Setting Up Nginx for Your Domain on Ubuntu

Setting Up Nginx for Your Domain on Ubuntu

This guide will walk you through the process of installing Nginx on an Ubuntu server, setting up a new website directory, configuring permissions, and enabling your site.

Prerequisites

- A server running Ubuntu (20.04 or newer recommended)

- Root or sudo user access

Steps

1. Install Nginx

First, ensure your package list is up-to-date and install Nginx:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx        

2. Create a Directory for Your Domain

Create a directory to hold your website files. Replace meow-domain with your actual domain name or project name:

sudo mkdir /var/www/meow-domain        

3. Set Directory Permissions

Set the appropriate permissions for the directory. This ensures that the web server has the necessary read and execute permissions:

sudo chmod 755 -R /var/www/meow-domain        

4. Set Ownership

Change the ownership of the directory to the www-data group, which is the default user group used by Nginx:

sudo chown -R root:www-data /var/www/meow-domain        

5. Create Nginx Server Block Configuration

Create a new server block file for your domain. This file will define how Nginx handles requests for your domain. Open a new configuration file in a text editor (e.g., nano):

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/meow-domain        

Add the following configuration to the file, replacing meow-domain with your actual domain name:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name meow-domain;

    root /var/www/meow-domain;
    index index.html index.htm;

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

Save and close the file (in nano, press Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter).

6. Test Nginx Configuration

Before enabling the new site, test the Nginx configuration to ensure there are no syntax errors:

sudo nginx -t        

7. Disable the Default Site

To avoid conflicts with the default Nginx configuration, unlink the default site configuration:

sudo unlink /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default        

8. Enable Your New Site

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

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/meow-domain /etc/nginx/sites-enabled        

9. Test Nginx Configuration Again

Test the Nginx configuration once more to ensure everything is set up correctly:

sudo nginx -t        

10. Restart Nginx

Finally, restart Nginx to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart nginx        

11. Verify Your Setup

Open a web browser and navigate to your domain (e.g., https://meow-domain). You should see the default Nginx welcome page if everything is set up correctly.

Additional Considerations

- Firewall Configuration: Ensure your firewall allows HTTP traffic (port 80). If using ufw, you can enable it with:

  sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'        

- SSL/TLS: For a production environment, it is recommended to secure your site with SSL/TLS. You can use Let's Encrypt to obtain a free SSL certificate and configure it with Nginx.

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d meow-domain        

By following these steps, you will have successfully installed and configured Nginx to serve your website.