Free Domain Certbot: Nginx Deployment Overview on Server¶

Prerequisites¶

The following conditions are required for the application to function correctly:

Operating System: Linux (with Docker installed).
Access Rights: root privileges to manage containers and system directories.
Domain Name: Configured DNS for the target domain.
Ports: Ports 80 and 443 must be open in the external firewall.

FQDN of the final panel on hostkey.in domain¶

Parameter	Value
Prefix	`nginx-certbot`
Domain	`hostkey.in`
Full Template	`nginx-certbot{Server_ID_from_Invapi}.hostkey.in`

File and Directory Structure¶

All primary configuration files and application data are located in the following directories:

/data/nginx/ — project working directory containing docker-compose.yml, .env environment file, and custom Nginx configurations.
/data/nginx/user_conf.d/ — directory for storing virtual host configuration files (.conf).
/etc/letsencrypt/ — the contents of this path inside the container are linked to the external Docker volume nginx_secrets.

Application Installation Process¶

Deployment is performed by creating the necessary directories, generating configuration files based on templates, and starting containers via docker compose. The application uses the jonasal/nginx-certbot:latest image.

Docker Containers and Execution¶

One main container is deployed in the system.

nginx¶

Image Name: jonasal/nginx-certbot:latest
Ports:
80:80 (HTTP)
443:443 (HTTPS)
Volumes:
nginx_secrets:/etc/letsencrypt — for storing SSL certificates.
./user_conf.d:/etc/nginx/user_conf.d — for custom Nginx configurations.
Environment Variables:
[email protected]
Variables File: ./nginx-certbot.env
Restart Policy: unless-stopped

Application Update Instructions¶

Updates are performed using the command:

docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

This command pulls the latest image versions and restarts containers applying the new settings.

Permissions Settings¶

The following directory permissions are set to ensure security:

/data, /data/nginx, /data/nginx/user_conf.d — owner root, group root, access mode 0640.
Configuration files in /data/nginx/ — owner root, group root, access mode 0644.

Location of Configuration Files and Data¶

File / Directory	Host Path	Purpose
Docker Compose	`/data/nginx/docker-compose.yml`	Docker service description
Environment Variables	`/data/nginx/nginx-certbot.env`	Container environment parameters
Nginx Configuration	`/data/nginx/user_conf.d/{prefix}{server_id}.{zone}.conf`	Virtual host and SSL settings

Available Ports for Connection¶

80 — for Certbot challenge validation (HTTP).
443 — for accessing the service via secure HTTPS protocol.