How to setup a Nginx site on Ubuntu server

Introduction

Nginx is a powerful and efficient web server that can be used to serve static and dynamic content. Setting up a new site in Nginx involves creating a new server block configuration for the site, configuring the site settings, and enabling the site configuration. In this guide, we'll walk through the detailed steps to add a new site in Nginx on Ubuntu.

Step 1: Install Nginx

If Nginx is not already installed on your Ubuntu server, you can install it using the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Step 2: Create a New Nginx Configuration File

Navigate to the Nginx sites-available directory where you'll create a new configuration file for your site. Replace example.com with your domain name or a unique identifier for your site:

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

Step 3: Configure Your Site in the Nginx Configuration File

Inside the configuration file, add the following configuration. Replace example.com with your domain name and update the root directive to point to the directory where your site's files are located:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html index.htm;

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

• listen 80;: Configures the server to listen on port 80, the default HTTP port.

• server_name: Specifies the domain name(s) for your site.

• root: Sets the root directory for your site's files.

• index: Specifies the default file to serve when a directory is requested.

• location /: Defines how Nginx should handle requests for the site's URLs.

Step 4: Create the Root Directory for Your Site

Create the root directory for your site and set the appropriate permissions:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/html
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/example.com/html
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/example.com

Step 5: Enable Your Site Configuration

Create a symbolic link from the sites-available directory to the sites-enabled directory to enable your site configuration:

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

Step 6: Test Your Nginx Configuration

Before restarting Nginx, it's a good idea to test your configuration for syntax errors:

sudo nginx -t

If there are no syntax errors, you'll see a message like syntax is ok followed by test is successful.

Step 7: Restart Nginx

Once your configuration is correct, restart Nginx to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 8: Verify Your Site

Open a web browser and navigate to your domain (e.g., http://example.com). You should see the default Nginx welcome page or your website if you've already added content to it.