Nginx is a powerful and versatile server used for web hosting, reverse proxying, and handling large amounts of traffic efficiently.

Key Features of Nginx

1. Web Server:

   • Nginx can serve static content (HTML, CSS, JS, images) very efficiently.

2. Reverse Proxy:

   • Nginx can act as a reverse proxy to route incoming client requests to backend servers, typically used in distributed and microservice architectures.

3. Load Balancing:

   • Nginx supports different load-balancing algorithms (round-robin, least connections, IP-hash, etc.) to distribute traffic across multiple servers for scalability.

4. Caching:

   • Nginx can cache content locally, reducing the load on backend servers and improving response times for users.

5. SSL/TLS Termination:

   • It can terminate SSL/TLS connections, handling encrypted traffic from clients and forwarding plain HTTP traffic to backend services.

6. Handling High Concurrency:

   • Nginx’s event-driven architecture allows it to efficiently handle a large number of concurrent connections, making it a popular choice for high-traffic websites.

7. Reverse Proxy for WebSockets:

   • Nginx supports WebSocket proxies, enabling real-time web applications that use WebSocket connections.

Common Use Cases

• Web Server: Serving static files and dynamic web pages for websites.

• Load Balancer: Distributing traffic among multiple servers to ensure no single server is overloaded.

• Reverse Proxy: Acting as an intermediary to forward client requests to backend servers.

• API Gateway: Managing and routing API requests to different backend services.

Nginx vs. Apache

While both Nginx and Apache are popular web servers, Nginx is often preferred for high-performance scenarios due to its asynchronous, event-driven architecture. Apache uses a process-driven model, which is less efficient under high loads compared to Nginx.

Update Package

Before installing Nginx, ensure your package is updated:

sudo apt update

Install Nginx

Install Nginx using the following command.

sudo apt install nginx

Press Y when prompted to confirm the installation.

Start Nginx

Once Nginx is installed, start the Nginx service.

sudo systemctl start nginx

Enable Nginx to Start on Boot

Make sure that Nginx starts automatically when the server reboots.

sudo systemctl enable nginx

Allow Nginx Through the Firewall (Optional)

If you have ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) enabled, you need to allow Nginx traffic. Use the following command to allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

You can verify the firewall rules with:

sudo ufw status

Verify Nginx Installation

You can verify that Nginx is running by opening a web browser and navigating to your server’s IP address.

http://your_server_ip

You should see the Nginx default welcome page, confirming that Nginx is installed and running.

Step 7: Check Nginx Status

To confirm that Nginx is running properly, use:

sudo systemctl status nginx

Troubleshooting

If Nginx fails to start, check the configuration and logs.

• Test configuration syntax

    sudo nginx -t
  

• View logs for more details.

    sudo journalctl -xe | grep nginx
    sudo cat /var/log/nginx/error.log