# Local docker development setu failure - openelisglobal-proxy | nginx: \[emerg\] host not found in upstream "frontend.openelis.org" in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:58

**URL:** <https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/local-docker-development-setu-failure-openelisglobal-proxy-nginx-emerg-host-not-found-in-upstream-frontend-openelis-org-in-etc-nginx-nginx-conf-58/2417>\
**Category:** Development\
**Tags:** dev\_setup, dev\
**Created:** [September 8, 2026, 8:08am UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/local-docker-development-setu-failure-openelisglobal-proxy-nginx-emerg-host-not-found-in-upstream-frontend-openelis-org-in-etc-nginx-nginx-conf-58/2417 "2026-09-08T08:08:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

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**Author:** ![Agaba\_Derrick\_Junior](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.openelis-global.org/agaba_derrick_junior/32/503_2.png) [@Agaba\_Derrick\_Junior](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/Agaba_Derrick_Junior)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 9:59am UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/local-docker-development-setu-failure-openelisglobal-proxy-nginx-emerg-host-not-found-in-upstream-frontend-openelis-org-in-etc-nginx-nginx-conf-58/2417/2 "2026-09-08T09:59:38Z")

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Hi Ronald,

Your dev.docker-compose.yml and nginx.conf actually agree on the service name ([frontend.openelis.org](http://frontend.openelis.org)), so this isn’t a config mismatch. The telling clue is in your log: openelisglobal-webapp, openelisglobal-front-end, and openelisglobal-database all show “Running 0.0s” — meaning Compose found them already running from an earlier session and left them alone, while only certs and proxy were (re)started fresh. If those leftover containers ended up on a different or half-torn-down network, a freshly created proxy container won’t be able to resolve them via Docker’s DNS, which is exactly what “host not found in upstream” means.

Try this:

1. Fully tear down the stack (removes containers + network):

```auto
docker compose -f dev.docker-compose.yml down --remove-orphans

```

1. Check for leftover containers/networks from a previous run:

```auto
docker ps -a | grep openelis
docker network ls | grep openelis

```

If anything shows up, remove it:

```auto
docker rm -f <container_name>
docker network rm <network_name>

```

1. Make sure your code and images are current:

```auto
git pull
git submodule update --init --recursive
docker compose -f dev.docker-compose.yml pull

```

1. Confirm a .env file exists in the repo root (create one if missing check the project wiki/README for required variables):

```auto
ls -la .env

```

1. Bring the stack up fresh, forcing recreation of every container:

```auto
docker compose -f dev.docker-compose.yml up --force-recreate

```

1. In a separate terminal, check the frontend container isn’t crash-looping this repo recently moved the dev frontend container to Vite, so a stale local image/cache can crash it shortly after start even though Compose briefly shows it as “running”:

```auto
docker logs openelisglobal-front-end

```

1. If it still fails, check DNS resolution between proxy and frontend:

```auto
docker exec openelisglobal-proxy ping -c1 frontend.openelis.org
docker inspect openelisglobal-proxy | grep -A5 Networks
docker inspect openelisglobal-front-end | grep -A5 Networks

```

The two containers need to show the same network name for DNS resolution to work.

Let me know if any of these turn up something useful in the logs.  
i actually think this thread would be helpful

> [@Error "Not Authenticated"](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/error-not-authenticated/241/17):
>
> docker-compose -f dev.docker-compose.yml down -v Then cd OpenELIS-Global-2 git submodule update --init --recursive cd dataexport mvn clean install -DskipTests after this docker-compose -f dev.docker-compose.yml up -d if this doesn’t fix perform 1 & 2 nd step again and this time run docker-compose -f dev.docker-compose.yml up -d --no-deps --force-recreate oe.openelis.org and then run docker-compose -f dev.docker-compose.yml up -d

---

_[View the full topic](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/local-docker-development-setu-failure-openelisglobal-proxy-nginx-emerg-host-not-found-in-upstream-frontend-openelis-org-in-etc-nginx-nginx-conf-58/2417)._