NGINX Cheat Sheet

Server Block Structure

# Define a server block (listens on port 80 by default for HTTP)
server {
  listen [port]; # Optional, default is 80
  server_name example.com www.example.com;
  root /path/to/root;
  index index.html;
}

Location Block

# Define location blocks for specific path handling
location / {
  # Configuration for the root location
}

location /static/ {
  # Configuration for the "/static/" path
}

Listen on Port

server {
  # Standard HTTP Protocol
  listen 80;

  # Standard HTTPS Protocol
  listen 443 ssl;

  # Listen on 80 using IPv6
  listen [::]:80;

  # Listen only on using IPv6
  listen [::]:80 ipv6only=on;
}

Redirects

# Redirects www to non-www
server {
  listen 80;
  server_name www.example.com;
  return 301 http: //example.com$request_uri;
}

Domain Name

server {
  # Listen to yourdomain.com
  server_name yourdomain.com;

  # Listen to multiple domains
  server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;

  # Listen to all domains
  server_name *.yourdomain.com;

  # Listen to all top-level domains
  server_name yourdomain.*;

  # Listen to unspecified Hostname (Listens to IP address itself)
  server_name "";
}

HTTPS Configuration

# Enable SSL for secure connections
server {
  listen 443 ssl;
  server_name example.com;

  # SSL certificates from a trusted CA
  ssl_certificate /path/to/certificate.crt;
  ssl_certificate_key /path/to/private.key;

  # Configure appropriate cipher suites
  ssl_chipers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
  # Additional SSL configurations go here
}

 

Reverse Proxy

server {
  # Set up a reverse proxy for a backend application
  location /app/ {
    proxy_pass http://backend-server;
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
  }
}

 

Basic Authentication

server {
  # Set up basic authentication
  location /secure/ {
    auth_basic "Restricted";
    auth_basic_user_file /path/to/.htpasswd;
  }
}

 

Load Balancing

# Configure load balancing with round-robin method
upstream backend {
  server backend1.example.com;
  server backend2.example.com;
}

server {
  location / {
    proxy_pass http://backend;
  }
}

 

Custom Error Page

# Define custom error pages for various status code
error_page 404 /404.html;
location = /404.html {
  root /path/to/error/pages;
}

 

Gzip Compression

# Enable Gzip compression for text-based content
gzip on;
gzip_types text/plain text/css application/javascript text/xml;