## Docker Part Two: Provision a VPS with Nginx and SSL Now that we've got a Docker image built and pushed to Docker Hub, we need somewhere to run it. Let's provision a fresh server, install Nginx, and get HTTPS sorted. I'll assume you've got a domain name and a VPS provider of your choice (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Scaleway, whatever takes your fancy). ### Step 1: SSH into your machine Your provider will give you an IP address and credentials. SSH in. ### Step 2: Update everything ```bash apt update && apt upgrade -y ``` ### Step 3: Install Nginx ```bash apt install nginx -y ``` ### Step 4: Create a test site If you're planning to host multiple domains on one box, create subdirectories: ```bash mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/html nano /var/www/example.com/html/index.html ``` Chuck in some basic HTML: ```html Welcome to example.com

Hello World!

You have accessed the example.com website.

``` ### Step 5: Configure Nginx ```bash nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com ``` Add your server block: ```nginx server { listen 80; listen [::]:80; root /var/www/example.com/html; index index.html index.htm; server_name example.com www.example.com; location / { try_files $uri $uri/ =404; } } ``` Edit `root` and `server_name` to match your actual domain. ### Step 6: Enable the site ```bash ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ ``` ### Step 7: Verify and restart ```bash nginx -t systemctl restart nginx ``` You should now see your site over HTTP. ### Step 8: Install SSL with Certbot Certbot handles Let's Encrypt certificates automatically. Install it via snap (the modern way): ```bash sudo snap install --classic certbot sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot ``` Run the wizard: ```bash sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com ``` It'll modify your Nginx config to handle HTTPS and set up auto-renewal. Done. *Previous: [Docker Part One: Create an Image](/blog/create-docker-image). Next: [Deploy a Container to the Web](/blog/deploy-to-vps)*