Docker Nginx Proxy: how to route traffic to different container using path and not hostname

In case if somebody is still looking for the answer.
jwilder/nginx-proxy allows you to use custom Nginx configuration either a proxy-wide or per-VIRTUAL_HOST basis.

Here’s how can you do it with Per-VIRTUAL_HOST location configuration.

1. Inside your poject folder create another folder – “vhost.d”.
2. Create file “whoami.local” with custom nginx configuration inside “vhost.d” folder. This file must have the same name as VIRTUAL_HOST!

./vhost.d/whoami.local

location /app1 {
  proxy_pass http://app1:8000;
}

location /app2 {
  proxy_pass http://app2:8000;
}

3. Create docker-compose.yml file.

./docker-compose.yml

version: '3'

services:
  nginx-proxy:
    image: jwilder/nginx-proxy
    ports:
    - "8080:80"
    volumes:
    - /var/run/docker.sock:/tmp/docker.sock:ro
    - /path/to/vhost.d:/etc/nginx/vhost.d:ro

  gateway:
    image: jwilder/whoami
    environment:
    - VIRTUAL_HOST=whoami.local

  app1:
    image: jwilder/whoami

  app2:
    image: jwilder/whoami

4. Run docker-compose up
5. Check configuration

In bash run:

$ curl -H "Host: whoami.local" localhost:8080
I'm 1ae273bce7a4
$ curl -H "Host: whoami.local" localhost:8080/app1
I'm 52b1a7b1992a
$ curl -H "Host: whoami.local" localhost:8080/app2
I'm 4adbd3f9e7a0
$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                 COMMAND                  CREATED             STATUS              PORTS                  NAMES
6a659a4d4b0a        jwilder/nginx-proxy   "/app/docker-entrypo…"   54 seconds ago      Up 53 seconds       0.0.0.0:8080->80/tcp   nginxreverseproxy_nginx-proxy_1
4adbd3f9e7a0        jwilder/whoami        "/app/http"              54 seconds ago      Up 53 seconds       8000/tcp               nginxreverseproxy_app2_1
52b1a7b1992a        jwilder/whoami        "/app/http"              54 seconds ago      Up 53 seconds       8000/tcp               nginxreverseproxy_app1_1
1ae273bce7a4        jwilder/whoami        "/app/http"              54 seconds ago      Up 53 seconds       8000/tcp               nginxreverseproxy_gateway_1

You can also add “whoami.local” domain to /etc/hosts file and make calls to this domain directly.

/etc/hosts

...
127.0.0.1   whoami.local
...

Result:

$ curl whoami.local:8080
I'm 52ed6da1e86c
$ curl whoami.local:8080/app1
I'm 4116f51020da
$ curl whoami.local:8080/app2
I'm c4db24012582