NGINX Cookbook

Chapter 1. Basics

Introduction

To get started with NGINX Open Source or NGINX Plus, you first need to install it on a system and learn some basics. In this chapter you will learn how to install NGINX, where the main configuration files are, and commands for administration. You will also learn how to verify your installation and make requests to the default server.

Installing on Debian/Ubuntu

Problem

You need to install NGINX Open Source on a Debian or Ubuntu machine.

Solution

Create a file named /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx.list that contains the following contents:

deb http://nginx.org/packages/mainline/OS/ CODENAME nginx
deb-src http://nginx.org/packages/mainline/OS/ CODENAME nginx

Alter the file, replacing OS at the end of the URL with ubuntu or debian, depending on your distribution. Replace CODENAME with the code name for your distrobution; jessie or stretch for Debian, or trusty, xenial, artful, or bionic for ubuntu. Then, run the following commands:

wget http://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key
apt-key add nginx_signing.key
apt-get update
apt-get install -y nginx
/etc/init.d/nginx start

Discussion

The file you just created instructs the apt package management system to utilize the Official NGINX package repository. The commands that follow download the NGINX GPG package signing key and import it into apt. Providing apt the signing key enables the apt system to validate packages from the repository. The apt-get update command instructs the apt system to refresh its ...