Nginx Config

This post analyzes the Config of Nginx.

1. Nginx Config

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user       nginx;  ## Default: nobody
worker-processes  5;  ## Default: 1
error-log  logs/error.log;
pid        logs/nginx.pid;
worker-rlimit-nofile 8192;

events {
  worker-connections  4096;  ## Default: 1024
}

http {
  include    conf/mime.types;
  include    /etc/nginx/proxy.conf;
  include    /etc/nginx/fastcgi.conf;
  index    index.html index.htm index.php;

  default-type application/octet-stream; ## Default: text/plain
  log-format   main '$remote-addr - $remote-user [$time-local]  $status '
    '"$request" $body-bytes-sent "$http-referer" '
    '"$http-user-agent" "$http-x-forwarded-for"';
  access-log   logs/access.log  main;
  sendfile     on;
  tcp-nopush   on;
  server-names-hash-bucket-size 128; # this seems to be required for some vhosts

  server { # php/fastcgi
    listen       80;
    server-name  domain1.com www.domain1.com;
    access-log   logs/domain1.access.log  main;

    location ~ \.php$ {
      fastcgi-pass   127.0.0.1:1025;
    }
  }

  server { # simple reverse-proxy
    listen       80;
    server-name  domain2.com www.domain2.com;
    access-log   logs/domain2.access.log  main;

    # serve static files
    location ~ ^/(images|javascript|js|css|flash|media|static)/  {
      root    /var/www/virtual/big.server.com/htdocs;
      expires 30d;
    }

    # pass requests for dynamic content to rails/turbogears/zope, et al
    location / {
      proxy-pass      http://127.0.0.1:8080;
    }
  }

  upstream big-server-com {
    server 127.0.0.3:8000 weight=5;
    server 127.0.0.3:8001 weight=5;
    server 192.168.0.1:8000;
    server 192.168.0.1:8001;
  }

  server { # simple load balancing
    listen          80;
    server-name     big.server.com;
    access-log      logs/big.server.access.log main;

    location / {
      proxy-pass      http://big-server-com;
    }
  }
}

[File 1] nginx.conf

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types {
  text/html                             html htm shtml;
  text/css                              css;
  text/xml                              xml rss;
  image/gif                             gif;
  image/jpeg                            jpeg jpg;
  application/x-javascript              js;
  text/plain                            txt;
  text/x-component                      htc;
  text/mathml                           mml;
  image/png                             png;
  image/x-icon                          ico;
  image/x-jng                           jng;
  image/vnd.wap.wbmp                    wbmp;
  application/java-archive              jar war ear;
  application/mac-binhex40              hqx;
  application/pdf                       pdf;
  application/x-cocoa                   cco;
  application/x-java-archive-diff       jardiff;
  application/x-java-jnlp-file          jnlp;
  application/x-makeself                run;
  application/x-perl                    pl pm;
  application/x-pilot                   prc pdb;
  application/x-rar-compressed          rar;
  application/x-redhat-package-manager  rpm;
  application/x-sea                     sea;
  application/x-shockwave-flash         swf;
  application/x-stuffit                 sit;
  application/x-tcl                     tcl tk;
  application/x-x509-ca-cert            der pem crt;
  application/x-xpinstall               xpi;
  application/zip                       zip;
  application/octet-stream              deb;
  application/octet-stream              bin exe dll;
  application/octet-stream              dmg;
  application/octet-stream              eot;
  application/octet-stream              iso img;
  application/octet-stream              msi msp msm;
  audio/mpeg                            mp3;
  audio/x-realaudio                     ra;
  video/mpeg                            mpeg mpg;
  video/quicktime                       mov;
  video/x-flv                           flv;
  video/x-msvideo                       avi;
  video/x-ms-wmv                        wmv;
  video/x-ms-asf                        asx asf;
  video/x-mng                           mng;
}

[File 2] mime.types

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proxy-redirect          off;
proxy-set-header        Host            $host;
proxy-set-header        X-Real-IP       $remote-addr;
proxy-set-header        X-Forwarded-For $proxy-add-x-forwarded-for;
client-max-body-size    10m;
client-body-buffer-size 128k;
proxy-connect-timeout   90;
proxy-send-timeout      90;
proxy-read-timeout      90;
proxy-buffers           32 4k;

