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Containers / openresty: README

Last updated on Aug 05, 2025

Bitnami package for OpenResty

What is OpenResty?

OpenResty is a platform for scalable Web applications and services. It is based on enhanced versions of NGINX and LuaJIT.

Overview of OpenResty Trademarks: This software listing is packaged by Bitnami. The respective trademarks mentioned in the offering are owned by the respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

TL;DR

docker run --name openresty bitnami/openresty:latest

Why use Bitnami Images?

  • Bitnami closely tracks upstream source changes and promptly publishes new versions of this image using our automated systems.
  • With Bitnami images the latest bug fixes and features are available as soon as possible.
  • Bitnami containers, virtual machines and cloud images use the same components and configuration approach - making it easy to switch between formats based on your project needs.
  • All our images are based on minideb -a minimalist Debian based container image that gives you a small base container image and the familiarity of a leading Linux distribution- or scratch -an explicitly empty image-.
  • All Bitnami images available in Docker Hub are signed with Notation. Check this post to know how to verify the integrity of the images.
  • Bitnami container images are released on a regular basis with the latest distribution packages available.

Looking to use OpenResty in production? Try VMware Tanzu Application Catalog, the commercial edition of the Bitnami catalog.

Why use a non-root container?

Non-root container images add an extra layer of security and are generally recommended for production environments. However, because they run as a non-root user, privileged tasks are typically off-limits. Learn more about non-root containers in our docs.

Supported tags and respective Dockerfile links

Learn more about the Bitnami tagging policy and the difference between rolling tags and immutable tags in our documentation page.

You can see the equivalence between the different tags by taking a look at the tags-info.yaml file present in the branch folder, i.e bitnami/ASSET/BRANCH/DISTRO/tags-info.yaml.

Subscribe to project updates by watching the bitnami/containers GitHub repo.

Get this image

The recommended way to get the Bitnami OpenResty Docker Image is to pull the prebuilt image from the Docker Hub Registry.

docker pull bitnami/openresty:latest

To use a specific version, you can pull a versioned tag. You can view the list of available versions in the Docker Hub Registry.

docker pull bitnami/openresty:[TAG]

If you wish, you can also build the image yourself by cloning the repository, changing to the directory containing the Dockerfile and executing the docker build command. Remember to replace the APP, VERSION and OPERATING-SYSTEM path placeholders in the example command below with the correct values.

git clone https://github.com/bitnami/containers.git
cd bitnami/APP/VERSION/OPERATING-SYSTEM
docker build -t bitnami/APP:latest .

Hosting a static website

This OpenResty image exposes a volume at /app. Content mounted here is served by the default catch-all server block.

docker run -v /path/to/app:/app bitnami/openresty:latest

Accessing your server from the host

To access your web server from your host machine you can ask Docker to map a random port on your host to ports 8080 and 8443 exposed in the container.

docker run --name nginx -P bitnami/openresty:latest

Run docker port to determine the random ports Docker assigned.

$ docker port openresty
8080/tcp -> 0.0.0.0:32769

You can also manually specify the ports you want forwarded from your host to the container.

docker run -p 9000:8080 bitnami/openresty:latest

Access your web server in the browser by navigating to http://localhost:9000.

Configuration

Environment variables

Customizable environment variables

Name Description Default Value
OPENRESTY_HTTP_PORT_NUMBER HTTP port number used by OpenResty. nil
OPENRESTY_HTTPS_PORT_NUMBER HTTPS port number used by OpenResty. nil
OPENRESTY_FORCE_INITSCRIPTS Force the init scripts running even if it is not in the first start. false

