local-web

Run a lightweight nginx web server in Docker, using any local directory as the document root. Launch multiple instances at once, each on its own port.

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop (Windows/macOS) or Docker Engine (Linux)

Quick start

# Build the image (optional — the launcher builds automatically on first run)
.\local-web.ps1 build

# Serve a folder on port 8080
.\local-web.ps1 start -Directory "C:\path\to\your\site" -Port 8080

# Serve a subfolder on a different port
.\local-web.ps1 start -Directory "C:\path\to\your\site\public" -Port 8081

# Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser

On Linux/macOS/WSL:

chmod +x local-web.sh
./local-web.sh start --directory /path/to/your/site --port 8080

Commands

Command	Description
start	Mount a directory and serve it on the given port (default 8080)
stop	Stop and remove the container for a port
list	Show running local-web containers
build	Build the Docker image manually

PowerShell

.\local-web.ps1 start -Directory "C:\sites\demo" -Port 3000
.\local-web.ps1 stop  -Port 3000
.\local-web.ps1 list

Bash

./local-web.sh start -d /sites/demo -p 3000
./local-web.sh stop -p 3000
./local-web.sh list

How it works

• Each instance runs nginx as a web server in a lightweight Alpine container.
• The directory you pass becomes the document root (/usr/share/nginx/html inside the container).
• Requests are handled like a normal website: / serves index.html, paths map to files under the root.
• The host port maps to port 80 inside the container.
• Container names follow the pattern local-web-<port> so you can run many at once.

Notes

• The path you pass is exactly what gets served — pass a subfolder path directly if you only want that part of a tree.
• On Windows, use absolute paths (e.g. C:\Users\...). Docker Desktop must have file sharing enabled for that drive.
• Changes to files on disk are reflected immediately (no rebuild needed); refresh the browser to see updates.