[File 3] proxy.conf

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fastcgi-param  SCRIPT-FILENAME    $document-root$fastcgi-script-name;
fastcgi-param  QUERY-STRING       $query-string;
fastcgi-param  REQUEST-METHOD     $request-method;
fastcgi-param  CONTENT-TYPE       $content-type;
fastcgi-param  CONTENT-LENGTH     $content-length;
fastcgi-param  SCRIPT-NAME        $fastcgi-script-name;
fastcgi-param  REQUEST-URI        $request-uri;
fastcgi-param  DOCUMENT-URI       $document-uri;
fastcgi-param  DOCUMENT-ROOT      $document-root;
fastcgi-param  SERVER-PROTOCOL    $server-protocol;
fastcgi-param  GATEWAY-INTERFACE  CGI/1.1;
fastcgi-param  SERVER-SOFTWARE    nginx/$nginx-version;
fastcgi-param  REMOTE-ADDR        $remote-addr;
fastcgi-param  REMOTE-PORT        $remote-port;
fastcgi-param  SERVER-ADDR        $server-addr;
fastcgi-param  SERVER-PORT        $server-port;
fastcgi-param  SERVER-NAME        $server-name;

fastcgi-index  index.php;

fastcgi-param  REDIRECT-STATUS    200;

[File 4] fastcgi.conf

The nginx.conf file contains the main configuration of Nginx. [File 1] shows an example of nginx.conf, and it Includes [File 2 ~ 4]. This post analyzes the configuration contents of [File 1 ~ 4].

1.1. nginx.conf Top

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user       nginx;  ## Default: nobody
worker-processes  5;  ## Default: 1
error-log  logs/error.log;
pid        logs/nginx.pid;
worker-rlimit-nofile 8192;

[File 1-1] nginx.conf Top

user : Specifies the User of the Nginx Worker Processes. It is used to set the permissions of the Worker Processes.
worker-processes : Specifies the number of Nginx Worker Processes. The default value is 1.
error-log : Specifies the path of the Nginx Error Log.
pid : Specifies the path of the Log where the PID of the Nginx Master Process is stored.
worker-rlimit-nofile : Specifies the maximum number of File Descriptors that a Nginx Worker Process can use. It is generally set to twice the maximum number of Connections that a Worker Process can have. The default value is 1024.

1.2. events Block

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events {
  worker-connections  4096;  ## Default: 1024
}

[File 1-2] nginx.conf events Block

The events Block contains configuration related to Network Connection handling.

worker-connections : Specifies the maximum number of Connections that a Nginx Worker Process can have simultaneously.

1.3. http Block

The http Block contains HTTP and HTTPS related configuration.

1.3.1 http Block Top

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http {
  include    conf/mime.types;
  include    /etc/nginx/proxy.conf;
  include    /etc/nginx/fastcgi.conf;
  index    index.html index.htm index.php;

[File 1-3] nginx.conf http Block Top-1

include mime.types : Includes [File 2]. It configures the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) types used by Nginx. MIME refers to an Encoding/Decoding technique for transmitting files such as Images and Videos in Text form.
include proxy.conf : Includes [File 3]. It applies the Reverse Proxy related configuration of Nginx.
include fastcgi.conf : Includes [File 4]. It applies the FastCGI related configuration.
index : Specifies the Index Page.

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  default-type application/octet-stream; ## Default: text/plain
  log-format   main '$remote-addr - $remote-user [$time-local]  $status '
    '"$request" $body-bytes-sent "$http-referer" '
    '"$http-user-agent" "$http-x-forwarded-for"';
  access-log   logs/access.log  main;
  sendfile     on;
  tcp-nopush   on;
  server-names-hash-bucket-size 128; # this seems to be required for some vhosts

[File 1-3] nginx.conf http Block Top-2

default-type : Specifies the Default MIME type.
log-format : Specifies the format of the HTTP and HTTPS processing Log. The default value is text/plain.
access-log : Specifies the path of the HTTP and HTTPS processing Log.
sendfile : Specifies whether to use the sendfile() System Call when transmitting Static Files (Image, Video). The sendfile() System Call is faster than the conventional read()/write() System Calls because Data transfer between two File Descriptors is performed based on Zero Copy entirely at the Kernel Level.
tcp-nopush : Specifies whether to set TCP-CORK on the TCP Socket when using the sendfile() System Call. TCP-CORK makes Packets sent to the TCP Socket accumulate in the TCP Socket Buffer and be sent at once. It is meaningful only when sendfile on is set.
server-names-hash-bucket-size : Specifies the maximum number of Server Names that can be registered in Nginx.

