Nginx Config Import#

PosternProxy can parse existing Nginx configuration files and convert them into proxy hosts. This makes migrating from Nginx Proxy Manager or a custom Nginx setup significantly faster.

How to import#

Go to Settings → Import from Nginx
Paste or upload your Nginx configuration (one or more server {} blocks)
Click Parse — PosternProxy shows a preview of the hosts it detected
Review the preview. Edit or deselect entries you do not want to import.
Click Import Selected

What is parsed#

Nginx directive	PosternProxy field
`server_name`	Domain names
`proxy_pass`	Forward scheme, host, and port
`listen 443 ssl`	SSL forced = true
`ssl_certificate` / `ssl_certificate_key`	Custom certificate (uploaded separately)
`proxy_set_header Upgrade`	WebSocket support = true

What is not imported#

The following Nginx directives have no equivalent in PosternProxy and are silently ignored:

location blocks (basic ones are previewed but multi-level location nesting is not supported)
proxy_cache directives
lua_* directives
geo {} and map {} blocks
Custom upstream {} groups (the primary upstream address is extracted, but load balancing config is not)

Preview and dry-run#

The import is always shown as a preview before any data is written. You can:

Deselect individual server blocks
Edit the detected upstream address before importing
See validation warnings (e.g. a proxy_pass with a hostname that cannot be resolved)

No changes are made to Caddy or the database until you click Import Selected.

After import#

Imported hosts are created as disabled by default. Review each one in the Proxy Hosts list and enable when ready. This prevents accidentally routing traffic before you have verified the configuration.

Notes#

The parser handles Nginx configuration syntax but does not execute Nginx’s variable expansion ($host, $scheme, etc.). Literal values are imported; variable references are left as-is and flagged as warnings.
Comments are preserved in the preview for context but are not stored in PosternProxy.
If you have a large number of server blocks, consider splitting the config into smaller files and importing in batches.