Installing and configuring Nginx: a practical guide

Nginx handles more concurrent connections than Apache on the same hardware, which makes it the usual choice on virtual servers. Installation takes minutes; the real work is getting the configuration right.

Installation

bash# Ubuntu / Debian
apt update && apt install -y nginx

# AlmaLinux / Rocky
dnf install -y nginx

Start the service and enable it at boot:

bashsystemctl enable --now nginx
systemctl status nginx --no-pager

Do not forget the firewall:

bashufw allow 'Nginx Full'                       # Ubuntu / Debian
# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http --add-service=https && firewall-cmd --reload

Opening the server's IP in a browser should show the Nginx welcome page.

Server blocks: hosting multiple sites

In Nginx each site is a server block. On Ubuntu and Debian these live in /etc/nginx/sites-available/ and are enabled by symlinking into sites-enabled/. On AlmaLinux you place a .conf file directly in /etc/nginx/conf.d/.

The simplest block for a static site:

textserver {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/yourdomain.com;
    index index.html;

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

Enabling it on Ubuntu:

bashln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Connecting PHP-FPM

PHP applications like WordPress or Laravel need requests handed to PHP-FPM:

bashapt install -y php-fpm php-mysql

Add these two locations to the server block:

textindex index.php index.html;

location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
}

location ~ \.php$ {
    include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
    fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
}

The version in the socket path depends on the PHP you installed; check the real one with:

bashls /run/php/

Test the configuration before you apply it

This step is not optional. Restarting with a broken configuration takes down every site on the server at once:

bashnginx -t

If the output says syntax is ok and test is successful, apply it safely:

bashsystemctl reload nginx

reload differs from restart: it applies the new configuration without dropping existing connections. Make reload your habit.

HTTPS and redirects

Get the certificate with Certbot; it edits the Nginx configuration for you:

bashcertbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

Certbot offers to add an HTTP to HTTPS redirect — accept it. For detail and renewal checks see our SSL installation guide.

Two settings worth adding

Compression. Cuts the size of text-based files considerably:

textgzip on;
gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript text/xml application/xml image/svg+xml;
gzip_min_length 1024;

Static file caching. Stops browsers re-downloading images and scripts:

textlocation ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|webp|avif|gif|ico|css|js|woff2)$ {
    expires 30d;
    add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
}

Common mistakes

403 Forbidden — File permissions or the root path are wrong. Make sure the Nginx user (www-data or nginx) can read the directory.

502 Bad Gateway — PHP-FPM is not running, or the socket path is wrong. Check with systemctl status php8.3-fpm.

Changes not taking effect — You forgot to reload, or another server block with the same server_name matches first.

The default site keeps serving — On Ubuntu, remember to remove the sites-enabled/default symlink.

If you get stuck on installation or configuration, get in touch.