Skip to main content

​
Overview

This template provides a production‑ready Nginx instance as a Monk runnable. You can:
  • Run it directly to get a managed Nginx web server with sensible defaults
  • Inherit it in your own runnable to serve static content, reverse proxy, or load balance traffic
Nginx is a high-performance HTTP server and reverse proxy, as well as an IMAP/POP3 proxy server. It’s known for its high performance, stability, rich feature set, simple configuration, and low resource consumption.

​
What this template manages

  • Nginx container (nginx image, configurable tag)
  • Network services on ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS)
  • Custom nginx.conf configuration
  • Static content serving
  • Reverse proxy capabilities

​
Quick start (run directly)

  1. Load templates
monk load MANIFEST
  1. Run Nginx with defaults
monk run nginx/nginx
  1. Customize configuration (recommended via inheritance)
Running directly uses the defaults defined in this template’s variables. Configuration added with custom files will not affect this runnable unless you inherit it and override those files.
  • Preferred: inherit and customize variables or files as shown below.
  • Alternative: fork/clone and edit the variables in nginx/nginx.yaml, then monk load MANIFEST and run.
Once started, access Nginx at http://localhost:80.

​
Configuration

Key variables you can customize in this template: 
variables:
  nginx-image-tag: "latest"           # container image tag  
  http-port: "80"                     # HTTP port (env: HTTP_PORT)
  https-port: "443"                   # HTTPS port (env: HTTPS_PORT)
  worker-processes: "auto"            # worker processes count
  worker-connections: "1024"          # connections per worker
Custom nginx.conf can be provided via the files section in the template. Static content and configuration files are typically mounted from the host or defined inline. Inherit the Nginx runnable in your application to create a reverse proxy or serve static content. Example: 
namespace: myapp
web:
  defines: runnable
  inherits: nginx/nginx
  files:
    nginx-conf:
      container: nginx
      path: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
      contents: |
        events {
          worker_connections 1024;
        }
        http {
          upstream backend {
            server api:8080;
          }
          server {
            listen 80;
            location / {
              proxy_pass http://backend;
              proxy_set_header Host $host;
            }
          }
        }
api:
  defines: runnable
  containers:
    api:
      image: myorg/api
  connections:
    proxy:
      runnable: web
      service: nginx
Then run your application group: 
monk run myapp/api

​
Ports and connectivity

  • Service: nginx on TCP port 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS)
  • From other runnables in the same process group, use connection-hostname("\<connection-name>") to resolve the Nginx host.

​
Persistence and configuration

  • Configuration files can be mounted via the files section in your runnable definition.
  • Static content can be served by mounting host directories or defining inline content.
  • SSL/TLS certificates should be mounted from the host or provided via secrets management.
  • Logs are available via monk logs command or can be persisted to host volumes if needed.

​
Features

  • High-performance static file serving
  • Reverse proxy with caching
  • Load balancing (round-robin, least connections, IP hash)
  • SSL/TLS termination
  • HTTP/2 support
  • WebSocket proxying
  • URL rewriting and redirects
  • Access control and rate limiting

​
Use cases

Nginx excels at:
  • Serving static websites and assets
  • Reverse proxy for microservices
  • Load balancing across application servers
  • SSL/TLS termination
  • API gateway
  • Content caching
  • Combine with application backends (Node.js, Python, PHP)
  • Use certbot/ or traefik/ for SSL/TLS certificates
  • Integrate with prometheus-grafana/ for monitoring

​
Troubleshooting

  • Test nginx configuration syntax:
monk do nginx/nginx/test-config
  • Verify Nginx is responding:
curl http://localhost:80
  • For SSL/HTTPS setup, ensure certificates are properly mounted and paths are correct.
  • If configuration changes don’t take effect, ensure you’ve reloaded or restarted the container.
  • Check logs:
monk logs -l 500 -f nginx/nginx