> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://notes.kodekloud.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Demo Nginx Install Config > Guide to installing, verifying, and inspecting Nginx on Ubuntu, covering apt commands, service management, configuration files, testing with curl, and log locations. This lesson shows how to install, verify, and inspect Nginx on an Ubuntu-based system. Commands are shown for apt-based distributions; on CentOS/RHEL use `yum` or `dnf` instead. Paths like `/etc/nginx` and `/var/log/nginx` are common, but verify them for your specific OS. If you're on CentOS or Red Hat use `yum` or `dnf` instead of `apt`. The configuration directories (`/etc/nginx`, `/var/log/nginx`) are common across many Linux distributions but may vary—especially with custom packages or older releases. ## Quick command reference | Task | Command | Description | | -------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | Update package index | `sudo apt update` | Refresh package metadata before install/upgrade. | | Install Nginx | `sudo apt install nginx` | Install the nginx package (add `-y` to auto-accept prompts). | | Check service status | `sudo systemctl status nginx` | View Nginx systemd status and process info. | | Start service | `sudo systemctl start nginx` | Start Nginx immediately. | | Test configuration | `sudo nginx -t` | Validate Nginx configuration files. | | Reload after changes | `sudo systemctl reload nginx` | Reload config without dropping connections. | | Test HTTP response | `curl http://localhost` | Confirm Nginx serves HTTP requests locally. | | View Nginx logs | `ls -l /var/log/nginx` | List Nginx log files. | Useful references: * Nginx documentation: [https://nginx.org/en/docs/](https://nginx.org/en/docs/) * Ubuntu packages/apt: [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptGet/Howto](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptGet/Howto) ## 1. Update package lists Refresh the package index to ensure you install the latest available Nginx package and dependencies: ```bash theme={null} sudo apt update ``` Tip: `apt update` only refreshes the package index. If you want to upgrade installed packages non-interactively, run `sudo apt -y upgrade`. Example output when updating package lists: ```bash theme={null} bob@alpine-host ~ ➜ sudo apt update Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [128 kB] Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 Packages [4,219 kB] Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease [265 kB] Get:4 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/restricted amd64 Packages [4,329 kB] Get:5 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/universe amd64 Packages [1,298 kB] Get:6 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/multiverse amd64 Packages [30.9 kB] Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease [128 kB] Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease [128 kB] Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/restricted amd64 Packages [33.4 kB] Get:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/universe amd64 Packages [11.3 MB] Get:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 Packages [1,275 kB] Get:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/multiverse amd64 Packages [177 kB] Get:13 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/restricted amd64 Packages [4,517 kB] Get:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages [34.6 kB] Get:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 Packages [4,695 kB] Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/universe amd64 Packages [1,589 kB] Get:17 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports/universe amd64 Packages [28.6 kB] Get:18 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports/main amd64 Packages [55.2 kB] Fetched 34.3 MB in 3s (10.7 MB/s) Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done 47 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them. ``` ## 2. Install Nginx Install Nginx using apt. Running interactively will prompt for confirmation; include `-y` to skip prompts: ```bash theme={null} sudo apt install nginx ``` Typical install output (shows dependencies and disk usage before confirmation): ```bash theme={null} bob@alpine-host ~ ➜ sudo apt install nginx Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following additional packages will be installed: libnginx-mod-http-image-filter libnginx-mod-http-xslt-filter libnginx-mod-mail libnginx-mod-stream nginx-common nginx-core Suggested packages: fcgiwrap nginx-doc ssl-cert The following NEW packages will be installed: libnginx-mod-http-image-filter libnginx-mod-http-xslt-filter libnginx-mod-mail libnginx-mod-stream nginx nginx-common nginx-core 0 upgraded, 7 newly installed, 0 to remove and 47 not upgraded. Need to get 604 kB of archives. After this operation, 2,141 kB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y ``` It is normal to see several modules and helper packages installed along with `nginx`. ## 3. Verify and start the Nginx service Check the service status through systemd to see whether Nginx is running, enabled, or stopped: ```bash theme={null} sudo systemctl status nginx ``` If Nginx was just installed but not started, you might see: ```bash theme={null} bob@alpine-host ~ › sudo systemctl status nginx ● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: inactive (dead) Docs: man:nginx(8) ``` Start Nginx: ```bash theme={null} sudo systemctl start nginx ``` Then confirm it is active (running): ```bash theme={null} sudo systemctl status nginx ``` Example of an active status: ```bash theme={null} bob@alpine-host ~ ➜ sudo systemctl status nginx ● 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 2025-02-05 11:59:11 EST; 5s ago Docs: man:nginx(8) Process: 6598 