Hello! I have been struggling through a few tutorials on getting a lemmy instance to work correctly when setup with Docker. I have it mostly done, but there are various issues each time that I do not have the knowledge to properly correct. I am familiar with Docker, and already have an Oracle VPS set up on ARM64 Ubuntu. I already have portainer and an NGINX proxy set up and working okay. I have an existing lemmy instance “running” but not quite working. My best guess here would be to have someone assist with setting up the docker-compose to work with current updates/settings, as well as the config.hjson.

TIA, and I cant wait to have my own entry into the fediverse working right!

  • I eat wordsA
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    11 months ago

    yeah, nginx config for lemmy is not very straighforward. you need to mimic this:

    worker_processes  1;
    events {
        worker_connections  1024;
    }
    http {
        upstream lemmy {
            server "lemmy:8536";
        }
        upstream lemmy-ui {
            server "lemmy-ui:1234";
        }
        server {
          listen       1236;
          server_name  localhost;
    
          # frontend
          location / {
            set $proxpass "http://lemmy-ui";
            if ($http_accept = "application/activity+json") {
              set $proxpass "http://lemmy";
            }
            if ($http_accept = "application/ldr+json; profile=\"https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams\"") {
              set $proxpass "http://lemmy";
            }
            if ($request_method = POST) {
              set $proxpass "http://lemmy";
            }
            proxy_pass $proxpass;
    
            rewrite ^(.+)/+$ $1 permanent;
    
            # Send actual client IP upstream
            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
            proxy_set_header Host $host;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
          }
    
          # backend
          location ~ ^/(api|pictrs|feeds|nodeinfo|.well-known) {
            proxy_pass "http://lemmy";
            proxy_http_version 1.1;
            proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
            proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    
            # Add IP forwarding headers
            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
            proxy_set_header Host $host;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
          }
        }
    }
    

    also - can you check if all containers are running? just do docker-compose ps in the lemmy dir.

    • @Jattatak@beehaw.orgOP
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      111 months ago

      All containers are running. I handle them with Portainer, though I build the stack from the CLI in the lemmy dir, so Portainer cant fully manage them. Reboots and logs and networking and such work fine though.

      As for the nginx config, the nginx proxy manager I use currently has all proxy-host/settings setup from the webGUI, where I use the GUI to set up the proxy host information and SSL information. I did no manual edits to any configurations or settings of the container during or after compose. Only GUI actions. When looking at the nginx.conf I replied with here (my current conf), I do not see anything related to that proxy host I created from the GUI. I am not sure if that is normal or not, or if I maybe have a wrong .conf included here.

      With that in mind, would you suggest I simply overwrite and/or add your snippet to my existing conf file?

      • I eat wordsA
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        111 months ago

        try to look here for the config file:

        include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
        	include /data/nginx/default_host/*.conf;
        	include /data/nginx/proxy_host/*.conf;
        	include /data/nginx/redirection_host/*.conf;
        	include /data/nginx/dead_host/*.conf;
        	include /data/nginx/temp/*.conf;
        

        btw, i think port in lemmy.bulwarkob.com:1236 in docker-compose is not needed for you, should be just lemmy.bulwarkob.com

        • @Jattatak@beehaw.orgOP
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          111 months ago

          I appreciate your patience and clear assistance.

          conf.d/* has two configurations that appear to be some form of default. default.conf and production.conf. production.conf is only for the admin GUI. default.conf:

          Container has a volume set /lemmy/docker/nginx-proxy-manager/data:/data

          I have those folders and more, and they DO seem to have the correct custom item.

          Specifically, in the proxy_host folder I have a configuration for the proxy host I set up (1.conf) in the GUI:

          spoiler
          
          # ------------------------------------------------------------
          # lemmy.bulwarkob.com
          # ------------------------------------------------------------
          
          
          server {
            set $forward_scheme http;
            set $server         "172.24.0.5";
            set $port           1234;
          
            listen 80;
          listen [::]:80;
          
          listen 443 ssl http2;
          listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
          
          
            server_name lemmy.bulwarkob.com;
          
          
            # Let's Encrypt SSL
            include conf.d/include/letsencrypt-acme-challenge.conf;
            include conf.d/include/ssl-ciphers.conf;
            ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/npm-1/fullchain.pem;
            ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/npm-1/privkey.pem;
          
          
          
            # Block Exploits
            include conf.d/include/block-exploits.conf;
          
          
          
          
              # Force SSL
              include conf.d/include/force-ssl.conf;
          
          
            access_log /data/logs/proxy-host-1_access.log proxy;
            error_log /data/logs/proxy-host-1_error.log warn;
          
          
            location / {
          
          
          
          
          
              # Proxy!
              include conf.d/include/proxy.conf;
            }
          
          
            # Custom
            include /data/nginx/custom/server_proxy[.]conf;
          }
          
          

          The rest of the folders are empty:

          • I eat wordsA
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            111 months ago

            okay, i don’t know how npm works, could you check this tutorial to see if you have set it up similarly?

            https://youtu.be/6lQFZvCCe7U

            also - check docker-compose.yml settings to remove port for lemmy host and i think you need to set use https to true as it is provided by npm

            • @Jattatak@beehaw.orgOP
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              311 months ago

              I actually started with this tutorial a few days ago after failing the official guide. I followed it but was unable to get it running due to unexpected errors. Im guessing this tutorial is somewhat out of date. Ive made progress since using that guide though so I will see if I can pull any useful bits out of it later today and continue.

              Worst case, I could also just ditch NPM if I can get another NGINX set up in a way that you might know how to do correctly.

