Proxy

Nginx powers a huge portion of the web. Understanding its configuration patterns is essential for deploying modern applications. Basic Structure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 # /etc/nginx/nginx.conf user www-data; worker_processes auto; pid /run/nginx.pid; events { worker_connections 1024; } http { include /etc/nginx/mime.types; default_type application/octet-stream; # Logging access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log; error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log; # Performance sendfile on; keepalive_timeout 65; # Include site configs include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf; include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*; } Static File Server 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 server { listen 80; server_name example.com; root /var/www/html; index index.html; location / { try_files $uri $uri/ =404; } # Cache static assets location ~* \.(css|js|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg|woff2?)$ { expires 30d; add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable"; } } Reverse Proxy Basic Proxy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 server { listen 80; server_name api.example.com; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:3000; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; } } WebSocket Support 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 location /ws { proxy_pass http://localhost:3000; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade"; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_read_timeout 86400; } Upstream (Multiple Backends) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 upstream backend { server 127.0.0.1:3001; server 127.0.0.1:3002; server 127.0.0.1:3003; keepalive 32; } server { location / { proxy_pass http://backend; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Connection ""; } } Load Balancing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 upstream backend { # Round-robin (default) server app1:3000; server app2:3000; server app3:3000; } upstream backend_weighted { server app1:3000 weight=3; server app2:3000 weight=2; server app3:3000 weight=1; } upstream backend_ip_hash { ip_hash; # Sticky sessions by IP server app1:3000; server app2:3000; } upstream backend_least_conn { least_conn; # Send to least busy server app1:3000; server app2:3000; } Health Checks 1 2 3 4 5 upstream backend { server app1:3000 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s; server app2:3000 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s; server app3:3000 backup; # Only used when others fail } SSL/TLS Configuration 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 server { listen 443 ssl http2; server_name example.com; ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem; # Modern SSL settings ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3; ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256; ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off; # HSTS add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always; # OCSP Stapling ssl_stapling on; ssl_stapling_verify on; resolver 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 valid=300s; } # Redirect HTTP to HTTPS server { listen 80; server_name example.com; return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri; } Security Headers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 server { # Prevent clickjacking add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always; # Prevent MIME sniffing add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always; # XSS protection add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always; # Referrer policy add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always; # Content Security Policy add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';" always; } Rate Limiting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 # Define rate limit zone limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=api:10m rate=10r/s; server { location /api/ { limit_req zone=api burst=20 nodelay; proxy_pass http://backend; } } Connection Limiting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 limit_conn_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=addr:10m; server { location /downloads/ { limit_conn addr 5; # 5 connections per IP limit_rate 100k; # 100KB/s per connection } } Caching Proxy Cache 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx levels=1:2 keys_zone=cache:10m max_size=1g inactive=60m; server { location / { proxy_cache cache; proxy_cache_valid 200 1h; proxy_cache_valid 404 1m; proxy_cache_use_stale error timeout updating; proxy_cache_background_update on; add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status; proxy_pass http://backend; } } Cache Bypass 1 2 3 4 5 location / { proxy_cache cache; proxy_cache_bypass $http_cache_control; proxy_no_cache $arg_nocache; } Gzip Compression 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 http { gzip on; gzip_vary on; gzip_min_length 1024; gzip_proxied any; gzip_comp_level 6; gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml text/javascript application/json application/javascript application/xml application/rss+xml image/svg+xml; } Location Matching 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 server { # Exact match location = /favicon.ico { log_not_found off; access_log off; } # Prefix match (case-sensitive) location /api/ { proxy_pass http://backend; } # Regex match (case-sensitive) location ~ \.php$ { fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php-fpm.sock; } # Regex match (case-insensitive) location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$ { expires 30d; } # Prefix match (highest priority after exact) location ^~ /static/ { root /var/www; } } Priority: = > ^~ > ~ / ~* > prefix ...

