Self-hosting Next.js with Docker

Running Next.js on your own VPS, without being tied to a platform, is easier than you might think. This site runs on the setup below.

#Turn on standalone output

One line in next.config.ts makes the build put only the files needed to run into a separate folder:

const nextConfig = { output: "standalone" };

That keeps the full node_modules folder out of the image, so the image gets much smaller.

#A multi-stage Dockerfile

Install dependencies, build, then copy only the output into a small image:

FROM node:22-alpine AS build
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

FROM node:22-alpine
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production HOSTNAME=0.0.0.0 PORT=3000
COPY --from=build /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=build /app/.next/static ./.next/static
COPY --from=build /app/public ./public
USER node
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

#Put Nginx in front

The container only listens on 127.0.0.1:3000. Nginx talks to the outside world:

server {
  server_name example.com;
  location / {
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
  }
}

For the certificate, sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com is enough. Certbot sets up renewal too.

#Updating

Shipping a new version takes two commands:

docker compose build
docker compose up -d

You can wire this into a GitHub Actions workflow so it runs on every push to main.