How to Install and Configure Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04

Introduction

Nginx is a powerful web server that can handle high traffic efficiently. In this guide, we will walk you through installing, configuring, and managing Nginx on an Ubuntu server.

Step 1 – Installing Nginx

To install Nginx, update your package list and install the server using the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Step 2 – Adjusting the Firewall

Ensure your firewall allows HTTP traffic by enabling Nginx HTTP profile:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'

Verify the change:

sudo ufw status

Step 3 – Checking Nginx Status

Once installed, Nginx should be running. Check its status with:

systemctl status nginx

To test the installation, open a browser and visit:

http://your_server_ip

Step 4 – Managing the Nginx Service

Control Nginx using systemctl:

Stop: sudo systemctl stop nginx
Start: sudo systemctl start nginx
Restart: sudo systemctl restart nginx
Reload (without downtime): sudo systemctl reload nginx
Disable auto-start: sudo systemctl disable nginx
Enable auto-start: sudo systemctl enable nginx

Step 5 – Setting Up Server Blocks

To host multiple domains, create a server block:

Make a directory for the domain:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.test/html

Set correct ownership and permissions:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/example.test/html
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/example.test

Create a test page:

sudo nano /var/www/example.test/html/index.html

Add the following:

<html>
    <head>
        <title>Welcome to example.test!</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>Success! The example.test server block is working!</h1>
    </body>
</html>

Configure Nginx:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.test

Add this:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    root /var/www/example.test/html;
    index index.html;

    server_name example.test www.example.test;

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

Enable the configuration:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.test /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test the configuration and restart Nginx:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 6 – Important Nginx Files and Directories

/var/www/html – Default web directory
/etc/nginx/nginx.conf – Main configuration file
/etc/nginx/sites-available/ – Per-site configurations
/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ – Active site configurations
/var/log/nginx/access.log – Access logs
/var/log/nginx/error.log – Error logs

Conclusion

You have successfully installed and configured Nginx on Ubuntu. To enhance security, consider setting up an SSL certificate with Let’s Encrypt. Need a full LEMP stack? Stay tuned for more tutorials!

Taha Khader

March 6, 2025
1:05 pm