Read-only environment variables

Name Description Value
OPENRESTY_BASE_DIR OpenResty installation directory. ${BITNAMI_ROOT_DIR}/openresty
OPENRESTY_VOLUME_DIR OpenResty directory for mounted files. ${BITNAMI_VOLUME_DIR}/openresty
OPENRESTY_BIN_DIR OpenResty directory for binary executables. ${OPENRESTY_BASE_DIR}/bin
OPENRESTY_CONF_DIR OpenResty configuration directory. ${OPENRESTY_BASE_DIR}/nginx/conf
OPENRESTY_HTDOCS_DIR Directory containing HTTP files to serve via OpenResty. ${OPENRESTY_BASE_DIR}/nginx/html
OPENRESTY_TMP_DIR OpenResty directory for runtime temporary files. ${OPENRESTY_BASE_DIR}/nginx/tmp
OPENRESTY_LOGS_DIR OpenResty directory for logs. ${OPENRESTY_BASE_DIR}/nginx/logs
OPENRESTY_SERVER_BLOCKS_DIR OpenResty directory for virtual hosts. ${OPENRESTY_CONF_DIR}/nginx/server_blocks
OPENRESTY_SITE_DIR OpenResty directory for installing Lua packages. ${OPENRESTY_BASE_DIR}/site
OPENRESTY_INITSCRIPTS_DIR OpenResty init scripts directory. /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d
OPM_BASE_DIR OpenResty package manager base directory. /home/openresty
OPENRESTY_CONF_FILE Path to the OpenResty configuration. ${OPENRESTY_CONF_DIR}/nginx.conf
OPENRESTY_PID_FILE Path to the OpenResty PID file. ${OPENRESTY_TMP_DIR}/nginx.pid
OPENRESTY_DAEMON_USER OpenResty system user. daemon
OPENRESTY_DAEMON_GROUP OpenResty system group. daemon
OPENRESTY_DEFAULT_HTTP_PORT_NUMBER Default OpenResty HTTP port number to enable at build time. 8080
OPENRESTY_DEFAULT_HTTPS_PORT_NUMBER Default OpenResty HTTPS port number to enable at build time. 8443

Initializing a new instance

When the container is executed for the first time, it will execute the files with extensions .sh located at /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d.

In order to have your custom files inside the docker image you can mount them as a volume.

Adding custom server blocks

The default nginx.conf includes server blocks placed in /opt/bitnami/openresty/nginx/conf/server_blocks/. You can mount a my_server_block.conf file containing your custom server block at this location.

For example, in order add a server block for www.example.com:

Step 1: Write your my_server_block.conf file with the following content

server {
  listen 0.0.0.0:8080;
  server_name www.example.com;
  root /app;
  index index.htm index.html;
}

Step 2: Mount the configuration as a volume

docker run --name openresty \
  -v /path/to/my_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/openresty/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_server_block.conf:ro \
  bitnami/openresty:latest

Using custom SSL certificates

NOTE: The steps below assume that you are using a custom domain name and that you have already configured the custom domain name to point to your server.

Step 1: Prepare your certificate files

In your local computer, create a folder called certs and put your certificates files. Make sure you rename both files to server.crt and server.key respectively:

mkdir -p /path/to/openresty-persistence/certs
cp /path/to/certfile.crt /path/to/openresty-persistence/certs/server.crt
cp /path/to/keyfile.key  /path/to/openresty-persistence/certs/server.key

Step 2: Provide a custom Server Block for SSL connections

Write your my_server_block.conf file with the SSL configuration and the relative path to the certificates:

  server {
    listen       8443 ssl;

    ssl_certificate      bitnami/certs/server.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key  bitnami/certs/server.key;

    ssl_session_cache    shared:SSL:1m;
    ssl_session_timeout  5m;

    ssl_ciphers  HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers  on;

    location / {
      root   html;
      index  index.html index.htm;
    }
  }

Step 3: Run the OpenResty image and open the SSL port

Run the OpenResty image, mounting the certificates directory from your host.

docker run --name openresty \
  -v /path/to/my_server_block.conf:/opt/bitnami/openresty/nginx/conf/server_blocks/my_server_block.conf:ro \
  -v /path/to/openresty-persistence/certs:/certs \
  bitnami/openresty:latest

