Nginx Basic Configuration

Overview

nginx is a high-performance web server and reverse proxy. This guide covers basic installation and configuration on Ubuntu.

Installation

Install nginx

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Start and Enable nginx

sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Verify Installation

Check nginx status:

sudo systemctl status nginx

Visit http://your_server_ip in a browser. You should see the nginx welcome page.

Basic Configuration

Configuration Files

Main config: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
Site configs: /etc/nginx/sites-available/
Enabled sites: /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
Default site: /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Creating a Basic Site

Create a new site configuration:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/mysite

Add basic configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/mysite;
    index index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Enable the Site

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/mysite /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Reverse Proxy Configuration

To proxy requests to a Node.js application:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Common Commands

# Test configuration
sudo nginx -t

# Reload configuration
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Restart nginx
sudo systemctl restart nginx

# Stop nginx
sudo systemctl stop nginx

# View error logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log

# View access logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log

Firewall Configuration

Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
sudo ufw status

Security Best Practices

Hide nginx Version

Edit /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:

http {
    server_tokens off;
    # ... other settings
}

Rate Limiting

Add to your server block:

limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=one:10m rate=1r/s;

server {
    location / {
        limit_req zone=one burst=5;
        # ... other settings
    }
}

Performance Tuning

Enable Gzip Compression

In /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:

gzip on;
gzip_vary on;
gzip_min_length 1024;
gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml text/javascript
           application/x-javascript application/xml+rss
           application/javascript application/json;

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