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Nginx
Installation
Docker
With docker, you can install nginx with something like:
yaml
version: "3"
services:
web:
# https://hub.docker.com/_/nginx/
# image: nginx:latest
image: nginx:stable
container_name: boilerplate_web
# restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
- ./ui/dist:/srv/boilerplate/dist
- ./web/static:/srv/boilerplate/static
- ./web/ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl
- ./web/default.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
# mount any static / public content for efficient serving directly
# ./web/public;/srv/boilerplate/files/
working_dir: /srv/boilerplate/
ports:
# for development
- 127.0.0.1:8888:80
# leave off '127.0.0.1' if you want to expose the service beyond localhost
# (useful when you want to access dev instance of boilerplate remotely
# from e.g. a phone)
# - 8888:80
# for production
# - 80:80
# - 443:443
# if the container doesn't run, there may be a problem with the nginx.conf
# try running `docker-compose log web` for clues
# (usually SSL keys have not yet been generated in `web/ssl`)
# keep the container running to debug or run interactively with
# docker-compose exec web bash
# entrypoint: ["tail", "-f", "/dev/null"]
networks:
default:
aliases:
- boilerplate.localThis is a good option to encapsulate all necessary settings for an application stack.
Local
On some servers with multiple services running (e.g. a server instead of a development machine), it may help to run one nginx server at the host level and configure that to proxy to other services as needed.
sudo apt-get install nginxConfiguration
http://nginx.org/en/docs/beginners_guide.html#conf_structure
The main config file is typically found:
/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
On a fresh install, by default it is configured to point to :
Can have as many server contexts as needed:
# main context
http {
# http context
server {
# first server context
}
server {
# second server context
}
}Generally these are configured in separate files in
/etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf
In:
sudo vi /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/defaultYou should look at the following URL's in order to grasp a solid understanding of Nginx configuration files in order to fully unleash the power of Nginx.
https://www.nginx.com/resources/wiki/start/
https://www.nginx.com/resources/wiki/start/topics/tutorials/config_pitfalls/
https://wiki.debian.org/Nginx/DirectoryStructure
Then set it to run on startup
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginxDisable the default site and add in the desired configuration:
sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/defaultOk to use either /etc/nginx/conf.d/ or /etc/nginx/sites-available and link to the enabled ones in /etc/nginx/sites-enabled. Call the files something.conf
server {
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
server_name example.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:3000/;
}
}Alias vs Root
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10631933/nginx-static-file-serving-confusion-with-root-alias
be sure to include trailing slash with alias directives!
Static Content
When developing web applications, it's tempting to use the application server to serve static content:
https://expressjs.com/en/starter/static-files.html
This works for local development, but becomes a headache when it's time to deploy your application publicly.
Using a dedicated webserver like nginx for serving static files removes that burden from the application server.
https://docs.nginx.com/nginx/admin-guide/web-server/serving-static-content/
Auto Indexes
If you have static content that would benefit from a dynamic index, nginx can do that. For example, want to get a list that includes new files without manually knowing the new file path. Alternatively, an application server could navigate and iterate through the file system.
location /static {
alias /srv/static/;
autoindex on;
autoindex_format json;
}https://fuzzyblog.io/blog/nginx/2020/06/15/configuring-nginx-to-serve-a-directory-listing.html Configuring NGINX to Serve a Directory Listing https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24387118/nginx-list-static-files-directories-as-xml-json Nginx list static files/directories as XML/Json - Stack Overflow
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=nginx+list+directory+contents+as+json&t=ffab&ia=web nginx list directory contents as json at DuckDuckGo
Websockets
https://www.serverlab.ca/tutorials/linux/web-servers-linux/how-to-proxy-wss-websockets-with-nginx/
HTTPS / SSL
Self-signed
For local development environments, self signed is good enough. It makes sure that the application is configured correctly to work behind an HTTPS connection, but doesn't require an external certificate / local DNS entry.
https://codewithhugo.com/docker-compose-local-https/
https://medium.com/@oliver.zampieri/self-signed-ssl-reverse-proxy-with-docker-dbfc78c05b41
https://www.ssls.com/knowledgebase/how-to-install-an-ssl-certificate-on-a-nginx-server/
Use OpenSSL to create a self signed certificate
openssl req -subj '/CN=localhost' -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -nodes -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365
Let's Encrypt
Once it's time to publish your application, you'll need a domain name. If you have that ready to go, you can use Let's Encrypt for a certificate
https://medium.com/@pentacent/nginx-and-lets-encrypt-with-docker-in-less-than-5-minutes-b4b8a60d3a71
Troubleshooting
Log files are typically stored in
/var/log/nginx
With containers
docker-compose exec web bash
then
nginx -t
is super helpful for debugging nginx configurations
To see if the nginx process is running:
service nginx status
(On the nginx docker container, ps is not available)
To reload nginx without reloading all of the containers:
docker-compose -p boilerplate exec web nginx -s reload
For netstat:
apt-get update
apt-get install net-tools
netstat -pan | grep LISTEN
See also dedicated section for nginx