Reverse Proxy Setup

My setup for exposing my home server to the internet without Port Forwarding.

Tailscale

I use Tailscale to connect my home server with the docker in the VPS. This way I don't need to open ports in order to connect this two endpoints.

nginx

I use nginx to route my VPS traffic to the various services I have inside my home server.

DNS Setup

First, I create an A record pointing to my server, this A record could be used for a specific service, but there I just serve the default nginx page:

vps.gerardgascon.com.    IN    A    146.190.236.48

All subsequent domains I want to point to a home server service will have a CNAME pointing to that base A record:

git.gerardgascon.com.    IN    CNAME    vps.gerardgascon.com.

Steps to add a new service

1. Add CNAME record to DNS
2. Modify nginx.conf to add support for the new service:

    server {
        listen 443 ssl;
        server_name <<url>>;
   
        ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/<<url>>/fullchain.pem;
        ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/<<url>>/privkey.pem;
   
        location / {
            proxy_pass http://<<tailnet_ip>>:<<service_port>>/;
        }
    }
   

3. Request SSL certificate and deploy:

   docker compose stop nginx && certbot certonly --standalone -d <<url>> --expand && docker compose up -d