Coming from Nginx Proxy Manager
Updated Oct 15, 2026
If you already run Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM), RustProxy will feel familiar: a web page in front of your sites, with free HTTPS certificates that renew themselves. This page shows where things live and what RustProxy does that NPM doesn't.
There's no importer. You recreate your sites by hand, one at a time, which is also the safest way to move.
Where things live
| In NPM | In RustProxy |
|---|---|
| Proxy Host | A host with an upstream |
| Redirection Host | A host set to redirect |
| 404 Host | Hosts, then Add 404 host |
| Streams (TCP/UDP) | A port rule (Opening Other Ports) |
| Access list with allowed addresses | An IP allow list |
| Access list with username and password | A Login list (a sign-in page, not the browser's pop-up box) |
| Access list with denied addresses | An IP / ASN block list (Blocking Visitors) |
| Let's Encrypt certificate | Automatic. See HTTPS Certificates, Explained |
| Custom certificate | Upload it on the Certificates tab |
| Force SSL, Websockets | Switches on the host's edit screen |
| Users and permissions | Users tab with three roles (Users and Roles) |
| Settings, Default Site | System, then Default site |
What RustProxy does that NPM doesn't
- Block whole networks by AS number. Type
AS13238and every address range that operator owns is blocked, and kept up to date for you. NPM can only deny individual addresses. - Block lists that apply everywhere. One switch makes a list global, so a single nuisance source is blocked on every site at once.
- Blocking at the firewall, not just on websites. Global lists also stop SSH, other open ports and hosted VMs, and cut connections that were already open.
- Client certificates built in. Issue, install and revoke certificates for your people from the admin panel, and lock the proxy to certificates from your own organization. See Client Certificates.
- A firewall that's locked down by default, built from your sites and port rules.
- Page locks for a mostly-private site with one public page (Locking a Site to Certain Pages).
What's different
- No Docker, no nginx. RustProxy is one program installed from a package.
- It manages the server's firewall. If something else already manages it, read the firewall notes first.
- Ports 22, 80, 443 and the admin port are always open.
- No raw nginx settings. If a site depends on hand-written nginx directives, leave that one on NPM.
- Fixed roles. Admin, operator and viewer, instead of per-section permissions.
A safe way to move
- Install RustProxy on a spare address or machine and finish Getting Started.
- Recreate your least important site first. Let its certificate issue.
- Test it before changing any DNS.
- Switch DNS or the port forward for that site and watch it for a while.
- Repeat for the rest, then retire NPM.
Tip: make one office allowed-networks list and select it on every site that used the same NPM access list.