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t -q -g daemon on; master_process on; (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Process: 6599 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on; (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Main PID: 6600 (nginx) Tasks: 17 (limit: 154503) Memory: 14.4M CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service ├─6600 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on; ├─6601 nginx: worker process ├─6602 nginx: worker process ├─6603 nginx: worker process └─... (worker processes continue) ``` The key line is `Active: active (running)` — this confirms Nginx is serving. ## 4. Test with curl Confirm Nginx responds on the local host by requesting the default page: ```bash theme={null} curl http://localhost ``` You should see the default "Welcome to nginx!" HTML page when Nginx is serving content correctly. ## 5. Inspect the Nginx configuration directory Nginx’s configuration is usually kept under `/etc/nginx`. List and inspect the directory to understand its structure: ```bash theme={null} cd /etc/nginx ll ``` Example output showing typical files and directories: ```bash theme={null} bob@alpine-host /etc/nginx🔒 ➜ ll total 76 drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Feb 5 11:58 ./ drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4096 Feb 5 11:58 ../ drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Sep 10 09:52 conf.d/ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1077 Mar 20 2024 fastcgi.conf -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1007 Mar 20 2024 fastcgi_params -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2837 Mar 20 2024 koi-utf -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2223 Mar 20 2024 koi-win -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3957 Mar 20 2024 mime.types drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Sep 10 09:52 modules-available/ drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 5 11:58 modules-enabled/ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1490 Mar 20 2024 nginx.conf -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 180 Mar 20 2024 proxy_params -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 636 Mar 20 2024 scgi_params drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 5 11:58 sites-available/ drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 5 11:58 sites-enabled/ drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 5 11:58 snippets/ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 664 Mar 20 2024 uwsgi_params -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3071 Mar 20 2024 win-utf ``` The primary global configuration file is `nginx.conf`. It sets global directives (worker processes, logging, gzip, etc.) and includes other configuration files via `include` statements. Relevant excerpts from a typical `/etc/nginx/nginx.conf`: ```nginx theme={null} # Basic Settings ## sendfile on; tcp_nopush on; tcp_nodelay on; keepalive_timeout 65; types_hash_max_size 2048; # server_names_hash_bucket_size 64; include /etc/nginx/mime.types; default_type application/octet-stream; ## # SSL Settings ## ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3; # Dropping SSLv3, ref: POODLE ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on; ## # Logging Settings ## access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log; error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log; ## # Gzip Settings ## gzip on; # gzip_vary on; # gzip_proxied any; # gzip_comp_level 6; # gzip_buffers 16 8k; # gzip_http_version 1.1; # gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript text/xml application/xml application/xml+rss text/javascript ; ## # Virtual Host Configs ## include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf; include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*; } ``` Notes: * `include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf` and `include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*` pull in additional server blocks and per-site configs. * Best practice: keep site definitions in `sites-available/` and enable them by symlinking into `sites-enabled/`. Keep `nginx.conf` focused on global settings. Always validate configuration changes before reloading the service. Run `sudo nginx -t` to test syntax and correctness. Failing to test can cause Nginx to reject a reload and potentially interrupt service. Before applying changes: ```bash theme={null} sudo nginx -t ``` If the test is successful, reload Nginx to apply configuration changes without restarting the process: ```bash theme={null} sudo systemctl reload nginx ``` ## 6. Logs Nginx writes its logs to `/var/log/nginx` by default. List the directory to find the access and error logs: ```bash theme={null} cd /var/log/nginx/ ll ``` Example output after a fresh install: ```bash theme={null} bob@alpine-host /var/log/nginx🔒 ➜ ll total 16 drwxr-xr-x 2 root adm 4096 Feb 5 11:58 ./ drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4096 Feb 5 11:58 ../ -rw-r----- 1 www-data adm 86 Feb 5 12:00 access.log -rw-r----- 1 www-data adm 0 Feb 5 11:58 error.log ``` * `access.log` records requests served by Nginx. * `error.log` records runtime errors and warnings. You can configure per-site log locations inside server blocks to separate logs per virtual host. ## Next steps In a follow-up lesson you'll learn to: * Create and enable site configurations (virtual hosts) using `sites-available` and `sites-enabled`. * Configure custom access/error logs per site. * Add SSL/TLS (Let’s Encrypt) and multi-site server blocks for secure hosting. For further reading: * Nginx Beginner’s Guide: [https://nginx.org/en/docs/beginners\_guide.html](https://nginx.org/en/docs/beginners_guide.html) * Ubuntu Nginx package on Launchpad/Debian packaging notes (for distro-specific differences).