How to Install Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

How to use Nginx HTTP server on Ubuntu Linux

You can install Nginx Ubuntu using the apt package manager in just two steps. First, open your terminal and run sudo apt update to grab the latest software list, then run sudo apt install nginx to put the web server on your computer. Nginx is ready to run as soon as the installation finishes.

Nginx is available in Ubuntu repositories, so we can easily install it 💿 using the apt package management tool.

To install Nginx, run the commands below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

The commands above will install the 💿 Nginx HTTP server.

To find out if Nginx is installed and running, use the status check command below.

sudo systemctl status nginx

The command will output similar lines below when Nginx is running.

nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2021-09-15 12:27:58 CDT; 9s ago
       Docs: man:nginx(8)
   Main PID: 2711 (nginx)
      Tasks: 2 (limit: 4651)
     Memory: 3.0M
     CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
             ├─2711 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on;
             └─2712 nginx: worker process

Sep 15 12:27:58 ubuntu2004 systemd[1]: Starting A high performance web server and a reverse pro>
Sep 15 12:27:58 ubuntu2004 systemd[1]: Started A high performance web server and a reverse prox>

How to allow Nginx through the Ubuntu firewall

You must configure UFW (a built-in tool that lets you manage network traffic rules) to allow web traffic before visitors can reach your server. Run sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' in your terminal to open the correct network ports and make your Nginx site accessible from other computers.

If you're using UFW to manage the Ubuntu firewall, run the below commands to allow traffic.

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

That will allow full traffic to Nginx.

With the firewall opened, simply browse the server hostname or IP address to see if the Nginx default page is up.

http://localhost

You should see Nginx default welcome page.

How to configure Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

You will find all Nginx configuration files inside the /etc/nginx folder on your Ubuntu system. This main directory holds every settings file you need to change how your web server behaves, where it looks for website files, and how it handles incoming visitors.

On Ubuntu Linux, these are Nginx directory structures and configuration files.

All Nginx configuration files are located in the /etc/nginx directory. This is considered the Nginx home directory.

Nginx's main configuration file is /etc/nginx/nginx.conf. Global configuration settings are done in the file, but this file is rarely ever touched.

Nginx virtual host files, which define each individual website, reside in the `/etc/nginx/sites-available` directory. Administrators activate these website configurations, and Nginx then uses the activated configurations which link to the `/etc/nginx/sites-enabled` directory.

These are the command below to activate websites to link them to the /etc/nginx/sites-enable directory. (replace example.com.conf with your VirtualHost file)

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

The command above will create a symlink of the website configuration files found in the sites-available directory to the sites-enabled directory.

To deactivate a virtual host, use the command below. (replace example.com.conf with your website VirtualHost file).

sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/example.com.conf

Nginx uses snippets to enhance and add additional functionalities in the /etc/nginx/snippets/ directory.

Snippets only load with Nginx when included within a server block.

Nginx server blocks can use code snippets stored in the `/etc/nginx/snippets` directory. To include a snippet within a server block, use the `include` directive. For instance, `include /etc/nginx/snippets/my_snippet.conf;` inserts the content of `my_snippet.conf` into the server block.

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

        root /var/www/html;

 include snippets/mycustomsnippets.conf;

........

Nginx also has log files (access.log and error.log) in the /var/log/nginx/ directory. You can view access and error logs in these files on Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Linux may contain additional Nginx configuration files beyond those already mentioned. A detailed tutorial will provide further instructions on using these other Nginx configurations.

Conclusion:

This Nginx installation guide explains how to install and use Nginx on Ubuntu Linux. You can report errors or suggest additions to the Nginx installation steps using the comment form.