Install Nginx Proxy Manager Without Docker | An Overview

Are you looking to install and set up Nginx Proxy Manager without Docker on Windows|Linux|Ubuntu|Debian? This guide is for you. It provides insights into running Nginx Proxy Manager without Docker to help make the right decisions.

Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM) is a handy tool. You get easier UI to manage hosts, SSL certificates and many tools for Proxy management. Nginx Proxy Manager will work on any common platform (Windows|Linux|Ubuntu|Debian). However, what if you want to run this perfect UI as a standalone self-hosted service? Is Docker the only way? Do you have a way out to not use Docker? Let’s find out.

Does Nginx Proxy Manager Work Without Docker

Every tool ends up being too limited for what you need. Considering the ease of use on Nginx Proxy Manager, it’s clear you won’t get your way out to the poxy manager for every application.

Getting back to Nginx Proxy Manager without Docker. This here is a tricky approach as far as I know. At the time of publishing this post, Nginx Proxy Manager FAQ stated the following:

And YES. Nginx Proxy Manager is not created without Docker. At least that’s how it works. Cleary the Nginx Proxy Manager Docker maintainers require Docker. After all, Docker is not that scary.

With Nginx Proxy Manager, it seems you’ll need to become ok with Docker. If not, you’ll have to look for similar tools that don’t need Docker.

Where Nginx Proxy Manager Without Docker

Does this mean you won’t install Nginx Proxy Manager without Docker? There is a slight exception.

The only way Nginx seems to work Without Docker is if you are using Proxmox LXC & Alpine Linux. Nginx Proxy Manager runs inside a Docker container. The LXC containerization is a container technology.

However, you will still not get all you need. LXC container will only work with the Alpine 3.16 template. This means using Alpine 3.17 will fail and Nginx won’t work. Now, it seems not worth the amount of verbose configuration.

You might consider Kubernetes. I have created a general way to run Nginx Proxy Manager with Kubernetes in the following guide:

How to Install and Run Nginx Proxy Manager with Kubernetes

Best Alternatives to Run Nginx Proxy Manager Works Without Docker

If Nginx is always your cup of tea for manager proxies, use Nginx as a reverse proxy. Although you will manually create, and edit config files. This can be challenging and hard to work on something that the gods of Nginx Proxy Manager already made so easy.

• If you like Traefik, go for it. It doesn’t seem too bad to me.
• Consider checking swag and it comes with preconfigured reverse proxy templates.
• Have you heard of Squid proxy server? It is Almost similar to using Nginx as a reverse proxy. But you can check it out to get curious.

Conclusion

Nginx Proxy Manager is easy to use. It’s a Docker-only application. If Nginx Proxy Manager is probably exactly what you are looking for, Docker will only be the best way to run it. Just try not to use Nginx Proxy Manager Works Without Docker to make your setup easier. If you don’t have to use Docker, try using Nginx as a reverse Proxy server.