Self-Hosting on a VPS: Nginx Reverse Proxy and Let's Encrypt SSL

If you run backend servers built with Node.js, Express, FastAPI, Django, Go, or Rust on a VPS (DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS, Hetzner, OVH), you need a reverse proxy to manage incoming HTTP/HTTPS traffic, terminate SSL, and route requests to internal application ports.

Here is how to set up your free devs.surf subdomain with Nginx and free Let's Encrypt certificates in under 10 minutes.

Step 1: Point Your Subdomain to VPS IP

In the Devs.Surf Dashboard:

• Add an A Record:
  • Type: A
  • Name: @
  • Content: YOUR_VPS_PUBLIC_IPV4
  • TTL: 3600

Step 2: Install Nginx and Certbot

On Ubuntu or Debian Linux:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Step 3: Configure Nginx Server Block

Create a configuration file at /etc/nginx/sites-available/api.devs.surf.conf (replace api.devs.surf with your actual subdomain):

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.devs.surf;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000; # your app port
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

Enable the site and test configuration:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/api.devs.surf.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 4: Obtain Automated SSL with Certbot

Run Certbot to automatically issue and configure Let's Encrypt HTTPS certificates:

sudo certbot --nginx -d api.devs.surf

Certbot will perform the HTTP challenge, obtain the certificate, and update your Nginx configuration with automatic HTTPS redirection. Test auto-renewal with:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run