Last updated: May 1, 2026

nginx Cheat Sheet

We usually put nginx in front of the application because it acts as the public entry point to the server. It handles HTTPS, domains, redirects, static files, and request routing, while the application can safely run behind it on a local port.

This note is a short cheat sheet for nginx on VPS setup.

Install and run

sudo apt install nginx
sudo service nginx start

View default nginx config:

sudo cat /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Check config and control the service:

sudo nginx -t                    # nginx config syntax check (before reload)
sudo systemctl reload nginx      # reload nginx (workers pick up changes)
sudo systemctl restart nginx     # restart nginx (brief disconnect for clients)

By default, nginx serves static files from /var/www/html.

Change ownership of /var/www

To change the ownership of /var/www/html to the new user, run:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www

Now you can create and edit files inside /var/www without using sudo every time.

Create a new nginx site

nginx site configs are usually stored in /etc/nginx/sites-available.

Enabled sites are linked from /etc/nginx/sites-enabled.

Create a new config:

sudo vi /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-site

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/my-site;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Enable the site by creating a symlink:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-site /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/my-site

Then check and reload nginx: sudo nginx -t and sudo systemctl reload nginx.

Proxy requests to an app

A common setup is to run your app on a local port, for example, localhost:3000 Then nginx receives public traffic on port 80 or 443 and forwards it to the app.

Example config:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
    }
}

In this setup:

Browser → nginx → app running on localhost:3000

The app does not need to be exposed directly to the internet.

Useful paths

/etc/nginx/nginx.conf              # main nginx config
/etc/nginx/sites-available         # available site configs
/etc/nginx/sites-enabled           # enabled site configs
/var/www/html                      # default web root
/var/log/nginx/access.log          # access logs
/var/log/nginx/error.log           # error logs