---
title: Nginx
---

# Nginx

## Introduction
- Nginx is a web server which can also be used as a reverse proxy, load balancer and HTTP cache.
- It is one of the most popular web servers in use and is responsible for hosting some of the largest and highest-traffic sites on the internet. 
- It is proven to be lighter on resources than httpd/Apache.
- Nginx is free and open-source software, first released in 2004.

## Installation

### Installation of Nginx on Ubuntu

Update the local package index and install Nginx from default repositories:

```sh
$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
$ sudo apt-get install nginx
$ sudo systemctl status nginx
```

Enable nginx on the firewall using `ufw`
```sh
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'
```

Validate nginx is running:
```sh
systemctl status nginx
```

### Installation of Nginx on CentOS 7

Add Nginx repository and install:

```sh
$ sudo yum install epel-release
$ sudo yum install nginx
$ sudo systemctl start nginx # will start the server
```

## Key file locations for Debian based distributions (Ubuntu included)

/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

- This is where you will find the global configuration values, what user the nginx process runs as, how many workers it has etc.

/etc/nginx/sites-available/*

- As one nginx instance can run multiple sites with separate configurations this is the directory where you will have the separate configuration files. Usually there is a file named 'default', but any file in this directory that can be parsed by nginx is available.

/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*

- This is the directory that holds the site configurations that are actually live (enabled), you should not move files here directly, rather sym-link the files from the sites-available directory. Making a linked file in this directory does not make it live, for that you need to restart nginx or have it reload the config. Usually done via systemd.

/var/log/nginx

- Default location for nginx logs.


#### More Information
[An Introduction to NGINX for Developers](https://medium.freecodecamp.org/an-introduction-to-nginx-for-developers-62179b6a458f)  
[Nginx tutorial](https://www.netguru.co/codestories/nginx-tutorial-basics-concepts)  
[Links to top tutorials](https://medium.com/quick-code/top-tutorials-to-learn-nginx-for-web-server-dc8638c48fae)