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Domain Setup

This guide walks you through pointing a custom domain to your MJ Bot dashboard using nginx as a reverse proxy and Certbot for free SSL certificates.

Prerequisites​

  • A registered domain name
  • DNS A record pointing your domain to your server's IP address
  • The dashboard running on port 3000 (see Dashboard Setup)

Install Nginx​

Install nginx on your server:

apt install nginx

Verify that nginx is running:

systemctl status nginx

Create the Nginx Configuration​

Create a new configuration file for your domain:

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/your-domain

Paste the following configuration, replacing your-domain.com with your actual domain:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}
info

The Upgrade and Connection headers are included to support WebSocket connections, which Next.js uses for hot reloading in development and for certain real-time features.

Enable the Site​

Create a symbolic link to enable the configuration:

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/your-domain /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test the nginx configuration for syntax errors:

nginx -t

If the test passes, reload nginx to apply the changes:

systemctl reload nginx

At this point, you should be able to access your dashboard at http://your-domain.com.

Install SSL with Certbot​

Install Certbot and the nginx plugin:

apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Obtain and install an SSL certificate:

certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

Certbot will automatically modify your nginx configuration to handle HTTPS and set up automatic certificate renewal.

tip

Certbot sets up a systemd timer to automatically renew your certificates before they expire. You can verify the timer is active with systemctl list-timers | grep certbot.

Update the Dashboard Environment​

After SSL is configured, update the NEXTAUTH_URL in your dashboard .env file to use HTTPS:

NEXTAUTH_URL=https://your-domain.com

Restart the dashboard for the change to take effect:

pm2 restart mj-dashboard
warning

If you skip updating NEXTAUTH_URL, authentication redirects will use HTTP instead of HTTPS, which will cause login failures and security warnings.

Verify​

Open your browser and navigate to:

https://your-domain.com

You should see the MJ Bot dashboard served over a secure HTTPS connection.

Next Steps​