How to Master Nginx with a Free Open‑Source GUI: Install, Configure, and Run

Overview

nginx‑gui is an open‑source visual configuration tool for Nginx that simplifies management and performance monitoring, especially useful for developers who are new to Linux.

Requirements

Desired visual management capabilities for Nginx include:

Configuration management

Performance monitoring

Log monitoring

Other configuration tasks

Implemented Solution

Currently the tool provides:

Configuration management

Performance monitoring

Log analysis monitoring still needs a separate solution.

GitHub repository: https://github.com/onlyGuo/nginx-gui

Installation Steps

1. Download and extract

Download the Nginx-GUI-For-Linux-1.0.zip package from the GitHub releases page and unzip it.

2. Modify configuration file

Edit the file conf/conf.properties to set the Nginx installation path and configuration file location.

# nginx installation path
nginx.path = /usr/local/Cellar/nginx/1.15.12
# full path to nginx.conf
nginx.config = /Users/gsk/dev/apps/nginx-1.15.12/conf/nginx.conf

account.admin = admin

3. Rename binary for Linux 64‑bit (only for Linux version)

According to the author’s instructions, rename the file lib/bin/java_vms to java_vms_nginx_gui for 64‑bit Linux.

Running on the Server

After completing the above steps, package the application and deploy it to the server.

# Grant permissions
sudo chmod -R 777 nginx-gui/

# Start in background
nohup bash /root/web/nginx-gui/startup.sh > logs/nginx-gui.out &

Access the GUI at the default port 8889 using the default credentials admin/admin.

Remaining Issues

Implemented features:

Performance monitoring

Visual configuration

Features not yet implemented:

Log analysis

Access statistics

GitHub repository for reference: https://github.com/onlyGuo/nginx-gui

Illustrative Screenshots