Deploy and Host Nginx Proxy Manager on Railway

Nginx Proxy Manager is a simple web-based interface for managing NGINX reverse proxies, SSL certificates, redirects, and access rules without manually writing NGINX configuration files. This Railway template runs Nginx Proxy Manager in a single container with persistent storage, making it easier to manage proxy hosts and HTTPS routing from a browser-based admin panel.

About Hosting Nginx Proxy Manager

Hosting Nginx Proxy Manager on Railway gives you a lightweight way to manage reverse proxy rules and SSL certificates through a clean web UI. This template uses the jlesage/nginx-proxy-manager Docker image, which packages Nginx Proxy Manager into a single container and stores its application data under one persistent /config directory. Railway handles deployment, public networking, environment variables, and persistent volume storage, while Nginx Proxy Manager provides the UI for creating proxy hosts, redirects, SSL certificates, and access rules. This setup is useful when you want a simple proxy management dashboard without maintaining a separate database service.

Common Use Cases

• Managing reverse proxy hosts from a browser-based UI
• Creating HTTPS routes and SSL certificates for web services
• Testing domain routing, redirects, and access rules on Railway

Dependencies for Nginx Proxy Manager Hosting

• Nginx Proxy Manager container
• Railway volume mounted to /config

Deployment Dependencies

• jlesage/nginx-proxy-manager Docker Image
• jlesage/docker-nginx-proxy-manager GitHub Repository
• Nginx Proxy Manager Official Website
• Nginx Proxy Manager Setup Guide
• Railway Documentation

Implementation Details

This template uses the Docker image:

jlesage/nginx-proxy-manager

This image runs Nginx Proxy Manager as a single service and persists configuration through the /config directory.

Recommended environment variables:

TZ=Asia/Jakarta

You can change the timezone if needed.

Example:

TZ=UTC

Persistent Volume Configuration

Mount one Railway volume to:

/config

Recommended initial size:

1 GB

You can increase the volume size later if your proxy data, logs, or certificate files grow.

The /config volume is important because it stores the Nginx Proxy Manager application data, configuration, certificates, and persistent state. Without a persistent volume, your proxy configuration may be lost after redeploys or restarts.

Ports

The jlesage/nginx-proxy-manager image exposes multiple ports for the web UI and proxy traffic.

Common internal ports:

8080  -> Nginx Proxy Manager web UI
8181  -> HTTP proxy traffic
4443  -> HTTPS proxy traffic

On Railway, expose the port you want to access publicly. For the admin dashboard, expose the web UI port first.

First Login

After deployment, open the public URL for the Nginx Proxy Manager service.

The default login is commonly:

Email: admin@example.com
Password: changeme

After logging in for the first time, immediately change the email and password.

How to Create a Proxy Host

After logging in:

1. Open Hosts.
2. Click Proxy Hosts.
3. Click Add Proxy Host.
4. Enter your domain name.
5. Enter the target scheme, hostname, and port.
6. Save the proxy host.

Example target:

Scheme: https
Forward Hostname / IP: your-service.up.railway.app
Forward Port: 443

If you are proxying an HTTP service:

Scheme: http
Forward Hostname / IP: your-service.up.railway.app
Forward Port: 80

SSL Certificates

Nginx Proxy Manager can help request and manage SSL certificates.

Typical SSL setup:

1. Open the proxy host.
2. Go to the SSL tab.
3. Choose Request a new SSL Certificate.
4. Enable Force SSL if needed.
5. Enter your email.
6. Accept the Let's Encrypt terms.
7. Save.

Make sure your domain DNS is already pointing to the correct Railway public endpoint before requesting a certificate.

Railway Notes

This template is designed to make Nginx Proxy Manager easy to deploy and test on Railway. However, reverse proxy behavior depends on how your Railway service and custom domains are configured.

Before using it for production, test:

1. The admin UI opens correctly.
2. Your custom domain points to the Nginx Proxy Manager service.
3. Proxy Host routing works.
4. SSL certificate creation works.
5. The target service is reachable from Nginx Proxy Manager.

For the simplest setup, start by proxying to public Railway service URLs. After that, you can experiment with internal/private networking where appropriate.

Why Deploy Nginx Proxy Manager on Railway?

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying Nginx Proxy Manager on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.