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Nginx Proxy Manager integration for Gladys Assistant

Nginx Proxy Manager integration for Gladys Assistant

Install and run Nginx Proxy Manager from Gladys, with direct access to its admin portal.

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This integration installs and runs Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM) directly on the Gladys machine: nothing to install by hand, no docker-compose to write. Gladys creates the container, supervises it, keeps its data and gives you direct access to its web portal. (The image is a very lightly adapted build of the official one, required to run inside the Gladys security sandbox — same features.)

What the integration does​

  • Automatic install: when the integration is installed, Gladys pulls the official NPM image and starts the container (the docker-compose equivalent, inside the Gladys sandbox).
  • Supervision: the container state is visible in Gladys; the configuration screen shows whether the NPM API answers, and a Check Nginx Proxy Manager button displays the running version.
  • Portal access: an Open link in Gladys leads to the NPM admin portal. Management (proxy hosts, redirections, SSL certificates) happens in that portal, as usual.
  • Persistent data: the NPM database (/data) and its certificates (/etc/letsencrypt) are kept by Gladys across restarts and updates.

Install​

  1. Install the integration from the Gladys catalog. The install screen shows the container that will be created (image, published ports, limits); confirm.
  2. Wait for the status to turn green (the first start initializes the NPM database, allow one to two minutes).
  3. Open the portal through the Open link (or the URL shown in the "Access the portal" section).
  4. On your first visit, Nginx Proxy Manager asks you to create the administrator account (email + password of your choice).

Expose your services on the internet​

Gladys picks the ports published on the machine (they are shown in the configuration screen, "Expose your services" section):

  • the HTTP port maps to NPM's internal port 80;
  • the HTTPS port maps to the internal port 443.

On your router:

  • Forward port 443 (to the assigned HTTPS port): the only essential one. Your sites are served encrypted, nobody can read the traffic.

  • Port 80 is optional (to the assigned HTTP port) and must never serve your sites in clear text. It has only two legitimate uses:

    • letting Let's Encrypt verify your domain to issue and renew your certificates (its default method);
    • automatically redirecting visitors typing http:// to https://.

    If you open it, enable Force SSL on each of your proxy hosts in NPM: anything arriving over HTTP is immediately redirected to HTTPS, nothing is served in clear.

  • If you prefer not to open port 80 at all: in NPM, request your certificates with a DNS challenge ("Use a DNS Challenge" when requesting the certificate) — Let's Encrypt then verifies your domain without going through port 80.

Where is my data?​

The Nginx Proxy Manager data lives on the machine hosting Gladys, inside the integration data folder:

/var/lib/gladysassistant/external-integrations/<identifier>/containers/npm/
├─ data/               # SQLite database (proxy hosts, accounts, settings),
│                      # generated nginx configurations, logs
└─ etc/letsencrypt/    # Let's Encrypt certificates and account keys

(<identifier> depends on your install — visible with docker inspect on the npm container, mounts column.)

These folders survive restarts and updates. However, uninstalling the integration may remove them: make a copy before any uninstall, and include this path in your usual backups:

sudo tar czf ~/backup-npm-$(date +%F).tar.gz \
  /var/lib/gladysassistant/external-integrations/*/containers/npm

Good to know​

  • This integration creates no device in Gladys: NPM is managed from its own portal.
  • Stopping the integration also stops the proxy; uninstalling the integration removes the container (volumes follow the Gladys data policy).

Configuration settings​

These are the settings Nginx Proxy Manager asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.

SettingTypeRequiredDescription
How it workssectionNoThis integration installs and runs Nginx Proxy Manager on your Gladys machine: nothing to install by hand, the container is created, supervised and updated by Gladys. Manage your proxy hosts, redirections and SSL certificates from its own web portal.
Access the portalsectionNoThe admin portal is available at http://{{gladys_host}}:{{port:admin}} — also one click away via the "Open NPM admin portal" button on the Supervision screen. On your first visit, Nginx Proxy Manager asks you to create the administrator account.
Expose your servicessectionNoTo serve your domains from the internet, forward port 443 of your router to port {{port:https}} on the Gladys machine — that is the only essential one, your sites are served encrypted (HTTPS). Port 80 (to {{port:http}}) is optional and must never serve content: it is only used by Let's Encrypt to issue/renew your certificates (default method) and to redirect visitors typing http:// to https://. If you open it, enable "Force SSL" on your hosts in NPM; if you keep it closed, use the DNS challenge for your certificates.

How to install Nginx Proxy Manager in Gladys​

  1. In Gladys, open Integrations: Nginx Proxy Manager appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
  2. Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (ghcr.io/jeremiemercier/gladys-nginx-proxy-manager:1.0.1), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration).
  3. Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
  4. You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/JeremieMercier/gladys-nginx-proxy-manager.

Nginx Proxy Manager requires Gladys >=4.86.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.

Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.

About external integrations​

Nginx Proxy Manager is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by JeremieMercier, not by the Gladys core team.

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