how to run nginx docker container with custom config?

Question

I have a Dockerfile and custom nginx configuration file (in the same directory with Dockerfile) as follows:

Dockerfile:

FROM nginx

COPY nginx.conf /         


        

Answer 1

An example for adding gzip config:

docker run -v [./]gzip.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/gzip.conf nginx

or docker-compose:

version: '3'

services:
  nginx:
    image: nginx
    volumes:
      - ./gzip.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/gzip.conf
      - ./html:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro

Answer 2

official nginx docker hub manual page:

docker run --name my-custom-nginx-container -v /host/path/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro -d nginx

Answer 3

As mentioned in the NGiNX documentation, upstream is supposed to be defined in an http context.

As mentioned in nginx unkown directive “upstream”:

When that file is included normally by nginx.conf, it is included already inside the http context:

http {
  include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
}

You either need to use -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf or make a small wrapper like the above block and nginx -c it.

In case of Docker, you can see different options with abevoelker/docker-nginx:

docker run -v /tmp/foo:/foo abevoelker/nginx nginx -c /foo/nginx.conf

For a default nginx.conf, check your CMD:

CMD ["nginx", "-c", "/data/conf/nginx.conf"]