How to Change Nginx Listening Port on Linux: 3 Simple Methods

1. Verify Nginx is Running

Use systemctl status nginx to confirm the service is active. The output shows the master and worker processes and confirms the configuration file syntax is OK.

# systemctl status nginx
● nginx.service - The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Fri 2024-08-09 17:26:42 CST; 4h 14min ago
   Process: 1437 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 1439 (nginx)
   CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
           ├─1439 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx
           ├─1440 nginx: worker process
           └─1441 nginx: worker process

2. Check the Current Listening Port

Run netstat -tunlp | grep nginx to see which ports Nginx is bound to.

# netstat -tunlp | grep nginx
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:80           0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      1439/nginx: master
tcp6       0      0 :::80                :::*                    LISTEN      1439/nginx: master

3. Modify the Listening Port in nginx.conf

Edit the configuration file (usually /etc/nginx/nginx.conf) and change the listen directive. For example, change line 39 to listen 12111;, then save the file.

4. Apply the Change – Method 1: systemctl restart

Restart the service so the new port takes effect, then verify with netstat again.

# systemctl restart nginx
# netstat -tunlp | grep nginx
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:12111        0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      2994/nginx: master
tcp6       0      0 :::80                :::*                    LISTEN      2994/nginx: master

5. Apply the Change – Method 2: nginx -s reload

After editing the file, reload the configuration without a full restart.

# nginx -s reload
# netstat -tunlp | grep nginx
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:12112        0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      2994/nginx: master
tcp6       0      0 :::80                :::*                    LISTEN      2994/nginx: master

The -s flag sends a signal to the master process; reload corresponds to SIGHUP, causing Nginx to reread its configuration.

6. Apply the Change – Method 3: kill -1 (SIGHUP)

Find the master PID with ps -ef | grep nginx, then send SIGHUP manually.

# ps -ef | grep nginx
root       2994     1  0 21:48 ?        00:00:00 nginx: master /usr/sbin/nginx
# kill -1 2994
# netstat -tunlp | grep nginx
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:12113        0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      2994/nginx: master
tcp6       0      0 :::80                :::*                    LISTEN      2994/nginx: master

Common kill signals useful for Nginx management: kill -1 pid – reload configuration (SIGHUP) kill -15 pid – graceful shutdown (SIGTERM) kill -9 pid – force kill (SIGKILL)

7. Summary of Steps

To change the listening port, edit nginx.conf, then choose one of the three methods—restart, reload, or manual SIGHUP—to apply the change, verifying each time with netstat -tunlp | grep nginx. This ensures the new port is active without disrupting other services.