# How to install Nginx Need a fast web server? Nginx is perfect for your VPS. It's lightweight, handles lots of traffic, and is easy to configure. Let's get it running with multiple websites. ### Step 1: Update System ```bash # Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y # CentOS/RHEL sudo yum update -y ``` ### Step 2: Install Nginx #### Ubuntu/Debian: ```bash sudo apt install nginx -y ``` #### CentOS/RHEL 8+: ```bash sudo dnf install nginx -y ``` #### CentOS/RHEL 7: ```bash sudo yum install nginx -y ``` ### Step 3: Start and Enable ```bash sudo systemctl start nginx sudo systemctl enable nginx sudo systemctl status nginx ``` Should show "active (running)". ### Step 4: Configure Firewall Allow HTTP and HTTPS: #### Ubuntu/Debian (UFW): ```bash sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' sudo ufw enable sudo ufw status ``` #### CentOS/RHEL (firewalld): ```bash sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https sudo firewall-cmd --reload sudo firewall-cmd --list-all ``` ### Step 5: Test Installation Visit in browser: ``` http://your-server-ip ``` You should see the Nginx welcome page. ### Step 6: Nginx Directory Structure Important directories: * `/etc/nginx/` - Configuration files * `/var/www/html/` - Default web root * `/var/log/nginx/` - Log files * `/usr/share/nginx/html/` - Default files (CentOS) ### Step 7: Create Your First Website #### 1. Create website directory: ```bash sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/html ``` #### 2. Set permissions: ```bash sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/example.com/html sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/example.com ``` #### 3. Create test page: ```bash nano /var/www/example.com/html/index.html ``` Add: ```html Welcome to Example.com!

Success! Nginx is working.

This is your first website on ITITAN Hosting.

``` ### Step 8: Create Virtual Host (Server Block) #### Ubuntu/Debian: ```bash sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com ``` #### CentOS/RHEL: ```bash sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/example.com.conf ``` Add this configuration: ```nginx server { listen 80; listen [::]:80; server_name example.com www.example.com; root /var/www/example.com/html; index index.html index.htm; location / { try_files $uri $uri/ =404; } # Deny access to .htaccess files location ~ /\.ht { deny all; } } ``` #### Enable site (Ubuntu/Debian only): ```bash sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ ``` ### Step 9: Test and Reload ```bash # Test configuration sudo nginx -t # If syntax is OK, reload sudo systemctl reload nginx ``` ### Step 10: Test Your Website Visit `http://your-server-ip` (or your domain if DNS is set). ### Step 11: Basic Performance Tuning #### Edit main config: ```bash sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf ``` Inside `http` block, add: ```nginx # Basic performance settings client_max_body_size 100M; keepalive_timeout 65; types_hash_max_size 2048; # Gzip compression gzip on; gzip_vary on; gzip_min_length 1024; gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml text/javascript application/javascript application/xml+rss application/json; ``` #### Restart: ```bash sudo systemctl restart nginx ``` ### Step 12: Set Up PHP with Nginx (Optional) #### Install PHP-FPM: ```bash # Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt install php-fpm php-mysql -y # CentOS/RHEL sudo dnf install php-fpm php-mysqlnd -y ``` #### Configure Nginx for PHP: Edit your site config, add: ```nginx location ~ \.php$ { include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf; # Ubuntu/Debian # include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params; # CentOS/RHEL fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock; # Adjust version fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name; include fastcgi_params; } ``` #### Test PHP: ```bash echo "" > /var/www/example.com/html/info.php ``` Visit `http://your-server-ip/info.php` (remove after testing!). ### Common Issues #### "Nginx won't start" ```bash # Check error logs sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log # Test config sudo nginx -t ``` #### "403 Forbidden" ```bash # Check permissions sudo ls -la /var/www/example.com/ # Fix ownership sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/example.com # Ubuntu sudo chown -R nginx:nginx /var/www/example.com # CentOS ``` #### "502 Bad Gateway" ```bash # Check PHP-FPM sudo systemctl status php-fpm # Check socket ls -la /var/run/php/ ``` ### Useful Commands #### Check Nginx version: ```bash nginx -v ``` #### Reload configuration (no downtime): ```bash sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx ``` #### Check active connections: ```bash sudo netstat -anp | grep nginx ``` #### View access logs: ```bash sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log ``` ### Security Tips 1. Remove default Nginx page 2. Hide Nginx version in headers 3. Set up proper file permissions 4. Regular updates: `sudo apt upgrade nginx` That's it! Your Nginx server is ready to host websites. 🎉