# Installing Nginx UI – An Open-Source WebUI for Nginx > Source: > Published: 2026-07-31 12:38:42+00:00 Nginx UI is an open-source web GUI for managing Nginx, single-node or clustered, with real-time stats, automatic Let's Encrypt TLS, performance monitoring, and even LLM-assisted config editing. This guide installs it on Ubuntu 24.04, puts it behind a reverse proxy with TLS, sets up ACME certificate management, and creates a virtual host through the dashboard. Prerequisites:an Ubuntu 24.04 server, non-root sudo user, a domain A record (e.g.`nginx-ui.example.com` ), Docker installed if you choose that install path. ``` bash $ sudo apt update $ sudo apt install nginx -y ``` Pick **one** of the two install methods below. Runs Nginx UI as a system service, managing the host's Nginx directly. ``` bash $ curl -O https://cloud.nginxui.com/install.sh $ sudo bash install.sh install $ nginx-ui --version $ sudo systemctl start nginx-ui $ sudo systemctl status nginx-ui ``` Runs as a container — you won't be able to edit the host's Nginx configs directly through it. ``` bash $ mkdir -p ~/nginx-ui-docker $ cd ~/nginx-ui-docker $ sudo mkdir -p /opt/nginx-ui/nginx $ sudo mkdir -p /opt/nginx-ui/config $ sudo mkdir -p /opt/nginx-ui/www $ nano docker-compose.yml version: '3.8' services: nginx-ui: image: uozi/nginx-ui:latest container_name: nginx-ui restart: always environment: - TZ=UTC volumes: - /opt/nginx-ui/nginx:/etc/nginx - /opt/nginx-ui/config:/etc/nginx-ui - /opt/nginx-ui/www:/var/www ports: - "127.0.0.1:9000:80" networks: - nginx-ui-net networks: nginx-ui-net: driver: bridge bash $ sudo docker compose up -d $ sudo docker compose ps $ curl -X GET http://localhost:9000 ``` Nginx UI listens on `localhost:9000` . Put it behind a public vhost with WebSocket support (needed for live stats/terminal): ``` bash $ cd /etc/nginx/sites-available $ sudo nano nginx-ui.conf map $http_upgrade $connection_upgrade { default upgrade; '' close; } server { listen 80; listen [::]:80; server_name nginx-ui.example.com; location / { proxy_set_header Host $host; 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; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection $connection_upgrade; proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9000; } } bash $ sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default $ sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/nginx-ui.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ $ sudo nginx -t $ sudo systemctl restart nginx bash $ sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y $ sudo ufw allow 80,443/tcp $ sudo ufw reload $ sudo certbot --nginx -d nginx-ui.example.com -m admin@example.com --agree-tos --no-eff $ sudo systemctl restart nginx-ui ``` Visit `https://nginx-ui.example.com` : `https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory` , leave Proxy/EAB blank.**1. Point a subdomain** (e.g. `app.example.com` ) at your server, then via Nginx UI's **Terminal**: ``` bash $ sudo mkdir -p /var/www/app.example.com $ sudo nano /var/www/app.example.com/index.html Sample Nginx Virtual Host Application

Hello from your new virtual host!

bash $ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/app.example.com ``` **2. Manage Sites → Sites List → Add:** `server_name` = your domain, `root` = `/var/www/app.example.com` `index.html` , `index.htm` , `index.php` Confirm the vhost shows **Enabled**, then visit `https://app.example.com` to see the page live. **Advanced Mode** on the edit screen gives you raw Nginx config access if you need it. Nginx UI is managing your server's Nginx config with automated TLS and a live dashboard. From here: For the full guide, visit the original article on ** Vultr Docs**.