RPI-Nginx-Proxy-Manager

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Docker setup for Nginx Proxy Manager on Raspberry Pi (3, 4, and 5), using SQLite as the database. This approach is simple, lightweight, and sufficient for most home environments and homelabs, removing the need for an additional MariaDB container.

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1. Update the system

Before installing Docker, update the operating system:

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot

After the reboot:

sudo apt update

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2. Install Docker

Install the official Docker version:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

Add your user to the docker group to run commands without sudo:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Verify that everything was installed correctly:

docker version
docker compose version
docker run hello-world

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3. Create the directory structure

Create a folder to store the Nginx Proxy Manager configuration:

mkdir -p ~/docker/nginx-proxy-manager
cd ~/docker/nginx-proxy-manager

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4. Create the compose.yml file

Create the file:

nano compose.yml

Copy the content shown below into the file.

compose.yml

services:
  nginx-proxy-manager:
    image: jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:2.12.3
    container_name: nginx-proxy-manager
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "192.168.1.100:81:81"
    environment:
      DISABLE_IPV6: 'true'
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
      - ./letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "/bin/check-health"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 3s

Note: replace 192.168.1.100 with your Raspberry Pi's local IP address. This ensures port 81 (the admin interface) is only reachable on the local network, rather than on all interfaces of the machine.

Note: the image version (2.12.3) is pinned on purpose, instead of using latest, to avoid unexpected automatic updates. Check the tags on Docker Hub for the latest version before updating manually.

Save the file (Ctrl + O, Enter) and exit the editor (Ctrl + X).

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5. Start the container

From the folder where compose.yml was created, run:

docker compose up -d

Confirm the container started correctly:

docker ps

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6. First access

Open your browser and go to:

http://RASPBERRY_PI_IP:81

Example:

http://192.168.1.100:81

Default credentials:

• Email: admin@example.com
• Password: changeme

On first login you will be required to change the email and password.

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Directory structure

After the first startup, the structure will look like this:

nginx-proxy-manager/
├── compose.yml
├── data/
└── letsencrypt/

The data and letsencrypt folders are created automatically.

• data contains all configuration and the SQLite database.
• letsencrypt contains the SSL certificates.

Do not delete these folders if you want to keep your configuration.

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Updating Nginx Proxy Manager

cd ~/docker/nginx-proxy-manager
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

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Useful commands

View logs:

docker compose logs -f

Restart:

docker compose restart

Stop:

docker compose stop

Start again:

docker compose start

Remove only the containers:

docker compose down

Completely remove the container and all data:

docker compose down -v

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Updating the Raspberry Pi

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo apt autoremove -y

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Notes

• Compatible with Raspberry Pi 3, 4, and 5.
• Tested on Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm (64-bit).
• Uses SQLite as the database.
• Does not require MariaDB or MySQL.
• Let's Encrypt certificates persist across updates and reboots.
• Only ports 80 and 443 should be exposed to the Internet.
• In this guide's compose.yml, port 81 is already bound to the Raspberry Pi's local IP address, instead of being reachable on all interfaces. Make sure the IP address matches your machine before starting the container.