Skip to main content
skillademia.com Nginx Config cheat sheet · free printable reference · 58 entries

Nginx Config Cheat Sheet

Nginx configuration reference with server blocks, reverse proxy, SSL, rate limiting, and performance tuning. Copy-ready config snippets.

58 entries 11 sections

Server

Command Description Example
Define a virtual server block server { listen 80; server_name example.com; }
Set listening port listen 443 ssl; listen [::]:443 ssl;
Set server domain name(s) server_name example.com www.example.com;
Set document root directory root /var/www/html;
Set default index files index index.html index.htm index.php;
Custom error pages error_page 404 /404.html; error_page 500 502 /50x.html;
Return response or redirect return 301 https://$host$request_uri;

Location

Command Description Example
Match URI path location /api/ { proxy_pass http://backend; }
Exact URI match location = /health { return 200 'OK'; }
Case-sensitive regex match location ~ \.php$ { fastcgi_pass ...; }
Case-insensitive regex match location ~* \.(jpg|png|gif)$ { expires 30d; }
Prefix match (stops regex search) location ^~ /static/ { root /data; }
Try files in order, fallback try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;

Proxy

Command Description Example
Forward requests to backend proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
Set headers to backend proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
Rewrite redirect headers proxy_redirect off;
Enable/disable proxy buffering proxy_buffering off; # for SSE/WebSocket
Timeout for connecting to backend proxy_connect_timeout 60s;
Timeout for reading from backend proxy_read_timeout 300s;

Upstream

Command Description Example
Define backend server group upstream backend { server 127.0.0.1:3000; server 127.0.0.1:3001; }
Backend server with weight server 10.0.0.1:8080 weight=3;
Least connections load balancing upstream backend { least_conn; server ...; }
Sticky sessions by IP upstream backend { ip_hash; server ...; }
Keep connections to upstream open keepalive 32;

SSL

Command Description Example
SSL certificate file ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
SSL private key file ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem;
Allowed SSL/TLS protocols ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
Allowed cipher suites ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
SSL session cache config ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
Enable OCSP stapling ssl_stapling on; ssl_stapling_verify on;

Headers

Command Description Example
Add response header add_header X-Frame-Options DENY;
Enable HSTS add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000" always;
Set CSP header add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'";
Prevent MIME sniffing add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff;

Performance

Command Description Example
Set cache expiry expires 30d; # cache for 30 days
Enable gzip compression gzip on; gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json;
Minimum size to compress gzip_min_length 256;
Max upload size client_max_body_size 10m;
Efficient file serving sendfile on; tcp_nopush on;
Max connections per worker events { worker_connections 1024; }

Logging

Command Description Example
Set access log file access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
Set error log file and level error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log warn;
Custom log format log_format main '$remote_addr - $request';
Disable access logging location /health { access_log off; }

Rewrite

Command Description Example
URL rewrite rule rewrite ^/old-page$ /new-page permanent;
Rewrite flags rewrite ^/api/(.*) /$1 break;
Conditional (use sparingly) if ($request_method = POST) { return 405; }
Set a variable set $backend http://app1;
Variable mapping map $uri $new_uri { /old /new; default $uri; }

Rate Limiting

Command Description Example
Define rate limit zone limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=api:10m rate=10r/s;
Apply rate limit limit_req zone=api burst=20 nodelay;
Define connection limit zone limit_conn_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=addr:10m;
Limit concurrent connections limit_conn addr 10;

Commands

Command Description Example
Test config syntax sudo nginx -t → test before reload
Reload configuration sudo nginx -s reload
Stop Nginx immediately sudo nginx -s stop
Graceful shutdown sudo nginx -s quit
Show version and compile options nginx -V → see modules and flags

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between Nginx and Apache?

Nginx uses an event-driven, non-blocking architecture that handles thousands of concurrent connections efficiently. Apache uses a process/thread-per-connection model. Nginx excels as a reverse proxy and for serving static files. Apache is more flexible with .htaccess and mod_rewrite. Many setups use Nginx as a reverse proxy in front of Apache.

How do I set up HTTPS with Let's Encrypt?

Install certbot, run 'certbot --nginx -d example.com', and it auto-configures SSL. For manual setup: use ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key directives, set ssl_protocols to TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3, and redirect HTTP to HTTPS with 'return 301 https://$host$request_uri'.

How do I configure Nginx as a reverse proxy?

In your server block, use 'location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:3000; }' with proxy_set_header directives for Host, X-Real-IP, and X-Forwarded-For. For WebSocket support, add proxy_http_version 1.1 and proxy_set_header Upgrade/Connection headers.

What does 'location' matching priority look like?

Priority order: 1) Exact match (= /path), 2) Preferential prefix (^~ /path), 3) Regex (~ or ~*) in config order, 4) Longest prefix match. Understanding this prevents unexpected routing behavior. Use 'nginx -T' to dump the full config for debugging.

How do I handle large file uploads?

Set 'client_max_body_size 100m' (or your desired limit) in the server or location block. The default is 1MB. Also consider adjusting proxy_read_timeout and proxy_send_timeout for slow uploads to backend servers.

How do I enable HTTP/2?

Add 'http2' to your listen directive: 'listen 443 ssl http2'. HTTP/2 requires HTTPS. It enables multiplexing, header compression, and server push, significantly improving performance for modern web applications.

More cheat sheets

Apache .htaccess ASCII & Unicode Bash / Linux Commands C++

Just getting started? Try a free course

Beginner-friendly courses in Blender, Photoshop, Figma, Canva and Claude - free.

Start free →

Go from reference to real skills

Cheat sheets are great for quick lookups. Our in-depth courses take you from the fundamentals to professional-level mastery.

Browse all courses