Nginx is everywhere—reverse proxy, load balancer, static file server, SSL terminator. Here are the configuration patterns that work in production. Base Configuration 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 # /etc/nginx/nginx.conf user nginx; worker_processes auto; error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log warn; pid /run/nginx.pid; events { worker_connections 1024; use epoll; multi_accept on; } http { include /etc/nginx/mime.types; default_type application/octet-stream; # Logging log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" ' '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" ' '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for" ' 'rt=$request_time uct=$upstream_connect_time ' 'uht=$upstream_header_time urt=$upstream_response_time'; access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log main; # Performance sendfile on; tcp_nopush on; tcp_nodelay on; keepalive_timeout 65; types_hash_max_size 2048; # Compression gzip on; gzip_vary on; gzip_proxied any; gzip_comp_level 6; gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml application/json application/javascript application/xml+rss application/atom+xml image/svg+xml; # Security server_tokens off; include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf; } Reverse Proxy Basic Proxy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 # /etc/nginx/conf.d/app.conf upstream backend { server 127.0.0.1:3000; keepalive 32; } server { listen 80; server_name example.com; location / { proxy_pass http://backend; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; proxy_set_header Connection ""; proxy_connect_timeout 60s; proxy_send_timeout 60s; proxy_read_timeout 60s; } } Load Balancing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 upstream backend { least_conn; # or: round_robin, ip_hash, hash $request_uri server backend1.local:3000 weight=3; server backend2.local:3000 weight=2; server backend3.local:3000 backup; keepalive 32; } Health Checks (Commercial) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 # nginx plus only upstream backend { server backend1:3000; server backend2:3000; health_check interval=5s fails=3 passes=2; } SSL/TLS Configuration Modern SSL Setup 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 server { listen 443 ssl http2; server_name example.com; ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/privkey.pem; # Modern configuration ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3; ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384; ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off; # OCSP Stapling ssl_stapling on; ssl_stapling_verify on; ssl_trusted_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/chain.pem; resolver 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 valid=300s; resolver_timeout 5s; # Session caching ssl_session_timeout 1d; ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:50m; ssl_session_tickets off; # ... rest of config } # Redirect HTTP to HTTPS server { listen 80; server_name example.com; return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri; } Let’s Encrypt with Certbot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 server { listen 80; server_name example.com; location /.well-known/acme-challenge/ { root /var/www/certbot; } location / { return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri; } } Security Headers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 server { # ... SSL config ... # Security headers add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always; add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always; add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always; add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always; add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';" always; # HSTS (be careful - hard to undo) add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always; # Hide server version server_tokens off; } Rate Limiting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 # Define rate limit zones limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=general:10m rate=10r/s; limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=login:10m rate=1r/s; limit_conn_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=addr:10m; server { # General rate limit limit_req zone=general burst=20 nodelay; limit_conn addr 10; location /api/login { limit_req zone=login burst=5 nodelay; proxy_pass http://backend; } location /api/ { limit_req zone=general burst=50 nodelay; proxy_pass http://backend; } } Rate Limit Response 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 limit_req_status 429; limit_conn_status 429; error_page 429 /429.json; location = /429.json { internal; default_type application/json; return 429 '{"error": "Too many requests"}'; } Caching Proxy Cache 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx levels=1:2 keys_zone=app_cache:10m max_size=1g inactive=60m use_temp_path=off; server { location /api/ { proxy_cache app_cache; proxy_cache_valid 200 10m; proxy_cache_valid 404 1m; proxy_cache_use_stale error timeout updating http_500 http_502 http_503 http_504; proxy_cache_lock on; add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status; proxy_pass http://backend; } } Static File Caching 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 location /static/ { alias /var/www/static/; expires 1y; add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable"; access_log off; } location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|ico|css|js|woff2)$ { expires 30d; add_header Cache-Control "public"; } WebSocket Support 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 map $http_upgrade $connection_upgrade { default upgrade; '' close; } server { location /ws/ { proxy_pass http://backend; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection $connection_upgrade; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_read_timeout 86400; } } API Gateway Patterns Path-Based Routing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 server { location /api/users { proxy_pass http://users-service; } location /api/orders { proxy_pass http://orders-service; } location /api/inventory { proxy_pass http://inventory-service; } } API Versioning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 location /api/v1/ { proxy_pass http://api-v1/; } location /api/v2/ { proxy_pass http://api-v2/; } # Default to latest location /api/ { proxy_pass http://api-v2/; } Request/Response Modification 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 location /api/ { # Add headers to upstream request proxy_set_header X-Request-ID $request_id; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host; # Modify response headers proxy_hide_header X-Powered-By; add_header X-Request-ID $request_id; proxy_pass http://backend; } Static Site Hosting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 server { listen 80; server_name example.com; root /var/www/html; index index.html; # SPA routing - try file, then directory, then fall back to index location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html; } # Cache static assets location /assets/ { expires 1y; add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable"; } # Deny access to hidden files location ~ /\. { deny all; } # Custom error pages error_page 404 /404.html; error_page 500 502 503 504 /50x.html; } Debugging Debug Logging 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log debug; # Or per-location location /api/ { error_log /var/log/nginx/api-debug.log debug; # ... } Request Inspection 1 2 3 4 location /debug { default_type text/plain; return 200 "Request: $request\nHost: $host\nURI: $uri\nArgs: $args\nRemote: $remote_addr\n"; } Test Configuration 1 2 3 4 nginx -t # Test config syntax nginx -T # Test and dump full config nginx -s reload # Reload configuration nginx -s reopen # Reopen log files Complete Production Example 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 upstream api { least_conn; server api1:3000 weight=2; server api2:3000 weight=2; server api3:3000 backup; keepalive 32; } limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=api:10m rate=20r/s; proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx/api levels=1:2 keys_zone=api_cache:10m max_size=1g; server { listen 80; server_name example.com; return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri; } server { listen 443 ssl http2; server_name example.com; ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/privkey.pem; ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3; ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m; # Security add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always; add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always; add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000" always; # Static files location /static/ { alias /var/www/static/; expires 1y; add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable"; } # API location /api/ { limit_req zone=api burst=50 nodelay; proxy_cache api_cache; proxy_cache_valid 200 1m; add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status; proxy_pass http://api; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; proxy_set_header Connection ""; } # SPA location / { root /var/www/html; try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html; } } Nginx configuration is declarative and predictable once you understand the patterns. Start with a solid base, add features incrementally, and always test with nginx -t before reloading. The patterns above cover 95% of production use cases—adapt them to your needs. ...