Install Nginx on Ubuntu / Debian

High-performance web server, reverse proxy, load balancer and HTTP cache.

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Installation

Nginx (Ubuntu repositories) · apt

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nginx

Verify the installation

Verify

$ nginx -v

Service

Start

$ sudo systemctl start nginx

Stop

$ sudo systemctl stop nginx

Status

$ sudo systemctl status nginx

Restart

$ sudo systemctl restart nginx

On boot

$ sudo systemctl enable nginx

Important files

Type	Path	Description
config	/etc/nginx/nginx.conf	Main configuration file.
config	/etc/nginx/sites-available	Available site definitions; symlink into sites-enabled to activate.
data	/var/www/html	Default document root.
log	/var/log/nginx	Access (access.log) and error (error.log) logs.

Default ports

Command-line tools

nginxThe server binary; nginx -t to test, nginx -s reload to reload.

Uninstall

sudo apt purge -y nginx nginx-common
sudo apt autoremove -y

Good to know

Debian/Ubuntu use the sites-available + sites-enabled pattern; enable a site with sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/foo /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/.
Always run sudo nginx -t before sudo systemctl reload nginx.
The default welcome page is served from /var/www/html.

Installation on Ubuntu

sudo apt install -y nginx installs Nginx and registers the nginx systemd service, started automatically on port 80. Visit http://localhost to see the default welcome page served from /var/www/html.

The sites-available pattern

Debian/Ubuntu split virtual hosts into /etc/nginx/sites-available (definitions) and /etc/nginx/sites-enabled (active symlinks). Enable a site with sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/foo /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/, then reload.

Validate before reloading

Always run sudo nginx -t to check syntax, then apply with sudo systemctl reload nginx (a reload re-reads the config without dropping live connections).