# Proper Implementation of GeoIP/GeoIP2 in NGINX Gateway Fabric

**URL:** <https://community.nginx.org/t/proper-implementation-of-geoip-geoip2-in-nginx-gateway-fabric/8798>\
**Category:** NGINX Gateway Fabric\
**Tags:** module, geoip2, config\
**Created:** [January 11, 2026, 11:32am UTC](https://community.nginx.org/t/proper-implementation-of-geoip-geoip2-in-nginx-gateway-fabric/8798 "2026-01-11T11:32:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![weiyi\_lai](https://drob5swvtjqxg.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.nginx.org/weiyi_lai/32/4045_2.png) [@weiyi\_lai](https://community.nginx.org/u/weiyi_lai)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 11:32am UTC](https://community.nginx.org/t/proper-implementation-of-geoip-geoip2-in-nginx-gateway-fabric/8798/1 "2026-01-11T11:32:39Z")

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**My issue:** I am looking for the official or recommended way to implement **GeoIP/GeoIP2** module support within **NGINX Gateway Fabric (NGF)**. Specifically, how to correctly load the module and define GeoIP-based variables (like country codes) for traffic filtering.

**How I encountered the problem:**

We are migrating from ingress-nginx to NGINX Gateway Fabric. In our previous setup, GeoIP was used for regional access control. After deploying NGF, I noticed that while the .so module files (e.g., ngx\_http\_geoip\_module.so) exist in the container under /etc/nginx/modules/, there is no clear documentation on how to load them and use the geoip\_country or geoip2 directives without causing NGINX configuration errors.

**Solutions I’ve tried:**

Enabled snippetsFilters via Helm.

Attempted to use SnippetsFilter with context: main to load\_module. This resulted in the Gateway resource status becoming Programmed: False due to NGINX configuration syntax errors (likely because load\_module must be at the very top of the config).

Verified the presence of modules in the Pod: I see ngx\_http\_geoip\_module.so and ngx\_stream\_geoip\_module.so in /etc/nginx/modules/, as well as a /etc/nginx/main-includes directory.

**Version of NGF and/or NGINX:**

NGF Version: 2.3.0

**Deployment environment:**

Kubernetes Version: v1.35.0  
Environment: (On-premise / Proxmox VE)

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**Author:** ![salonichf5](https://drob5swvtjqxg.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.nginx.org/salonichf5/32/2927_2.png) [@salonichf5](https://community.nginx.org/u/salonichf5)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 4:40pm UTC](https://community.nginx.org/t/proper-implementation-of-geoip-geoip2-in-nginx-gateway-fabric/8798/2 "2026-01-12T16:40:12Z")

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Hey @weiyi_lai,  
I took a look at the [geoip](https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_geoip_module.html) module, and it seems all of its directives are only valid in the `http` context. Try applying your directives from the main context into the http context — this should resolve the configuration errors.

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**Author:** ![weiyi\_lai](https://drob5swvtjqxg.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.nginx.org/weiyi_lai/32/4045_2.png) [@weiyi\_lai](https://community.nginx.org/u/weiyi_lai)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 3:47am UTC](https://community.nginx.org/t/proper-implementation-of-geoip-geoip2-in-nginx-gateway-fabric/8798/4 "2026-01-13T03:47:43Z")

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Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll try moving the directives to the http context and see if that resolves the config errors.

is there a way to self-compile and use GeoIP2 with NGF? For example, building a custom NGINX image with the GeoIP2 module enabled.

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**Author:** ![salonichf5](https://drob5swvtjqxg.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.nginx.org/salonichf5/32/2927_2.png) [@salonichf5](https://community.nginx.org/u/salonichf5)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://community.nginx.org/t/proper-implementation-of-geoip-geoip2-in-nginx-gateway-fabric/8798/7 "2026-01-13T23:30:52Z")

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Yes, you can build custom images for NGINX using this [guide](https://docs.nginx.com/nginx-gateway-fabric/install/build-image/)

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**Author:** ![system](https://drob5swvtjqxg.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.nginx.org/system/32/19_2.png) [@system](https://community.nginx.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://community.nginx.org/t/proper-implementation-of-geoip-geoip2-in-nginx-gateway-fabric/8798/8 "2026-01-20T23:31:24Z")

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