert to the original non-root user
USER 1001

### Modify 'worker_connections' on NGINX config file to '512'
RUN sed -i -r "s#(\s+worker_connections\s+)[0-9]+;#\1512;#" /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/nginx.conf

### Modify the ports used by NGINX by default
ENV NGINX_HTTP_PORT_NUMBER=8181 # It is also possible to change this environment variable at runtime
EXPOSE 8181 8143

### Modify the default container user
USER 1002

Based on the extended image, you can use a Docker Compose file like the one below to add other features:

  • Add a custom server block
  • Add custom certificates
  • Clone your web application and serve it through NGINX
version: '2'

services:
  nginx:
    build: .
    ports:
      - '80:8181'
      - '443:8443'
    depends_on:
      - cloner
    volumes:
      - ./config/my_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/conf.d/server_blocks/my_server_block.conf:ro
      - ./certs:/certs
      - data:/app
  cloner:
    image: 'bitnami/git:latest'
    command:
      - clone
      - https://github.com/cloudacademy/static-website-example
      - /app
    volumes:
      - data:/app
volumes:
  data:
    driver: local

Adding custom NGINX modules

To add a custom NGINX module, it is necessary to compile NGINX with that module and copy over the appropriate files to the Bitnami image.

Example

Below is an example Dockerfile to build and install the NGINX Perl module (ngx_http_perl_module) over to the Bitnami image:

ARG NGINX_VERSION=1.25.0
ARG BITNAMI_NGINX_REVISION=r0
ARG BITNAMI_NGINX_TAG=${NGINX_VERSION}-debian-12-${BITNAMI_NGINX_REVISION}

FROM bitnami/nginx:${BITNAMI_NGINX_TAG} AS builder
USER root
## Redeclare NGINX_VERSION so it can be used as a parameter inside this build stage
ARG NGINX_VERSION
## Install required packages and build dependencies
RUN install_packages dirmngr gpg gpg-agent curl build-essential libpcre3-dev zlib1g-dev libperl-dev
## Add trusted NGINX PGP key for tarball integrity verification
RUN gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-key 520A9993A1C052F8
## Download NGINX, verify integrity and extract
RUN cd /tmp && \
    curl -O http://nginx.org/download/nginx-${NGINX_VERSION}.tar.gz && \
    curl -O http://nginx.org/download/nginx-${NGINX_VERSION}.tar.gz.asc && \
    gpg --verify nginx-${NGINX_VERSION}.tar.gz.asc nginx-${NGINX_VERSION}.tar.gz && \
    tar xzf nginx-${NGINX_VERSION}.tar.gz
## Compile NGINX with desired module
RUN cd /tmp/nginx-${NGINX_VERSION} && \
    rm -rf /opt/bitnami/nginx && \
    ./configure --prefix=/opt/bitnami/nginx --with-compat --with-http_perl_module=dynamic && \
    make && \
    make install

FROM bitnami/nginx:${BITNAMI_NGINX_TAG}
USER root
## Install ngx_http_perl_module system package dependencies
RUN install_packages libperl-dev
## Install ngx_http_perl_module files
COPY --from=builder /usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl /usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl
COPY --from=builder /opt/bitnami/nginx/modules/ngx_http_perl_module.so /opt/bitnami/nginx/modules/ngx_http_perl_module.so
## Enable module
RUN echo "load_module modules/ngx_http_perl_module.so;" | cat - /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/nginx.conf > /tmp/nginx.conf && \
    cp /tmp/nginx.conf /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/nginx.conf
## Set the container to be run as a non-root user by default
USER 1001

Maintenance

Upgrade this image

Bitnami provides up-to-date versions of NGINX Open Source, including security patches, soon after they are made upstream. We recommend that you follow these steps to upgrade your container.

Step 1: Get the updated image

docker pull bitnami/nginx:latest

or if you're using Docker Compose, update the value of the image property to bitnami/nginx:latest.

Step 2: Stop and backup the currently running container

Stop the currently running container using the command

docker stop nginx

or using Docker Compose:

docker-compose stop nginx

Step 3: Remove the currently running container

docker rm -v nginx

or using Docker Compose:

docker-compose rm -v nginx

Step 4: Run the new image

Re-create your container from the new image.

docker run --name nginx bitnami/nginx:latest

or using Docker Compose:

docker-compose up nginx

Useful Links

Notable Changes

1.24.0-debian-11-r142 and 1.25.2-debian-11-r33
1.18.0-debian-10-r210 and 1.19.6-debian-10-r1
  • Added support for enabling dynamic modules.
1.16.1-centos-7-r173
  • 1.16.1-centos-7-r173 is considered the latest image based on CentOS.
  • Standard supported distros: Debian & OEL.
1.16.0-r3
  • This image has been adapted so it's easier to customize. See the Customize this image section for more information.
  • The recommended mount point for adding custom server blocks changes from /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/vhosts to /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/server_blocks. Remember to update your Docker Compose files to user the new mount point.

Using docker-compose.yaml

Please be aware this file has not undergone internal testing. Consequently, we advise its use exclusively for development or testing purposes. For production-ready deployments, we highly recommend utilizing its associated Bitnami Helm chart.

If you detect any issue in the docker-compose.yaml file, feel free to report it or contribute with a fix by following our Contributing Guidelines.

Contributing

We'd love for you to contribute to this container. You can request new features by creating an issue or submitting a pull request with your contribution.

Issues

If you encountered a problem running this container, you can file an issue. For us to provide better support, be sure to fill the issue template.

License

Copyright © 2025 Broadcom. The term "Broadcom" refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

Docker Pull Command

docker pull bitnami/nginx
Bitnami