How to Install and Configure Nginx with HTTPS on CentOS

Preface

WeChat mini‑programs require HTTPS, but existing online configurations cannot be changed, so the simplest solution is to use Nginx as a reverse proxy that terminates HTTPS and forwards traffic to the internal server. A 4‑core, 16 GB machine can comfortably handle millions of page views per day.

Fundamentals

Nginx relies on the epoll model, which requires a Linux kernel version 2.6 or higher. You can check the kernel version with uname -a. For example, CentOS 6.5 reports:

Download

The official Nginx download page ( http://nginx.org/en/download.html ) offers three version types:

Mainline version – the current development branch.

Stable version – the latest stable release recommended for production.

Legacy versions – older stable releases.

Compile and Install

Nginx depends on several libraries:

gzip module – requires zlib and its development package.

rewrite module – requires pcre and its development package.

SSL support – requires openssl, its development package, and a C++ compiler ( gcc‑c++).

Check for missing modules (e.g., gzip) and install them with yum install zlib zlib-devel if needed.

Typical compilation steps: tar zxvf nginx-1.10.2.tar.gz Enter the extracted directory and run: ./configure --with-http_ssl_module The configure script checks the environment and prints the default installation paths and configuration summary (illustrated in the following image):

After configuration, compile and install:

make

make install

Start

Before starting Nginx, ensure port 80 is free (e.g., fuser -n tcp 80 or netstat -pan | grep :80). Then start Nginx from the default directory /usr/local/nginx and visit http://<em>ip</em>:80/ to see the welcome page.

Nginx Configuration

The main configuration file nginx.conf resides in /usr/local/nginx/conf. It defines global settings such as logging, which can be overridden by specific modules. The file’s structure is illustrated below:

Top‑level log configuration applies globally, but child modules may override it, as shown in the following snippet:

Rate Limiting

Nginx’s ngx_http_limit_req_module can limit request rates. Configure the burst parameter to define how many requests can be processed in a short burst; a value of 0 blocks traffic. After configuring the module in the http block, remember to include it in the relevant server block.

Example Configuration

An example of a complete Nginx configuration with HTTPS and rate limiting is shown below:

For a detailed configuration reference, see http://www.cszhi.com/20120513/nginx_nginx-conf.html .