Devlog #2

Table of Devlogs:

• Devlog #1
• Devlog #2 (This Devlog)

Hello!

I am working on a prepared docker (or podman) image with Nginx, lua and other plugins.

Changes:

The major change since the last devlog is that I added support for the crowdsec-nginx-bouncer. Furthermore, I standardized some comments, installing path, stage names. These changes don’t really affect building the image, but will make maintenance easier.

Challenges:

I kept running into many kinds of errors. Mostly about missing or incorrect path to the dependency of the modules. The second most common errors are configuration problem or syntax issues.

Learned:

It might be surprising, but I feel like I learned how to use git the most. I didn’t use git a lot before, especially in a standard way.
I learned the git add /path/to/file \-p method, so I could stage changes by chunks instead of files.

Also, I learned more about docker (or podman). I learned the dns resolver in docker is fixed as 127.0.0.11, whereas it is dynamic in podman (can be shown by podman network inspect \<network name\> | grep “gateway” )

TO-DOs:

Please always refer to the TO-DO list in the latest devlog.

I feel like I added a bunch of stuff and focused on those:

• [ ]Add a version that is based on alpine, fedora, debian-slim, and Distroless (Still struggling with alpine)
• [ ]Shrink the size
• [ ]Write the default nginx.conf file (I did the test one, but not the production one)
• [ ]Write the CI/CD file so it can be pushed to docker hub automatically
• [ ]Support stable version (not always pull the latest nginx and everything)
• [ ]Prepare different versions that include different plugins
• [ ]Write a README
• [ ]Add a freenginx version
• [ ]Prepare a non-dynamic module version (so it could be smaller)

Plan:

I plan to ship this before 2026-06-30T23:59-04:00 to earn the stickers Nevermind. I spent my weekend cooking. Let’s see how it goes.

P.S.: I also found a bug in the system too. See more on GitHub: https://github.com/hackclub/stardance/issues/700

Devlog #1

Table of Devlogs:

• Devlog #1 (This Devlog)
• Devlog #2 (latest)

Hello!

I’m building a docker (or podman) image that can make deploying nginx easier.
The current version can compile and install the coraza-nginx, lua, and ngx_headers_more module as dynamic modules.
Hmm… It seems similar to openresty, but my version uses dynamic modules(aka “.so” files). It is closer to the original nginx, and it also simplifies the plugins that aren’t used often. I also believe the image size will be smaller than openresty when I switch the base to alpine Linux. Furthermore, I plan to include a default nginx configuration, not only a basic hello page, but basic ip rate limits, waf rules, and blocking secured files like “.env”, etc.

I started writing the Containerfile (almost the same as Dockerfile) when I was working on my website (not working). I quickly found out this could help someone, and I decided to make it a single project, so some git history may be missing. Also, I am coding on the dev branch for those who are confused.

TO-DOs:
Outdated, please refer to the latest TO-DO list

• Use the alpine Linux version as the basic image (I’m currently facing some issues with it)
• Write the default nginx.conf file
• Write the CI/CD file so it can be pushed to docker hub automatically
• Support stable version (not always pull the latest nginx and everything)
• Prepare different versions that include different plugins
• Write a ReadMe
• Add a freenginx version