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proxy-redirect          off;
proxy-set-header        Host            $host;
proxy-set-header        X-Real-IP       $remote-addr;
proxy-set-header        X-Forwarded-For $proxy-add-x-forwarded-for;
client-max-body-size    10m;
client-body-buffer-size 128k;

[File 3-1] proxy.conf Top

proxy-redirect : Specifies whether to change the HTTP Location and Refresh Headers of the Response received from Nginx’s Proxied Server. The HTTP Location Header is a Header that holds the URL of the changed Resource when the location of a Resource has changed. The HTTP Refresh Header is a Header that instructs the Client to Refresh.
proxy-set-header Host : Sets the HTTP Host Header. The HTTP Host Header is a Header that stores which Virtual Host (Server) processed the request.
proxy-set-header X-Real-IP : Sets the HTTP X-Real-IP Header. The HTTP X-Real-IP Header is a Header that stores the Client’s IP information.
proxy-set-header X-Forwarded-For : Sets the HTTP X-Forwarded-For Header. The HTTP X-Forwarded-For Header is a Header that stores the Client’s IP information.
client-max-body-size : Specifies the maximum allowed Body Size of a Client Request.
client-body-buffer-size : Specifies the size of the Read Buffer for the Body of a Client Request.

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proxy-connect-timeout   90;
proxy-send-timeout      90;
proxy-read-timeout      90;
proxy-buffers           32 4k;

[File 3-2] proxy.conf Bottom

proxy-connect-timeout : Specifies the maximum wait time required to establish a TCP Connection.
proxy-send-timeout : Specifies the maximum wait time required to send the Client’s Request to the Proxied Server.
proxy-read-timeout : Specifies the maximum wait time required to receive a Response from the Proxied Server.
proxy-buffers : Specifies the size of the Read Buffer used per Connection with the Proxied Server. The values specify, in order, the number of Buffers and the size of each Buffer.

1.3.2. http Block server Block

One server Block represents one Virtual Server. A Virtual Server has the same meaning as a Virtual Host of the Apache HTTP Server.

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  server { # php/fastcgi
    listen       80;
    server-name  domain1.com www.domain1.com;
    access-log   logs/domain1.access.log  main;

    location ~ \.php$ {
      fastcgi-pass   127.0.0.1:1025;
    }
  }

[File 1-4] nginx.conf http Block server Block-1

It is configured to operate as a Reverse Proxy for a PHP Application using FastCGI.

listen : Specifies the Listen Port of the Virtual Server.
server-name : Specifies the name of the Virtual Server. It is usually set to a Domain name.
access-log : Specifies the path of the Log related to the Virtual Server.
location Block : Configured to use the PHP Application that uses FastCGI.

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  server { # simple reverse-proxy
    listen       80;
    server-name  domain2.com www.domain2.com;
    access-log   logs/domain2.access.log  main;

    # serve static files
    location ~ ^/(images|javascript|js|css|flash|media|static)/  {
      root    /var/www/virtual/big.server.com/htdocs;
      expires 30d;
    }

    # pass requests for dynamic content to rails/turbogears/zope, et al
    location / {
      proxy-pass      http://127.0.0.1:8080;
    }
  }

[File 1-5] nginx.conf http Block server Block-2

It is configured to operate as a Reverse Proxy.

First location Block : Configured to serve the Static Files under the root path.
Second location Block : Configured to operate as a Reverse Proxy for the 127.0.0.1:8080 Port.

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  upstream big-server-com {
    server 127.0.0.3:8000 weight=5;
    server 127.0.0.3:8001 weight=5;
    server 192.168.0.1:8000;
    server 192.168.0.1:8001;
  }

  server { # simple load balancing
    listen          80;
    server-name     big.server.com;
    access-log      logs/big.server.access.log main;

    location / {
      proxy-pass      http://big-server-com;
    }
  }

[File 1-5] nginx.conf http Block server Block-3

It is configured to operate as a Reverse Proxy that performs Load Balancing.

upstream Block : Specifies the Target Servers to which the Packets distributed by Nginx’s Load Balancing are delivered.
location Block : Configured to perform Load Balancing using the Load Balancing Target Servers set in the upstream Block.

2. References

NGINX Full Example Configuration : https://www.nginx.com/resources/wiki/start/topics/examples/full/
Nginx worker_rlimit_nofile : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37591784/nginx-worker-rlimit-nofile

Nginx Architecture Nginx Thread Pool