Nginx Beginner Setup

Configure Nginx web server for serving static content, setting up reverse proxies, and connecting FastCGI applications based on the official Nginx Beginner's Guide.

What This Skill Does

This skill helps you set up and configure Nginx for common use cases including:

Starting, stopping, and reloading Nginx configuration

Serving static content from local directories

Setting up reverse proxy servers

Configuring FastCGI proxying for PHP and other applications

Understanding Nginx configuration file structure

Instructions

1. Basic Nginx Control

**Starting Nginx:**

Run the nginx executable directly

The master process will spawn worker processes to handle requests

**Control commands:**

```bash

nginx -s stop # Fast shutdown

nginx -s quit # Graceful shutdown (wait for current requests)

nginx -s reload # Reload configuration without downtime

nginx -s reopen # Reopen log files

```

**Checking running processes:**

```bash

ps -ax | grep nginx

```

**Using kill signals (alternative):**

```bash

Find master process ID in /usr/local/nginx/logs/nginx.pid or /var/run/nginx.pid

kill -s QUIT <master_pid> # Graceful shutdown

```

2. Understanding Configuration Structure

**Configuration file location (typical):**

`/usr/local/nginx/conf/nginx.conf`

`/etc/nginx/nginx.conf`

`/usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf`

**Configuration concepts:**

**Simple directive:** Name and parameters ending with semicolon (`;`)

**Block directive:** Ends with braces (`{ }`) containing additional instructions

**Context:** Block directive containing other directives (e.g., `http`, `server`, `location`)

**Main context:** Directives outside any blocks

Comments start with `#`

**Hierarchy:**

Main context

- `events` context

- `http` context

- `server` context

- `location` context

3. Serving Static Content

**Setup steps:**

1. Create directories:

```bash

mkdir -p /data/www

mkdir -p /data/images

```

2. Add content:

```bash

echo "<h1>Welcome</h1>" > /data/www/index.html

Copy images to /data/images/

```

3. Edit nginx.conf and add server block:

```nginx

http {

server {

location / {

root /data/www;

}

location /images/ {

root /data;

}

```

4. Reload configuration:

```bash

nginx -s reload

```

**How it works:**

Requests to `http://localhost/` serve from `/data/www/`

Requests to `http://localhost/images/example.png` serve from `/data/images/example.png`

Nginx selects the `location` with the longest matching prefix

4. Setting Up Reverse Proxy

**Use case:** Route requests to backend servers, serve images locally

**Configuration example:**

1. Define proxied backend server:

```nginx

server {

listen 8080;

root /data/up1;

location / {

}

```

2. Configure proxy server:

```nginx

server {

location / {

proxy_pass http://localhost:8080/;

}

location ~ \.(gif|jpg|png)$ {

root /data/images;

}

```

**How it works:**

All requests go to `http://localhost:8080/` backend

**Except** requests ending with `.gif`, `.jpg`, or `.png` — served from `/data/images/`

The `~` prefix indicates a regular expression

Nginx checks prefix matches first (longest prefix wins), then regex matches

5. FastCGI Proxying

**Use case:** Connect Nginx to PHP or other FastCGI applications

**Configuration:**

```nginx

server {

location / {

fastcgi_pass localhost:9000;

fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;

fastcgi_param QUERY_STRING $query_string;

}

location ~ \.(gif|jpg|png)$ {

root /data/images;

}

```

**How it works:**

Non-image requests pass to FastCGI server at `localhost:9000`

`SCRIPT_FILENAME` tells PHP which script to execute

`QUERY_STRING` passes request parameters

Image requests still served directly from `/data/images/`

6. Testing and Troubleshooting

**After configuration changes:**

```bash

Test configuration syntax

nginx -t

Reload if valid

nginx -s reload

```

**Check logs:**

Access log: `/usr/local/nginx/logs/access.log` or `/var/log/nginx/access.log`

Error log: `/usr/local/nginx/logs/error.log` or `/var/log/nginx/error.log`

**Common issues:**

404 errors: Check `root` directive paths and file permissions

Connection refused: Verify backend server is running and port is correct

Configuration errors: Run `nginx -t` to validate syntax

Usage Examples

**Example 1: Static website**

```nginx

http {

server {

listen 80;

server_name example.com;

location / {

root /var/www/example.com;

index index.html;

}

```

**Example 2: Reverse proxy with API backend**

```nginx

http {

server {

listen 80;

location /api/ {

proxy_pass http://localhost:3000/;

}

location / {

root /var/www/frontend;

}

```

**Example 3: PHP application**

```nginx

http {

server {

listen 80;

root /var/www/php-app;

location / {

index index.php;

}

location ~ \.php$ {

fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php-fpm.sock;

fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;

include fastcgi_params;

}

```

Important Notes

Always test configuration with `nginx -t` before reloading

Use `nginx -s reload` for zero-downtime configuration updates

The master process manages worker processes automatically

Worker process count defaults to available CPU cores (configurable with `worker_processes`)

Longer prefix matches take precedence over shorter ones

Regular expression locations are checked after prefix locations

Default listen port is 80 if not specified

Place the `root` directive in `server` context to apply to all locations without their own `root`

References

Official guide: https://nginx.org/en/docs/beginners_guide.html

Full documentation: https://nginx.org/en/docs/

Controlling Nginx: https://nginx.org/en/docs/control.html

Nginx Beginner Setup

Nginx Beginner Setup

What This Skill Does

Instructions

1. Basic Nginx Control

Find master process ID in /usr/local/nginx/logs/nginx.pid or /var/run/nginx.pid

2. Understanding Configuration Structure

3. Serving Static Content

Copy images to /data/images/

4. Setting Up Reverse Proxy

5. FastCGI Proxying

6. Testing and Troubleshooting

Test configuration syntax

Reload if valid

Usage Examples

Important Notes

References

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