Setting Up an Web Server with Nginx

A web server is required to provide access to various services over a network. This post describes the process of setting up an Nginx web server, making it accessible within a local network.

Installing Nginx

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To install Nginx, execute the following command:

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S nginx-mainline

Configuring iptables

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To allow access to TCP ports 80 and 443, configure iptables as follows:

# Allow access to TCP port 80 from LAN (192.168.10.0/24)
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s 192.168.10.0/24 --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
# Allow access to TCP port 443 from LAN (192.168.10.0/24)
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s 192.168.10.0/24 --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

For further details, refer to: iptables Configuration.

Starting the Nginx Service

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Enable and start the Nginx service:

sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

Accessing http://[server-ip] should display the default Nginx page.

Configuring nginx.conf

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Modify /etc/nginx/nginx.conf as follows to disable direct IP access and enable virtual host configurations:

#user html;
worker_processes auto;
worker_cpu_affinity auto;
worker_priority 0;

#error_log  logs/error.log;
#error_log  logs/error.log  notice;
#error_log  logs/error.log  info;

#pid        logs/nginx.pid;

events {
worker_connections  1024;
}

http {
include       mime.types;
default_type  application/octet-stream;

#log_format  main  '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
#                  '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
#                  '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';

#access_log  logs/access.log  main;

sendfile        on;
#tcp_nopush     on;

#keepalive_timeout  0;
keepalive_timeout  65;

#gzip  on;

server {
listen 80  default_server;
server_name _;
return 444;
}

include sites-enabled/*;

Setting Up Virtual Hosts

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Creating Directories for Virtual Host Configuration

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The following directories should be created for managing virtual host configurations:

sudo mkdir /etc/nginx/sites-available
sudo mkdir /etc/nginx/sites-enabled

Placing Configuration Files in sites-available

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An example configuration file for www.mkt3.dev:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.mkt3.dev;

    location / {
        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
        index index.html index.htm;
    }

    error_page 500 502 503 504 /50x.html;
    location = /50x.html {
        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
    }
}

Enabling a Virtual Host

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To enable the configuration:

cd /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/www.conf .

Configuring DNS

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To enforce domain-based access, DNS configuration is required. Modify the zone file with the following entry:

www         IN A     192.168.10.xxx

For further dns details, refer to: Setting Up an Internal DNS Server Using NSD and Unbound.

Verifying Virtual Host Configuration

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Restart the Nginx service:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Accessing http://[configured-domain] should display the default Nginx page.