Nginx HTTP Server, 2nd Edition

Make the most of your infrastructure and serve pages faster than ever with Nginx

Overview

• Complete configuration directive and module reference
• Discover possible interactions between Nginx and Apache to get the best of both worlds
• Learn to configure your servers and virtual hosts efficiently
• A step-by-step guide to switching from Apache to Nginx

In Detail

Nginx is a lightweight HTTP server designed for high-traffic websites, with network scalability as the primary objective. With the advent of high speed Internet access, short loading times and fast transfer rates have become a necessity. This free, open source solution will either come as a full replacement of other software such as Apache, or stand in front of your existing infrastructure to improve its overall speed.

“Nginx HTTP Server – Second Edition” provides a detailed guide to setting up Nginx in different ways that correspond to actual production situations: as a standalone server, as a reverse proxy, interacting with applications via FastCGI and more. In addition, the complete directive reference will be your best friend at all stages of the configuration and maintenance processes.

This book is the perfect companion for both Nginx beginners and experienced administrators. For beginners, it will take you through the complete process of setting up this lightweight HTTP server on your system and configuring its various modules to get it to do exactly what you need, in a fast and secure way. For more experienced administrators, this book provides different angles of approach that can help you make the most of your current infrastructure. Nginx can be employed in many situations, whether you are looking to construct an entirely new web-serving architecture or simply want to integrate an efficient tool to optimize your site loading speeds.

This book takes you through the setup and configuration of Nginx by detailing every step of the way, from downloading to configuring your server in a selection of common architectures.

What you will learn from this book

• Download and build Nginx from source along with its dependencies
• The basics of Nginx configuration: syntax, structure, semantics
• Create virtual host configurations effortlessly
• Discover all first-party modules and how to enable, configure and use them
• Establish advanced rewrite rules with the Nginx Rewrite module
• Set up Nginx to work with PHP, Python and more via FastCGI
• Configure Nginx to work as a frontend for your existing HTTP server
• Learn how to port your Apache rewrite rules through three practical examples
• Troubleshoot if something goes wrong with the server

Approach

This tutorial book includes detailed instructions for each of the processes it describes: downloading and installing the application, configuring and using modules, and much more. It provides a step-by-step tutorial to replace your existing web server with Nginx. With commented configuration sections and in-depth module descriptions, you will be able to make the most of the performance potential offered by Nginx.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Downloading and Installing Nginx
Chapter 2: Basic Nginx Configuration
Chapter 3: HTTP Configuration
Chapter 4: Module Configuration
Chapter 5: PHP and Python with Nginx
Chapter 6: Apache and Nginx Together
Chapter 7: From Apache to Nginx

Appendix A: Directive Index
Appendix B: Module Reference
Appendix C: Troubleshooting