geschke/nginx-swrm repository overview

⁠geschke/nginx-swrm

Minimal Nginx Docker image based on Ubuntu LTS distributions.

The image provides a predictable Nginx environment using the official Ubuntu Nginx packages. This ensures long-term stability, security updates, and behavior similar to a standard Ubuntu server installation.

The repository name still contains swrm for historical reasons. The image was originally created for Docker Swarm deployments but is today mainly used as a general-purpose Nginx container for standard Docker setups.

⁠Why this image exists

Many Nginx Docker images are based on Alpine Linux or custom builds.

This image follows a different approach:

• Ubuntu LTS base images
• Nginx from the official Ubuntu repositories
• predictable package versions
• long-term security updates via Ubuntu

The goal is to provide a stable and low-maintenance container that behaves similarly to a typical Ubuntu server installation.

⁠Supported Versions

The Nginx version corresponds to the version shipped with the respective Ubuntu LTS release.

⁠Image Tags

Image tags follow the Nginx version plus an internal image revision number.

Examples:

latest
1.24-6
1.24-4
1.18-6
...

latest always refers to the current Ubuntu LTS based image maintained in this repository.

⁠Pulling the Image

docker pull geschke/nginx-swrm

⁠Running the Container

Example:

docker run -d \
  --name nginx \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 80:80 \
  -v /srv/docker/nginx/html:/var/www/html \
  -v /srv/docker/nginx/sites-enabled:/etc/nginx/sites-enabled \
  -v /srv/docker/nginx/conf.d:/etc/nginx/conf.d \
  geschke/nginx-swrm:latest

In this example:

• website content from the host directory /srv/docker/nginx/html is mounted to /var/www/html inside the container
• virtual host configuration from /srv/docker/nginx/sites-enabled is mounted to /etc/nginx/sites-enabled
• additional Nginx configuration snippets from /srv/docker/nginx/conf.d are mounted to /etc/nginx/conf.d

This keeps the container image itself unchanged while configuration and website data remain on the host system.

⁠Docker Compose Example

A simple docker compose setup may look like this compose.yaml:

services:
  nginx:
    image: geschke/nginx-swrm:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - ./html:/var/www/html
      - ./nginx/sites-enabled:/etc/nginx/sites-enabled
      - ./nginx/conf.d:/etc/nginx/conf.d

Start it with:

docker compose up -d

In this example:

• the local directory ./html contains the website content
• the local directory ./nginx/sites-enabled contains the virtual host configuration
• the local directory ./nginx/conf.d contains additional Nginx configuration snippets

⁠Example Directory Layout

A simple project structure could look like this:

project-directory/
├── compose.yaml
├── html/
│   └── index.html
└── nginx/
    ├── sites-enabled/
    │   └── default
    └── conf.d/
        └── compression.conf

• html/ contains the website content
• nginx/sites-enabled/ contains virtual host configurations
• nginx/conf.d/ contains additional Nginx configuration snippets

The names of the host directories are completely arbitrary. They are simply mounted to the appropriate locations inside the container.

⁠Configuration

The container follows the standard Ubuntu Nginx configuration layout.

Typical locations inside the container include:

• /etc/nginx/sites-enabled for virtual host configuration
• /etc/nginx/conf.d for additional configuration snippets
• /var/www/html for website content

These directories can be populated through bind mounts or similar Docker mechanisms from the host system. This allows you to manage configuration and content outside the container while keeping the container image itself immutable.

⁠Typical Use Cases

The container can be used for example as:

• reverse proxy
• frontend for containerized services
• static web hosting
• simple load balancing

⁠License

MIT License