This site has been running the Nginx web server and Gentoo Linux in a Slicehost VPS (256MB) since last weekend. The migration process was surprisingly painless. I’m very happy with the performance so far. This is my first “production” web server, and I must say Gentoo makes it a breeze.
P.S. I’ve been meaning to document the migration process but haven’t found the time yet.
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I learned today that the client_max_body_size directive in nginx.conf controls Nginx’s upload size limit. The default value appears to be 1MB. To allow uploads of up to 10MB, insert this line in nginx.conf:
These are the steps I took to setup multiple hosts for Nginx on a 256MB Slicehost VPS running Gentoo Linux. They should work in other similar Linux environments. YMMV.
I followed this multiple hosts layout intended for a single admin/user, and adapted for Nginx this virtual host permissions setup written for Apache.
Place your user account in the web server (Nginx) group:
sudo usermod -a -G nginx myuser
Logout, login again, check if you are in the “nginx” group by typing:
Create the “public_html” or “htdocs” or whatever directory that will hold all your websites:
mkdir /home/myuser/public_html
Create a directory for your “default” or “catch-all” website:
mkdir /home/myuser/public_html/default
Make sure the “public_html” directory is owned by your user and belongs to the web server group:
sudo chgrp -R nginx /home/myuser/public_html
Make any files and directories created in the future under “public_html” inherit the same ownership and permissions, so you don’t have to set these permissions again:
sudo chmod -R 2750 /home/myuser/public_html
Edit Nginx’s config file:
sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
Modify the “server” section to look something like this: (source)
server {
listen 80 default;
server_name _ *;
access_log /var/log/nginx/localhost.access_log main;
error_log /var/log/nginx/localhost.error_log info;
location / {
index index.html,index.htm,index.php;
root /home/myuser/public_html/default;
}
location ~ .*.php$ {
include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;
fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:1026;
fastcgi_index index.php;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME /home/myuser/public_html/default/$fastcgi_script_name;
}
}Start Nginx:
sudo /etc/init.d/nginx start
Set Nginx to automatically start on bootup:
And you’re done! If you need to add another website in the future, simply add another “server” section to nginx.conf.
Nginx (pronounced “Engine X”) is a high performance web server (and proxy server, but we will be using it as a web server here). In small VPS environments where memory is precious, Apache is at best overkill and uses memory that could be spent elsewhere (like MySQL query caching), at worst a terrible bottleneck that will consistently bring down your site under very moderate loads. If you are willing to live without .htaccess files and Apache-style mod_rewrite rules, Nginx is a great replacement that will lower memory usage and increase performance.
This is a draft. Comments, suggestions, corrections, improvements are very much welcome!
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