Comprehensive Nginx Configuration Guide: HTTP Server, Static Files, Reverse Proxy, Load Balancing, and Advanced Directives

Nginx can serve static resources directly; when a site consists only of static pages, placing the files under the document root (e.g., /usr/local/var/www/html ) and configuring a simple server block with listen 80 and root is sufficient.

Typical configuration steps:

Create the document root directory and add a test HTML file.

Edit nginx.conf to define a server block with listen 80 , server_name localhost , and a location / that points to the root directory.

Test the setup by accessing http://localhost/ or http://localhost/test.html .

Key location directives and their meanings:

server : defines a virtual server; multiple server blocks can coexist.

listen : specifies IP address and port to listen on.

server_name : sets the domain name for the virtual host.

location : maps URI patterns to specific handling rules; can use exact match ( = ), prefix match ( ^~ ), or regular expressions ( ~ , ~* ).

root and index : define the filesystem path and default index files.

Static server examples show how to create separate directories for images and use location blocks with root or custom variables (e.g., set $doc_root /usr/local/var/www; ) to serve files efficiently.

Location matching priority is independent of configuration order; the hierarchy is:

location = /   > location ^~ /path/   > location ~* /regex/   > location /   > location /

Reverse proxy is implemented with the proxy_pass directive, forwarding client requests to an upstream service (e.g., http://localhost:8081 ) while preserving headers such as Host and X-Forwarded-For .

Load balancing uses the upstream block. Common strategies include:

Round‑robin (default): distributes requests evenly.

Weighted round‑robin: assigns weights to servers (e.g., weight=3 ).

ip_hash : routes requests based on client IP to maintain session affinity.

Third‑party fair and url_hash modules for response‑time‑based or URL‑hash routing.

Static‑dynamic separation (动静分离) combines a reverse‑proxy for dynamic content with location blocks that serve static assets directly, improving caching and performance.

Additional useful directives:

return : sends a status code and optional URL (e.g., return 301 http://example.com ).

rewrite : modifies the request URI using regular expressions.

error_page : defines custom error pages.

Logging configuration with log_format and access_log .

deny : blocks access to specified resources.

Built‑in variables (e.g., $remote_addr , $host , $request_uri ) can be used throughout the configuration.

By following these examples, readers can set up a fully functional Nginx server that serves static files, proxies dynamic requests, balances load across multiple back‑ends, and handles common operational needs.