56 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
56 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
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[Nginx Server Configs homepage](https://github.com/h5bp/server-configs-nginx)
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| [Documentation table of contents](TOC.md)
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# Nginx.conf
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The `nginx.conf` file is the main config file for nginx, which either defines
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or includes the whole configuration for the server.
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When editing or defining an nginx configuration file - take care to note in
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which [context](http://nginx.org/en/docs/beginners_guide.html#conf_structure)
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a directive applies.
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Below are some notes on a few of the more important/commonly-edited directives.
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For detailed information on any particular directive, please see
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[the official documentation](http://nginx.org/en/docs/).
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## user
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The [user directive](http://nginx.org/en/docs/ngx_core_module.html#user)
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indicates which user the server will run as. This is typically a user
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specifically for web usage such as "www" "www-data".
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The webserver user, and file permissions for any application, should be defined/chosen
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following [the principle of least privilege](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_privilege)
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i.e., sufficient priveleges to function correctly but no more than that.
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## worker_processes
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The [worker_processes directive](http://nginx.org/en/docs/ngx_core_module.html#worker_processes)
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broadly defines the number of connections nginx can process.
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As of version 1.2.5+ and 1.3.8+, nginx supports the value "auto" which will
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automatically detect an appropriate value. In earlier versions setting to
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the number of CPUs is a good default/starting point.
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## error_log
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The [error_log directive](http://nginx.org/en/docs/ngx_core_module.html#error_log)
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can be defined/overriden in any context. The directive in the main context
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defines the log file to use unless otherwise overriden (at http, server or location
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level). This must point to a location writable to the webserver user.
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The location for log files varies depending on the operating system; one technique
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to allow the config files to be ignorant of this is to symlink `/etc/nginx/logs`
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to where you would like log files to be located. e.g.:
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mkdir /var/log/nginx
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cd /etc/nginx
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ln -s /var/log/nginx logs
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## pid
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The [pid directive](http://nginx.org/en/docs/ngx_core_module.html#pid) is used
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by nginx to store the process id of the main process. This must point to a writable
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location.
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