Introduction to Nginx

Key Features and use cases of Nginx

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Ngix’s archiecture and flexibility make it suitablr foe various use cases

Web server

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Nginx can serve both static and dynamic content it’s highly optimized foe delivering files like HTML,CSS and images very quickly.

Reverse Proxy

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It acts as an intermediary between client requestes and backend servers,offering features likr caching ,compression and security.

Load Balancer

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NGINX can distribute incoming reauests across multiple servers balancing the load to improve availability and reliability, and handling trific spikes efficiently.

Nginx is Event Driven and Asynchronous model .

Setps to install simple Nginx on linux

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Install using you packge manager

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Void linux :

sudo xbps-install -S nginx 

debain

 sudo apt install nginx 

After Installation you’ll Manage Nginx using you are service manager

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Void linux

sudo ln -s /etc/sv/nginx /var/service/  

Configer the firewall ‘ufw’ to manage network traffic and enforce security Policies .

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Secutity-Enhanced Linux (SELinux ) prorvides an additional security layer for linux system.

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Selinux can block Nginx from function properly if not configured correctly .

The configuration File is in /etc/nginx folder

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Main Context : Global setting like worker processes . Events Context : Handles connection processing . Http Context : Configures Http server behavior. Server Context : Defines setting for virtual hosts (server blocks). Location Context : sepcifies how to porcess requests for specific locations or URLs.

Key Directive in the main configuration file (nginx.conf)

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We Have User Directive they define nginx which user they work with it . worker_processes we put nombre of cpu core

↑ More Processes ↑ More conccurent connections set works_processes to the numbre of CPU cores for optimal performance.

worker_connections nombre of conccurent connction the server can handle or how many simultaneous connections each works can handle. max_clients = worker_processes * worker_connection Http bloc

Configuring Error And Access Logging

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Access Logs : store details about requests made to the server . example access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log main; **Error logs : Record details about errore encoutered while processing requests . example : error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log wran;

Document Root and Permissions

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NGINX involves defining the document root ,which is the directory where website files like index.html are stored. Ensure proper permissins are set for the web server to access these files.

 server {
      listen 80;
      server_name example.com;
      root /var/www/html;
      index index.html;
 }

Configure the permissions :

sudo chown -R nginx:nginx /var/www/html

Managing index.html and 404 error Pages

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Nginx Allows you to configure default index file and custom error pages

   Index index.html;

Configure a custom 404 error pages as follows

  error_page 404 /404.html;
  location =/404.html{
        root /var/www/html;
      }

Managing Virtual Host (server Blocks)

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can prevade to website from seme server evry server block can have his on config .

Tips For Multiple Enviornments (Development Vs Production)

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In production Environments ,consider enabling caching ,compression and tighter security controls (e,g ,SSL). Example

location / {
    Proxy_cach my_chache;
    Proxy_cache_valid 200 1h;
    }

In development ,Enable detailed logging and easier access for devugging .

Example error_log /var/log/nginx/dev_error.log debug;

Basic URL Rewriting and Redirection

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the Rewrite Directive allows you to modift the URL before it’s processed by the server.

we can use to readirec from old page to new page

rewrite ^/oldpage /newpage permanent;

in addition to rewrite , you can use the return directive for simple redirects .

server {
   listen 80;
   server_name oldsite.com 
   return 301 http:newsite.com$request_uri;
    }

but i we use code 302 Redirect is temporary redirection.

Practical Example : Configuring nginx with all sections in module2

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In this practical example ,we will walk through the setps required to 1 -set up nginx with a basic configuration 2 -seve static content from a website . 3 - configure multiple virtual host (server blocks) for different domains. 4 -set up custom error pages and directory listings. 5 -implement basic URL rewriting and redirection.

Why use a reverse proxy

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