Configuring Nginx with Multiple Server Blocks

Nginx is a powerful, flexible web server and reverse proxy server used to serve static content, manage HTTP requests, and balance loads among multiple servers. In this blog post, we'll walk through a detailed Nginx configuration that includes multiple server blocks, each tailored for different purposes. Let's break down the configuration and understand how each directive functions.

First Server Block: General HTTP Server

server {
    listen 80;
    root /opt/training;
    index index.html;
    location /thane {
        root /opt/;
        index index.html;
        access_log /var/log/nginx/thane.log;
        error_log /var/log/nginx/thane_error.log debug;
    }
    location /mumbai {
        root /opt;
        index index.html;
        access_log off;
    }
    location /tutorial {
        return 301 $scheme://builddevops.com;
    }
}

Key Directives and Locations:

listen 80;

# This directive tells Nginx to listen for incoming HTTP requests on port 80.

root /opt/training;

# Sets the root directory for the server. Any requests that do not match a specific location block will be served from this directory.

index index.html;

# Specifies the default file to serve when a directory is requested.

Location Blocks:

location /thane

root /opt/;

# Overrides the root for this location to /opt/.

access_log /var/log/nginx/thane.log; # Logs access attempts to a specific file.

error_log /var/log/nginx/thane_error.log debug; # Logs errors to a specific file with a debug level.

location /mumbai

root /opt; # Uses the /opt directory as the root.

access_log off; # Disables access logging for this location.

location /tutorial

return 301 $scheme://builddevops.com; # Redirects all requests to https://builddevops.com with a 301 permanent redirect status.

Second Server Block: PHP Application Server

server {
    listen 9090;
    root /opt/staging;
    index index.php;
    error_page 404 /404.html;
    location ~ \.php {
        try_files $uri @error;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root/$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_param PATH_INFO $fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/dev/shm/php-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
    location ~* /application1 {
        root /opt/staging/;
        index index.php index.html;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/dev/shm/php-fpm.sock;
    }
}

Key Directives and Locations:

listen 9090;

# Listens for incoming requests on port 9090.

root /opt/staging;

# Sets the root directory for this server block to /opt/staging.

index index.php;

# Sets the default file to index.php.

error_page 404 /404.html;

# Customizes the error page for 404 errors.

PHP Handling Location:

location ~ .php

try_files $uri @error; # Attempts to serve the requested file, if it doesn't exist, it tries the @error named location.

fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root/$fastcgi_script_name; # Sets the script filename parameter for FastCGI.

fastcgi_param PATH_INFO $fastcgi_script_name; # Sets the path info parameter.

fastcgi_pass unix:/dev/shm/php-fpm.sock; # Passes PHP requests to the PHP-FPM socket.

fastcgi_index index.php; # Sets the default PHP file.

include fastcgi_params; # Includes additional FastCGI parameters.

Application1 Location:

location ~ /application1*

root /opt/staging/; # Sets the root directory for this location.

index index.php index.html; # Specifies default files.

fastcgi_pass unix:/dev/shm/php-fpm.sock; # Passes requests to the PHP-FPM socket.