Full configuration

The image looks for configurations in /opt/bitnami/openresty/nginx/conf/nginx.conf. You can overwrite the nginx.conf file using your own custom configuration file.

docker run --name openresty \
  -v /path/to/your_nginx.conf:/opt/bitnami/openresty/nginx/conf/nginx.conf:ro \
  bitnami/openresty:latest

Adding lua modules

Openresty uses its own Lua's package manager named opm. It is advised to use opm instead of other Lua's package manager like luarocks. You can easily run the opm command from the container command-line, or build your custom image by extending Bitnami's:

FROM bitnami/openresty:latest
RUN opm get openresty/lua-resty-lock

Additionally, you can install your custom Lua modules using your custom init scripts.

Reverse proxy to other containers

OpenResty can be used to reverse proxy to other containers using Docker's linking system. This is particularly useful if you want to serve dynamic content through an OpenResty frontend. To do so, add a server block like the following in the /opt/bitnami/openresty/nginx/conf/server_blocks/ folder:

server {
    listen 0.0.0.0:8080;
    server_name yourapp.com;
    access_log /opt/bitnami/openresty/nginx/logs/yourapp_access.log;
    error_log /opt/bitnami/openresty/nginx/logs/yourapp_error.log;

    location / {
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header HOST $http_host;
        proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;

        proxy_pass http://[your_container_alias]:[your_container_port];
        proxy_redirect off;
    }
}

Further Reading:

Logging

The Bitnami OpenResty Docker image sends the container logs to the stdout. To view the logs:

docker logs openresty

You can configure the containers logging driver using the --log-driver option if you wish to consume the container logs differently. In the default configuration docker uses the json-file driver.

Customize this image

The Bitnami OpenResty Docker image is designed to be extended so it can be used as the base image for your custom web applications.

Extend this image

Before extending this image, please note there are certain configuration settings you can modify using the original image:

If your desired customizations cannot be covered using the methods mentioned above, extend the image. To do so, create your own image using a Dockerfile with the format below:

FROM bitnami/openresty
## Put your customizations below
...

Here is an example of extending the image with the following modifications:

  • Install the vim editor
  • Modify the OpenResty configuration file
  • Modify the ports used by OpenResty
  • Change the user that runs the container
FROM bitnami/openresty

## Change user to perform privileged actions
USER 0
## Install 'vim'
RUN install_packages vim
## Revert to the original non-root user
USER 1001

## Modify 'worker_connections' on OpenResty config file to '512'
RUN sed -i -r "s#(\s+worker_connections\s+)[0-9]+;#\1512;#" /opt/bitnami/openresty/nginx/conf/nginx.conf

## Modify the ports used by OpenResty by default
ENV OPENRESTY_HTTP_PORT_NUMBER=8181 # It is also possible to change this environment variable at runtime
EXPOSE 8181 8143

## Modify the default container user
USER 1002

Maintenance

Upgrade this image

Bitnami provides up-to-date versions of OpenResty, including security patches, soon after they are made upstream. We recommend that you follow these steps to upgrade your container.

Step 1: Get the updated image

docker pull bitnami/openresty:latest

Step 2: Stop and backup the currently running container

Stop the currently running container using the command

docker stop openresty

Step 3: Remove the currently running container

docker rm -v openresty

Step 4: Run the new image

Re-create your container from the new image.

docker run --name nginx bitnami/openresty:latest

Notable Changes

Starting January 16, 2024

  • The docker-compose.yaml file has been removed, as it was solely intended for internal testing purposes.

Contributing

We'd love for you to contribute to this container. You can request new features by creating an issue or submitting a pull request with your contribution.

Issues

If you encountered a problem running this container, you can file an issue. For us to provide better support, be sure to fill the issue template.

License

Copyright © 2024 Broadcom. The term "Broadcom" refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.