AutoHttps

AutoHttps is a proxy in a Docker image to easily allow https access to a web application or REST API.

• 🔒 Generates valid SSL certificates using Let's Encrypt and keep it rotated when needed.
• 🌐 Can be used with a domain name or just with the public IP (thaks to sslip.io).
• ⚡ Is designed to be very easy to configure in a docker-compose deployment.
• 🚀 Can be used in production or in development.

Table of Contents

• How to use
  • Without domain
  • With domain
    • With domain and publishable compose file
  • With multiple web applications
• Configuration
  • Environment Variables
  • Volumes
• Limitations
  • SSLIP.io Considerations
• Examples
• Project Warning

How to use

Without domain

1. SSH connect to a server with a public IP address and open ports:

   • Port 80 (HTTP): Required for initial Let's Encrypt verification
   • Port 443 (HTTPS): For secure traffic to your application

2. Install Docker and Docker Compose.

3. Create a docker-compose.yaml file with two services:

   • Your application (serving plain HTTP)
   • The AutoHttps proxy (handling HTTPS)

services:
  # The AutoHttps proxy service
  autohttps:
    image: cruizba/autohttps:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"    # Required for Let's Encrypt verification
      - "443:443"  # Your users will connect here
    volumes:
      - ./caddy_data:/data  # Store certificates persistently
    environment:
      - SERVICES=web:3000  # Point to your app's service name and port
    depends_on:
      - web

  # Your web application service
  web:
    image: your-web-image
    # IMPORTANT: Your app should:
    # 1. Serve plain HTTP (not HTTPS)
    # 2. Listen on port 3000 (any port is fine, just match it with
    #    the port used in SERVICES environment variable)
    # 3. No need to expose ports - AutoHttps will handle that

4. Start everything:

docker compose up -d

Your application will be available via HTTPS at https://web-YOUR-IP.sslip.io, where YOUR-IP is your server's public IP address formatted with dashes instead of dots.

For example, if your server's IP is 1.2.3.4, the URL will be https://web-1-2-3-4.sslip.io

With domain

If you have a domain name pointing to the public IP, set it with the dedicated DOMAIN environment variable:

services:
  autohttps:
    image: cruizba/autohttps:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./caddy_data:/data
    environment:
      - SERVICES=web:3000
      - DOMAIN=www.yourdomain.com
    depends_on:
      - web

  web:
    image: your-web-image

Your application will be available via HTTPS at https://www.yourdomain.com.

With domain and publishable compose file

Keeping the domain in its own variable is handy when you publish a docker-compose.yml (e.g. in a registry) and want users to set the domain at deploy time without editing the compose file. Use a substitution with an empty default and let whoever deploys provide a .env file:

services:
  autohttps:
    image: cruizba/autohttps:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./caddy_data:/data
    environment:
      - SERVICES=web:3000
      - DOMAIN=${DOMAIN:-}
    depends_on:
      - web

  web:
    image: your-web-image

# .env (provided at deploy time)
DOMAIN=www.yourdomain.com

If DOMAIN is left empty (or the .env file is omitted), AutoHttps falls back to a sslip.io domain automatically, so the same template works with or without a custom domain. DOMAIN is only valid with a single service; for multiple applications set each domain inline in SERVICES (see below).

With multiple web applications

You can secure multiple applications by listing them in the SERVICES variable:

services:
  autohttps:
    image: cruizba/autohttps:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./caddy_data:/data
    environment:
      # Format: service1:port,service2:port
      # Or with custom domains: service1:port=domain1.com,service2:port=domain2.com
      - SERVICES=app1:3000,app2:8080
    depends_on:
      - app1
      - app2

  app1:
    image: your-app1-image

  app2:
    image: your-app2-image

Configuration

Environment Variables

• SERVICES: A comma-separated list of services in the format:

  serviceName:port[=domain.com][,anotherService:port]
  

  If the domain is omitted (or left empty, e.g. web:3000=), a domain will be automatically generated using sslip.io with your server's public IP in the format service-name-PUBLIC-IP.sslip.io.

• DOMAIN (optional): Sets the domain for a single-service deployment without having to edit SERVICES. Useful for publishable docker-compose templates: keep SERVICES=web:3000 in the compose file and let users pass DOMAIN via a .env file. When DOMAIN is unset or empty, AutoHttps falls back to a sslip.io domain. It cannot be combined with multiple services or with an inline domain in SERVICES (set each domain inline instead).

Volumes

AutoHttps uses two possible volume mounts:

1. ./caddy_data:/data (Required)

   • Stores the SSL/TLS certificates and other Caddy data
   • Without this volume, certificates will be regenerated on every restart (hitting Let's Encrypt rate limits)

2. ./caddy_config:/config (Optional)

   • Stores the generated Caddyfile configuration
   • Only mount this if you need to customize the Caddy configuration
   • Important: When this volume is mounted:
     • The Caddyfile is generated only if the directory is empty
     • Changes to the SERVICES environment variable won't update the Caddyfile
     • Manual updates to the Caddyfile are required if you modify the SERVICES environment variable after initial creation

Limitations

SSLIP.io Considerations

1. Rate Limits

   • Do not abuse of sslip.io service, they actually can handle up to 10k domains, but it is a free service maintained by volunteers.

2. Domain availability:

   • sslip.io domains are public and shared
   • If someone has misused your IP-based domain, it might be temporarily blocked
   • It is recommended to use domains for production environments

3. DNS resolution:

   • sslip.io service might experience occasional downtime
   • DNS resolution depends on the sslip.io service availability

Examples

You can find a complete working examples in the example directory. To test it:

1. Create a VM with public IP and open ports 80 and 443.
2. Install Docker and Docker Compose.
3. Execute the following commands:

git clone https://github.com/cruizba/AutoHttps
cd AutoHttps/example
docker compose up -d

You will have two applications available at:

• https://random-cats-YOUR-IP.sslip.io
• https://random-dogs-YOUR-IP.sslip.io

For example, if your server's IP is 1.2.3.4, the URLs will be:

• https://random-cats-1-2-3-4.sslip.io
• https://random-dogs-1-2-3-4.sslip.io

Project Warning

Warning

I am not responsible for any misuse of this tool. Do not use AutoHttps for bad purposes, as misuse can lead to domain blacklisting and other issues, deteriorating the service for everyone. Always use this tool responsibly and ethically.