Nginx

Configure Nginx for reverse proxy, load balancing, SSL termination, and high-performance static serving.

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Last updated: April 29, 2026

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Quick Start

Manual Installation

No automatic installation available. Please visit the source repository for installation instructions.

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When to Use

User needs Nginx expertise — from basic server blocks to production configurations. Agent handles reverse proxy, SSL, caching, and performance tuning.

Quick Reference

Topic	File
Reverse proxy patterns	`proxy.md`
SSL/TLS configuration	`ssl.md`
Performance tuning	`performance.md`
Common configurations	`examples.md`

Location Matching

Exact
```
=
```
first, then
```
^~
```
prefix, then regex
```
~
```
/
```
~*
```
, then longest prefix
```
location /api
```
matches
```
/api
```
,
```
/api/
```
,
```
/api/anything
```
— prefix match
```
location = /api
```
only matches exactly
```
/api
```
— not
```
/api/
```
```
location ~ \.php$
```
is regex, case-sensitive —
```
~*
```
for case-insensitive
```
^~
```
stops regex search if prefix matches — use for static files

proxy_pass Trailing Slash

proxy_pass http://backend

preserves location path —

/api/users

→

/api/users

proxy_pass http://backend/

replaces location path —

/api/users

→

/users

Common mistake: missing slash = double path — or unexpected routing
Test with
```
curl -v
```
to see actual backend request

try_files

```
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html
```
for SPA — checks file, then dir, then fallback
Last argument is internal redirect — or
```
=404
```
for error
```
$uri/
```
tries directory with index — set
```
index index.html
```
Don't use for proxied locations — use
```
proxy_pass
```
directly

Proxy Headers

```
proxy_set_header Host $host
```
— backend sees original host, not proxy IP
```
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr
```
— client IP, not proxy

proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for

— append to chain

proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme

— for HTTPS detection

Upstream

Define servers in

upstream

block —

upstream backend { server 127.0.0.1:3000; }

```
proxy_pass http://backend
```
uses upstream — load balancing included
Health checks with
```
max_fails
```
and
```
fail_timeout
```
— marks server unavailable
```
keepalive 32
```
for connection pooling — reduces connection overhead

SSL/TLS

```
ssl_certificate
```
is full chain — cert + intermediates, not just cert
```
ssl_certificate_key
```
is private key — keep permissions restricted
```
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3
```
— disable older protocols
```
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on
```
— server chooses cipher, not client

Common Mistakes

```
nginx -t
```
before
```
nginx -s reload
```
— test config first
Missing semicolon — syntax error, vague message
```
root
```
inside
```
location
```
— prefer in
```
server
```
, override only when needed
```
alias
```
vs
```
root
```
— alias replaces location, root appends location
Variables in
```
if
```
— many things break inside if, avoid complex logic

Variables

```
$uri
```
is decoded, normalized path —
```
/foo%20bar
```
becomes
```
/foo bar
```
```
$request_uri
```
is original with query string — unchanged from client
```
$args
```
is query string —
```
$arg_name
```
for specific parameter
```
$host
```
from Host header —
```
$server_name
```
from config

Performance

```
worker_processes auto
```
— matches CPU cores
```
worker_connections 1024
```
— per worker, multiply by workers for max
```
sendfile on
```
— kernel-level file transfer

gzip on

only for text —

gzip_types text/plain application/json ...

```
gzip_min_length 1000
```
— small files not worth compressing

Logging

```
access_log off
```
for static assets — reduces I/O
Custom log format with
```
log_format
```
— add response time, upstream time
```
error_log
```
level:
```
debug
```
,
```
info
```
,
```
warn
```
,
```
error
```
— debug is verbose
Conditional logging with
```
map
```
and
```
if
```
— skip health checks

Nginx

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Quick Start

Manual Installation

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When to Use

Quick Reference

Location Matching

proxy_pass Trailing Slash

try_files

Proxy Headers

Upstream

SSL/TLS

Common Mistakes

Variables

Performance

Logging

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