            • @Jattatak@beehaw.orgOP
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              111 months ago

              Hey, if you still feel like helping out :D

              Ive been through a boatload of changes today since earlier. Ive rebuilt using mostly the provided yml in the official guide, and after some tweaking, almost everything is working. The internal proxy is now working, and the containers are working amongst themselves fully as far as I can tell. I do not know how to setup a web facing reverse proxy in a way that works around the internal proxy already running (other than the already in place NPM). I turned the NPM back on, and was able to get it working to reach the site, however I cannot reach any other communities from within my site. I believe the reverse proxy NPM is just not set up right. Error message in lemmy:

              spoiler
              ERROR HTTP request{http.method=GET http.scheme="https" http.host=lemmy.bulwarkob.com http.target=/api/v3/ws otel.kind="server" request_id=69004ca6-7967-48c3-a4d2-583e961e34d3 http.status_code=101 otel.status_code="OK"}: lemmy_server::api_routes_websocket: couldnt_find_object: Request error: error sending request for url (https://midwest.social/.well-known/webfinger?resource=acct:projectzomboid@midwest.social): operation timed out
              
                 0: lemmy_apub::fetcher::search::search_query_to_object_id
              
                           at crates/apub/src/fetcher/search.rs:17
              
                 1: lemmy_apub::api::resolve_object::perform
              
                         with self=ResolveObject { q: "!projectzomboid@midwest.social", auth: Some(Sensitive) }
              
                           at crates/apub/src/api/resolve_object.rs:21
              
                 2: lemmy_server::root_span_builder::HTTP request
              
                         with http.method=GET http.scheme="https" http.host=lemmy.bulwarkob.com http.target=/api/v3/ws otel.kind="server" request_id=69004ca6-7967-48c3-a4d2-583e961e34d3 http.status_code=101 otel.status_code="OK"
              
                           at src/root_span_builder.rs:16
              

              I would be happy to remove NPM from this stack if its not too difficult to get a correctly working reverse proxy set up. The documentation doesnt give much to work with in it.

              • I eat wordsA
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                111 months ago

                from the log it seems that lemmy cannot reach https://midwest.social/ - if you have more such operation timed outs - probably there is some networking issue with outgoing requests - maybe you have some kind of firewall? i can reach your instance from other direction: https://group.lt/c/bulwarkob@lemmy.bulwarkob.com

                probably the easiest way to setup lemmy and another front facing reverse proxy is to use nginx that comes with lemmy on another port and setup simple reverse proxying with NPM to it. i myself using caddy for reverse proxying, using this config: https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/caddy.html

                • @Jattatak@beehaw.orgOP
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                  111 months ago

                  I see that the instance can be reached, and posts are shown, however comments are not. I have found in the official docs that there is a config snippet for a web facing reverse proxy. https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/troubleshooting.html https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ansible/blob/main/templates/nginx.conf

                  And this config appears quite different from the “Install with Docker” config instructions: https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/install_docker.html

                  spoiler
                  
                  worker_processes 1;
                  events {
                      worker_connections 1024;
                  }
                  http {
                      upstream lemmy {
                          # this needs to map to the lemmy (server) docker service hostname
                          server "lemmy:8536";
                      }
                      upstream lemmy-ui {
                          # this needs to map to the lemmy-ui docker service hostname
                          server "lemmy-ui:1234";
                      }
                  
                      server {
                          # this is the port inside docker, not the public one yet
                          listen 80;
                          # change if needed, this is facing the public web
                          server_name localhost;
                          server_tokens off;
                  
                          gzip on;
                          gzip_types text/css application/javascript image/svg+xml;
                          gzip_vary on;
                  
                          # Upload limit, relevant for pictrs
                          client_max_body_size 20M;
                  
                          add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN;
                          add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff;
                          add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
                  
                          # frontend general requests
                          location / {
                              # distinguish between ui requests and backend
                              # don't change lemmy-ui or lemmy here, they refer to the upstream definitions on top
                              set $proxpass "http://lemmy-ui";
                  
                              if ($http_accept = "application/activity+json") {
                                set $proxpass "http://lemmy";
                              }
                              if ($http_accept = "application/ld+json; profile=\"https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams\"") {
                                set $proxpass "http://lemmy";
                              }
                              if ($request_method = POST) {
                                set $proxpass "http://lemmy";
                              }
                              proxy_pass $proxpass;
                  
                              rewrite ^(.+)/+$ $1 permanent;
                              # Send actual client IP upstream
                              proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
                              proxy_set_header Host $host;
                              proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
                          }
                  
                          # backend
                          location ~ ^/(api|pictrs|feeds|nodeinfo|.well-known) {
                              proxy_pass "http://lemmy";
                              # proxy common stuff
                              proxy_http_version 1.1;
                              proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
                              proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
                  
                              # Send actual client IP upstream
                              proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
                              proxy_set_header Host $host;
                              proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
                          }
                      }
                  }
                  
                  

                  Do you know if I should expect to have TWO unique NGINX proxy instances (assuming I use NGINX)? One in-stack, and one separate for web facing reverse proxy? Or do I need a combination of the two configs into one instance?

                  I am going to see if I can get a caddy reverse proxy setup in the meantime and see how it performs given your configuration there.

                  • I eat wordsA
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                    111 months ago

                    you can have two nginx proxy instances, one as a front (serving other sites besides lemmy instance) and another - coupled with lemmy instance. in such case the first one can be configured minimally with basic proxy stuff to internal lemmy one, no need for this fancy lemmy and lemmy-ui proxying.

                    location /{
                       proxy_pass http://nginx-lemmy-docker:someport;
                    }