Nginx Configuration

We use a modular approach here, with most configuration settings outsourced to individual files.

• Main Configuration File
• Global HTTP Settings
  • TCP Options
  • HTTPS Options
  • Limits
  • Character-Sets and MIME-Types
  • HTTP Server Security
  • Logging
  • Compression
  • Open Files Cache
  • PHP Backend
  • FastCGI Cache
  • Tor Exit Nodes
  • Default Server
• Server Default Settings
  • Server Security
  • Client Security
  • Error Pages
  • No Transform
  • Browser Cache
• Extra Settings
  • Cloudflare
  • FastCGI
  • HSTS
  • Local Access Only
  • Debug-Logging
  • OCSP Stapling
  • Onion Sites
  • PHP Handler
  • Server Maintenance
• Virtual Web Servers
  • Example Static Website
• Content Security Policies
  • CSP-Builder

HTTP Settings

On line 47 in the above /etc/nginx/nginx.conf various options from the directory /etc/nginx/conf.d are included.

They are discussed in Global HTTP Settings.

Virtual Servers

Nginx can host multiple websites on a single installation. In Nginx a website is called a “server”. (Apache HTTPd calls them “virtual hosts”). Servers are identified by their hostname and or IP address.

Sticking to our modular approach, we define individual servers in the directory /etc/nginx/servers-available.

So to activate or disable servers, symbolic links are created or deleted in /etc/nginx/servers-enabled, pointing to server definitions in /etc/nginx/servers-available.

To activate a server:

$ sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/servers-available/example.net.conf \
    /etc/nginx/servers-enabled/
$ sudo service nginx reload

De-Activate:

$ sudo rm /etc/nginx/servers-enabled/example.net.conf
$ sudo service nginx reload

Configuration of individual sites depends heavily on the nature of the website.

As reference we show a simple website who serves static HTML pages in Virtual Web Servers.

Test and Activate

The configuration is always tested for errors before the Nginx service starts. Alternatively a test can be requested manually:

$ sudo service nginx configtest
nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful