I’m happily serving a few websites and services publicly. Now I would like to host my Navidrome server, but keep the contents private on the web to stay out of trouble. I’m afraid that when I install a reverse proxy, it’ll take my other stuff online offline and causes me various headaches that I’m not really in the headspace for at the moment. Is there a safe way to go about doing this selectively?
How are you currently serving publicly?
Linux running HTTP and Gemini servers. This is fine from home using port forwarding and afraid.org’s dynamic DNS.
My method:
VPS with reverse proxy to my public facing services. This holds SSL certs, and communicates with home network through WireGuard link configured on my router.
Local computer with reverse proxy for all services. This also has SSL certs, and handles the same services as the VPS, so I can have local/LAN speeds. Additionally, it serves as a reverse proxy for all my private services, such as my router/switches/access point config pages, Jellyfin, etc.
No complaints, it mostly just works. I also have my router override DNS entries for my FQDN to resolve locally, so I use the same URL for accessing public services on my LAN.
Thanks! Is the point of reverse-proxying your public-facing services to make them private?
A reverse proxy is basically a landing place that acts as a middle man between the client and the server. Most people set it up so that all traffic on 80 or 443 go to the reverse proxy, and then the reverse proxy gets the correct website based on the host header of the request.
If you are currently serving multiple websites on your server, then that means you are serving each website on a different port.
So, just make sure that the reverse proxy is serving on a port that is not used by your other sites. It will only respond on it’s own port, and it will only serve the site(s) that you have configured in the proxy.
You’ll be fine!
Thanks, that’s a great explanation. I’m looking forward to being able to SSH in without port forwarding.
I agree that you would want a VPN for that. Look into something like tailscale.
I would use a VPN to ssh
That’s the standard behavior. Read the documentation for whatever reverse proxy you want to use.
The standard is that everything gets captured by the proxy? I want to leave the HTTP and Gemini servers public. I also want those and SMB to remain accessible on the LAN.
No, the standard is that it routes only what you configure.
First of all, doesn’t Navidrome have authentication? So, I don’t see why exposing it to the public is a problem.
Second, some reverse proxies support basic auth. This way, you can password-protect some services and is useful if the service does not have its own authentication. Here as an example snippet for Caddy:
example.com { basic_auth { # Username "Bob", password "hiccup" Bob $2a$14$Zkx19XLiW6VYouLHR5NmfOFU0z2GTNmpkT/5qqR7hx4IjWJPDhjvG } reverse_proxy myservice:8000 }You’ll have to look up the docs for other reverse proxies.
Thanks. You’re right about Navidrome supporting authentication. I’m using HTTP instead of HTTPS, though. I was advised to use a reverse proxy to avoid potential legal issues.
How will a reverse proxy help?
Things that a reverse proxy is often used for:
- making multiple services hosted on the same IP and port
- SSL termination so that the wider world speaks https and the proxy speaks http to the server. This means the server doesn’t have to do its own key management
- load balancing services so multiple servers can serve the same request (technically a load balancer but I believe some reverse proxies do basic load balancing)
- adding authentication in front of services that don’t have their own (note that some of the protections/utility is lost if you use http. Anyone who can see your traffic will also be able to authenticate. It’s not zero protection though because random internet users probably can’t see your traffic)
- probably something I’m forgetting
Do any of these match what you’re trying to accomplish? What do you hope to gain by adding a reverse proxy (or maybe some other software better suited to your need)?
Edit: you say you want to keep this service ‘private from the web’. What does that mean? Are you trying to have it so only clients you control can access your service? You say that you already have some services hosted publicly using port forwarding. What do you want to be different about this service? Assuming that you do need it to be secured/limited to a few known clients, you also say that these clients are too weak to run SSL. If that’s the case, then you have two conflicting requirements. You can’t simultaneously have a service that is secure (which generally means cryptographically) and also available to clients which cannot handle cryptography.
Apologies if I’ve misunderstood your situation
Thank you for the very informative reply.
The HTTP and Gemini services are for vintage clients, but I would like the reverse proxy to keep my media collection private (and maybe SSH and SMB too). So I’m serving to modern clients in the case of reverse proxy. I was told that port forwarding is no longer considered secure enough and that if my media gets publicly exposed I could be liable for damages to license holders.
What’s your reason for using HTTP? That seems like a really bad idea this day in age, ESPECIALLY if that’s something you’re going to make available on the internet.
They’re lightweight sites that exist to be accessed by vintage computers which aren’t powerful enough to run SSL.
Gotcha… as long as you understand that any device that receives that traffic can see exactly what’s in it! (no sarcasm intended at all… if you’re informed of the risk and OK with it, then all is well!)
I have a general idea. I appreciate the info :). I’ve made a point of having nothing sensitive in the contents or the requests (I don’t have any forms, for example. It’s all static pages).
