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How to setup Nginx

Comparing to Apache, Nginx uses less memory, you can install it on small servers or a VPS. For example on a server with only 256Mb of RAM. By using the Nginx + PHP-FPM couple, you can get good performances.

First, stop Apache :

# sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 stop

If you get this message :

# sudo: /etc/init.d/apache2: command not found

That means that it has not been installed.

Disable Apache otherwise :

# sudo update-rc.d -f apache2 remove

Delete the package :

# sudo apt-get purge apache2

Setup Nginx :

# sudo apt-get update

# sudo apt-get install nginx

To see the list of the commands :

# sudo service nginx

Output :

# Usage: nginx {start|stop|restart|reload|force-reload|status|configtest|rotate|upgrade}

Activate the configuration test :

# sudo service nginx configtest

Launch the server :

# sudo service nginx start

If you enter the IP of your web server in your browser you should get a blank page with the message :

# Welcome to nginx on Debian!

Stop the server :

# sudo service nginx stop

The configuration files are located in the /etc/nginx folder. Nginx.conf is for the main settings. Conf.d/ is the folder that contains the additional configurations. Sites-available/ contains the available websites configuration files. Sites-enabled/ contains the enabled websites configuration files. /etc/nginx/sites-available/default has been activated; it will help you to create your own website settings.

With Nginx, it is advised to host your website in /home, instead of /var/www.

# sudo mkdir /home/server

# sudo mkdir /home/server/www

Create the test page :

# sudo nano /home/serveur/www/index.html

Enter this :

<html><body>My test page</body></html>

Open the default website configuration :

# sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Create your website configuration file :

# sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/site1

# server {



      listen 80; 

      root /home/server/www; 

      index index.html index.htm; 

      server_name localhost; 

      location / { 

          # First attempt to serve request as file, then 

          # as directory, then fall back to index.html 

          try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;

      }

}

Enable site1 :

# cd /etc/nginx/sites-enabled

# sudo ln -s ../sites-available/site1

And delete default :

# sudo rm default

Restart Nginx :

# sudo service nginx restart

Enter the server's IP in your browser, you should get a page with :

# My test page

If you get :

# Welcome to nginx on Debian!

It's normal. It is present in /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html and /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html. You have to modify /etc/nginx/sites-available/site1 and replace the line server_name localhost; with server_name 193.70.5.42 (replace it by your server's IP); Nginx display the default page in var/www/html/, rename it.

# cd /var/www/html/

# sudo mv index.nginx-debian.html index.nginx-debian.html.origin

Restart Nginx :

# sudo service nginx restart

Now you should get the message :

# My test page

It's not finished; you have now to setup PHP-FPM :

# sudo apt-get install php5-fpm

Configure PHP-FPM :

# sudo nano /etc/php5/fpm/pool.d/www.conf

Add the lines :

# ;listen = 127.0.0.1:9000

listen = /var/run/php5-fpm.sock

Restart the service :

# sudo service php5-fpm restart

Configure Nginx with PHP-FPM :

# sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/php5-fpm.conf

Add these lines :

# upstream php5-fpm-sock {

   server unix:/var/run/php5-fpm.sock;

}

Restart Nginx :

# sudo service nginx restart

# sudo nano /usr/share/nginx/html/index.php

Add this line to test the PHP :

# <?php phpinfo(); ?>

# sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/site1

Modify it like that :

server {

   listen 80 default_server;

   root /home/serveur/www;

   index index.php index.html;

   server_name 193.70.5.42;

   access_log /var/log/nginx/default-access_log;

   error_log /var/log/nginx/default-error_log;



   location / { 

      try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;

   }

   location ~ \.php$ {

      try_files $uri =404;

      fastcgi_index index.php;

      fastcgi_pass php5-fpm-sock;

      fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;

      include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;

   }

}

Restart the service :

# sudo service nginx restart

Check the link to the website :

# ls -l /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# site1 -> ../sites-available/site1

# sudo service nginx restart

AND we are done!

Enter you server's IP in the web browser, you should get the php info page with the php information.

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