Nginx Docker Image with FastCGI

This is a Nginx Docker Image designed to work with this Wordpress PHP Docker Image. This image includes common routes for Wordpress and configuration for Nginx FastCGI cache.

How to Use this Image

Start a nginx server instance

docker run -p 80:80 --name nginx -e FASTCGI_HOST=localhost -d ericmathison/nginx:tag

Once the container has started, you can browse or curl http://localhost:80.

Using Docker Compose

Example docker-compose.yml file:

version: "3.3"

services:
    nginx:
        image: ericmathison/nginx:latest
        restart: always
        volumes:
            - wp-data:/var/www/html
            - nginxfastcgi:/var/cache/nginxfastcgi
        environment:
            FASTCGI_HOST: localhost

Environment Variables

When you use this image, you will need to supply the address for your FastCGI host. This can be specified by either IP Address or DNS Name.

FASTCGI_HOST

Set this to either the IP Address or DNS Name of the container running your PHP application. The port defaults at 9000.

Configuration

Defaults

This image sets the worker_processes to auto and worker_connections to 8192. These directives are set in the Dockerfile.

Default html block directives can be found in conf/default.conf. These settings can be changed to any value.

Virtual Server block directives are configured in the files located in the /global/ directory.

• /global/locations.conf.template Location Rules
• /global/nocache.conf.template Cache Skipping Rules
• /global/proxy.conf.template RealIP Rules
• /global/secure.conf.template Basic Security Rules

Caching

The caching directory is located in /var/cache/nginxfastcgi/.
By default, inactive cache is set to purge after 90 minutes. Resources served with a 200, 301, 302, or 404 response are cached for 60 minutes. Nginx is allowed to serve stale cache, in case of server problems.

FastCGI cache is skipped whenever one of the following situations is true:

• it's a POST request
• the request includes a query string
• the request is a non-cachable Wordpress URL (/wp-admin, /wp-login, /xmlrpc.php, /sitemap)
• the request is for a WooCommerce URL (/cart, /my-account, /checkout)
• the request includes specific cookies

Custom Caching Rules

If you need to add custom no cache rules, they can be added in a custom .conf file located in the /etc/nginx/globals/ directory.
Use the following variables in your ruleset:

• $skip_custom_cache
• $custom_skip_reason

Proxying

If you are using this Nginx image behind a reverse proxy like Cloudflare or a Docker Load Balancer, you can add the IP address(es) of the load balancer to the /global/proxy.conf.template file.

GH Actions

This repo is configured to automatically build this Docker image and upload it to your Docker Hub account.

1. To setup this action, you need to set the following enviroment secrets:

• DOCKERHUB_USERNAME - this is your Docker Hub username
• DOCKERHUB_TOKEN - this is your Docker Hub API key

2. You need to update the tags for the build in /.github/workflows/deploy.yml on line 26.