Nginx Module Extension

Customize and regulate the robust Nginx web server, and write your own Nginx modules efficiently

Overview

• Install Nginx from its source on multiple platforms
• Become acquainted with core Nginx modules and their configuration options
• Explore optional and third party module extensions along with configuration directives

In Detail

Companies can solve significant scaling issues thanks to switching their web platforms to Nginx. A popular web server for building web infrastructure, Nginx transparently and effectively enables the growth of the largest sites on the Internet today, on top of being free and open source.

This book is a practical reference providing you with everything you need to know about Nginx module extensions. You will learn how to write powerful and flexible configuration files and your own modules, as well as gaining knowledge about Nginx’s modular architecture, available modules, and their intricate details.

Nginx Module Extension starts by teaching you to compile the Nginx source on multiple platforms. Then you will learn the synopsis, directives, and practical examples of the core, optional, and third party Nginx modules before familiarizing yourself with Nginx internals, enabling you to write custom modules.

You will learn about the flexibility of the Nginx configuration and how to enable and disable various options while building from the source. You will learn to customize the Main and Events module to fine-tune the web server performance, and you will also learn about standard and optional HTTP modules like GeoIP, Gzip, Access Control, and using SSL, along with an exploration of PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Memcached modules. Finally you will learn internals like module chaining and will see sample code and a line-by-line walkthrough demonstrating how to write your own module.

What you will learn from this book

• Install Nginx from its source on various platforms with instructions on various platform specific options
• Configure error logging, processes, and permissions
• Learn how Nginx handles events and how to configure epoll, kqueue, select, and poll
• Utilize standard and optional HTTP modules, and combine many of these modules to achieve various system admin tasks
• Acquaint yourself with available third party Nginx modules
• Employ LUA as a programming language to write Nginx configuration files
• Familiarize yourself with modules like PostgreSQL and Memcached and learn how to optimally configure them
• Understand the internals on Nginx and write your own modules
• Gain knowledge about core Nginx concepts like module chaining and also different types of modules like handlers, filters, and load balancers

Approach

This book is a step-by-step, example-oriented tutorial that will teach you to implement Nginx modules, as well as how to extend Nginx with core and third party modules.

Who this book is written for

Nginx Module Extension is intended for advanced users, system administrators, and developers of Nginx modules. You need to have prior experience with using Nginx as a web server and basic Nginx configuration changes. You also need basic understanding of GNU tools like configure and make, in order to be able to compile the source code. Proficiency in C programming and advanced operating system knowledge on Linux kernel, for example, would also come in handy.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Installing Nginx Core and Modules from Source
Chapter 2: Configuring Core Modules
Chapter 3: Installing and Configuring HTTP Modules
Chapter 4: Installing Third-party Modules
Chapter 5: Creating Your Own Module