Nginx Overview

In this guide, we’ll walk through the core components of Nginx configuration by exploring the nginx.conf file—typically located at /etc/nginx/nginx.conf on Linux systems. You’ll learn how to structure global settings, optimize connection handling, define HTTP parameters, and create virtual hosts (server blocks).

At a glance, an nginx.conf file is divided into four main sections:

1. Global settings
2. events block
3. http block
4. server block

nginx.conf Structure

1. Global settings
   Define user permissions, worker processes, PID file location, compression, caching, and more.

2. events block
   Controls Nginx’s event model and the maximum number of simultaneous connections per worker.

3. http block
   Contains HTTP directives for logging, timeouts, compression, MIME types, and includes for server blocks.

4. server block
   Configures how Nginx responds to requests for specific domain names or IP addresses (virtual hosts).

Global Settings, Events, and HTTP Blocks

Below is a pared-down example of an nginx.conf layout including global directives, the events block, and the http block. Notice how server blocks are included separately.

user www-data;
worker_processes auto;
pid /run/nginx.pid;

events {
    worker_connections 1024;
}

http {
    sendfile        on;
    tcp_nopush      on;
    tcp_nodelay     on;
    keepalive_timeout 65;
    types_hash_max_size 2048;
    gzip            on;

    log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] '
                    '"$request" $status $body_bytes_sent '
                    '"$http_referer" "$http_user_agent"';

    include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
    default_type application/octet-stream;

    # Include virtual host definitions
    include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
    include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
}

Key directives explained:

• user
  System user for Nginx worker processes (e.g., www-data on Debian/Ubuntu).
• worker_processes
  Number of worker processes—auto matches CPU cores.
• pid
  Path to the master process PID file.
• events → worker_connections
  Maximum simultaneous connections each worker can handle.
• http
  Configures HTTP-level settings: compression (gzip), timeouts, logging formats, MIME types, and includes server blocks.

Server Blocks (Virtual Hosts)

Server blocks, or virtual hosts, let you host multiple domains on one Nginx instance. Incoming requests are routed to the matching block based on server_name or IP address.

Example: Basic HTTP Server Block

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Directive breakdown:

• listen
  Port for incoming traffic (80 for HTTP, 443 for HTTPS).
• server_name
  Domain names or IP addresses handled by this block.
• root
  Path to the website’s document root.
• index
  Default file(s) served when a directory is requested.
• location /
  URI matching; try_files checks for existing files or directories and returns a 404 if not found.

Nginx Directory Structure

Nginx uses a standardized directory layout for its configuration files and web content. Below is a quick reference of the most common paths:

Essential Nginx Commands

Use these commands to inspect, test, and manage your Nginx server:

Example syntax check:

sudo nginx -t
# nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
# nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

Links and References

• Official Nginx Documentation
• Nginx Beginner’s Guide
• DigitalOcean Nginx Tutorials