Enable Nginx FastCGI on Ubuntu 24.04

Install FastCGI

Installing 💿 FastCGI on Ubuntu 24.04 requires the fcgiwrap package, which allows Nginx FastCGI to run CGI scripts properly. Open your terminal and run sudo apt install fcgiwrap to download and set up the package. Once the installation finishes, you can set up a dedicated folder for your scripts.

sudo apt install fcgiwrap

After installing 💿 the FastCGI package, we’ll define a location to store our CGI scripts. We’ll create a new /cgi-bin folder in the Nginx root directory for this post.

The URL to the CGI scripts directory will be [/var/www/cgi-bin/].

First, create the CGI directory by running the command below. Then, adjust the directory permissions as needed.

sudo mkdir /var/www/cgi-bin
sudo chmod 755 /var/www/cgi-bin

Next, run the command below to create an Nginx configuration file and define our CGI script location and other settings.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/fcgiwrap.conf

Then, copy the block below, paste it into the file, and save.

location /cgi-bin/ {
    gzip off;
    root  /var/www;
    fastcgi_pass  unix:/var/run/fcgiwrap.socket;
    include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;
    fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME  $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
}

We'll use the default server block for this post, but you can create new ones.

Open Nginx default server block.

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

server {
        listen 80 default_server;
        listen [::]:80 default_server;

        root /var/www/html;
        index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;

        server_name example.com;

        include fcgiwrap.conf;

        location / {
                # First attempt to serve request as file, then
                # as directory, then fall back to displaying a 404.
                try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
        }
............
............

Save and exit the file.

Next, enable FastCGI and reload Nginx services by running the command below.

sudo  systemctl enable fcgiwrap
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Test Apache CGI execution

Testing script execution for Nginx FastCGI on Ubuntu 24.04 involves creating a simple test script to confirm your server reads CGI files correctly. Create a new file named index.cgi inside your cgi-bin folder using a text editor, add a basic print statement, and load it in your browser.

Run the command below to create a blank CGI index file.

sudo nano /var/www/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Copy the script below, paste it into the file, and save.

#!/usr/bin/python3

print("Content-type: text/htmln")
print("<html>n<body>")
print("<p style="width: 100%; font-size: 60px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">")
print("CGI is Enabled!!!")
print("</p>")
print("</body>n</html>")

Make the file executable by running the command below.

sudo chmod 705 /var/www/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Now, open your browser and browse the script.

http://example.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• Configuring Nginx to run CGI scripts on Ubuntu 24.04 enhances the server’s capability to deliver dynamic web content.
• FastCGI plays a crucial role in handling CGI requests efficiently and effectively.
• Setting up the /cgi-bin directory allows for organized management of your CGI scripts.
• Testing the configuration through a simple Python script ensures the setup works correctly.
• Overall, this configuration opens up possibilities for interactive web features, improving user experience on your website.