guide · #selfhost · 20 min

Set Up a Reverse Proxy with Caddy (HTTPS Included)

Cech Tech Reviews

Expose your self-hosted services with proper domain names and automatic HTTPS certificates. Caddy handles everything, no manual certificate management.

1. 1

   Install Caddy

   On Docker:

   docker run -d \
     --name caddy \
     --restart unless-stopped \
     -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
     -v ~/caddy/Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile \
     -v ~/caddy/data:/data \
     -v ~/caddy/config:/config \
     caddy:latest

2. 2

   Create a Caddyfile

   Create ~/caddy/Caddyfile with your domains:

   plex.yourdomain.com {
       reverse_proxy localhost:32400
   }

   vault.yourdomain.com {
       reverse_proxy localhost:8080
   }

3. 3

   Point your DNS to your server

   In your domain registrar or Cloudflare, create A records pointing plex.yourdomain.com and vault.yourdomain.com to your server's public IP.

4. 4

   Caddy handles HTTPS automatically

   When a request comes in, Caddy automatically obtains and renews Let's Encrypt certificates. You never touch a certificate file. It just works.

5. 5

   Add more services as you go

   Every new service is just 3 lines in the Caddyfile. Add it, reload Caddy (docker exec caddy caddy reload --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile), and the new subdomain is live with HTTPS.