How to install Nginx on an EC2 Instance?

Q: How can I verify if NGINX is running?

Use sudo systemctl status nginx.

Nginx, popularly known as “ engine- x, ” is an important, open-source simple web server known for its effectiveness, scalability, and point set. Installing Nginx on an Amazon EC2 instance allows you to host websites and operations within the robust AWS structure. It is mostly used for reverse proxy.

Prerequisites Before starting the installation of the nginx server you must have the following with you:

An AWS account with access to the EC2 instance. An existing EC2 instance runs a compatible Linux Distribution (Amazon Linux 2, Ubuntu, etc.). The instance must have SSH access enabled. An SSH customer like PuTTY( Windows) or the erected-in terminal( macOS/ Linux) can connect to your EC2 case. A basic understanding of Linux commands and file editing. Step 1: Connect to your EC2 Instance Locate your Public DNS (IPv4) address: Log in to the AWS account and navigate to the EC2 dashboard. Select your instance and find the “Public DNS (IPv4)” address under the “Description” tab. You will use this address to connect to your instance via SSH. Connect using SSH: Open your preferred SSH client. Enter the following command, replacing with your instance username and with your obtained address. Enter your private key passphrase (if applicable): If you used a key pair for SSH access during instance creation, enter the key passphrase when prompted. Step 2: Update and Upgrade the System Maintaining an updated system is pivotal for security and stability. Run the following commands to modernize the package lists and upgrade existing packages.

sudo yum update # For Amazon Linux sudo apt update # For Ubuntu Important: The update command used will depend on your specific Linux distribution.

Step 3: Install Nginx. Let’s install Nginx using the appropriate package manager for your chosen distribution:

Nginx Server in Amazon Linux 2:

sudo amazon-linux-extras install -y nginx1. This command will download and install Nginx's latest and most stable version from the sanctioned depository.

Nginx Server in Amazon EC2 Ubuntu

sudo apt install nginx #installation process of ngnix web server

Step 4: Verify Nginx Installation Once the installation is complete, you can verify it by checking the version:

Sudo nginx -v #verify nginx web server This command will give you the information on the installed Nginx version.

Step 5: Configure Nginx (Basic Setup) Nginx configuration files reside in the directory/etc/nginx. The main configuration file is nginx. Conf. We will create a simple server block to serve a basic welcome page.

Create a Server Block File:

Use a text editor like Nano to create a new server block file:

Sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default #configuration of nginx web server Paste the Configuration:

With the creation of the new file, paste the following basic server block configuration:

server { listen 80 default_server; # Listen on port 80 (HTTP) server_name _; # Handle all requests

location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:8001; root /var/www/html; index index.html index.htm; }

error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log; access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log; } #This is also used for proxy server and reverse proxy #if app run on 8001 then security group also need to open Testing the Configuration:

After the creation, you need to test the configuration of Nginx by using the following command

sudo nginx -t Explanation:

Listen 80 default_server; Defines the port (80 for HTTP) and sets this block as the default server. server_name _; Handles all requests directed to the server's IP address. Location / { ... }: Defines a location block for the root path (/). Root/var/www/html: Set up the document root directory where your website files reside. You should create this directory if it doesn't exist. Index index.html index.htm: Specifies default index files to serve when a directory is requested. error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log; Defines the location for error logs. access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log; Defines the location for access logs, recording user requests. check for the security group Save and Close the File:

Press Ctrl+O to save the file, then Ctrl+X to exit the editor.

Enable The Server Block:

Use the following command to produce a symbolic link from the recently created server block file to the spots-enabled directory, effectively enabling it.

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/default/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ Step 6: Start and Manage the Nginx Web server Restart Nginx: Once you are confident about the configuration, restart Nginx to apply the changes: sudo systemctl restart nginx # For systemd-based systems (Amazon Linux 2)

sudo service nginx restart # For Upstart-based systems (older Ubuntu versions) Verify Nginx Status: Check the status of Nginx to ensure it is running correctly: sudo systemctl status nginx # For status of web server

sudo service nginx status # For Upstart-based systems Optional: Secure Nginx with a Firewall By default, Nginx acts on port 80 (HTTP). If you haven’t configured a firewall on your EC2 instance, it is crucial to open port 80 to allow incoming web traffic. You can achieve this using the AWS Security Groups feature.

Step 7: Serving Your Website Content The previous steps set up Nginx to serve an introductory welcome message. To serve your website content, follow these steps:

Create a Document Root Directory: Create a directory to store your website files. A typical location is /var/www/html. You can use the following command to create it: sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html Upload Your Website Files: Use a secure train transfer system like SCP or SFTP to upload your website lines( HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.) to the document root directory(/ var/ www/ html). Verify File Permissions: Ensure the web server user (usually nginx) has read permissions for your website files. You can use the chown and chmod commands to adjust permissions if necessary. Reload Nginx: After uploading the files, reload the configuration and inform Nginx about the changes. Sudo systemctl reload nginx # For systemd-based systems sudo service nginx reload # For Upstart-based systems How to configure nginx as a reverse proxy on an AWS EC2 instance? Step 1: Launch an EC2 Instance

Step 2: Connect to Your Instance

ssh -i /path/to/your-key.pem ec2-user@your-ec2-public-ip Step 3: Install Nginx

sudo yum update -y # for Amazon Linux sudo apt update # for Ubuntu

sudo yum install nginx -y # for Amazon Linux sudo apt install nginx -y # for Ubuntu

sudo systemctl start nginx Step 4: Configure Nginx as a Reverse Proxy

sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf Step 5: Add a server block

server { listen 80;

server_name your-domain.com;

location / { proxy_pass http://your-backend-server-ip:your-backend-port; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade'; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade; } } Step 6: Test Nginx configuration

sudo nginx -t Step 7: Reload Nginx

sudo systemctl reload nginx Tips on optimizing Nginx performance 1. Enable Caching location / { proxy_cache my_cache; proxy_cache_valid 200 1h; proxy_pass http://backend; } 2. Optimize Buffers http { client_body_buffer_size 16K; client_header_buffer_size 1k; large_client_header_buffers 4 16k; } 3. Use Keepalive Connections http { keepalive_timeout 65; } 4. Compression http { gzip on; gzip_types text/plain application/xml; } 5. Load Balancing http { upstream backend { server backend1.example.com; server backend2.example.com; }

server { location / { proxy_pass http://backend; } } } How to install Nginx with Ansible? If you want to install nginx with Ansible, you can create a playbook that will define the task and that will be necessary to install the nginx on the targeted server.

Step 1: Create an Ansible playbook file

# install_nginx.yml

- name: Install Nginx hosts: your_target_servers become: true # Run tasks with root privileges

tasks: - name: Update apt package cache (for Debian/Ubuntu) apt: update_cache: yes when: ansible_os_family == 'Debian'

- name: Install Nginx package: name: nginx state: present

- name: Start Nginx service service: name: nginx state: started enabled: yes Step 2: Run the playbook

ansible-playbook -i your_inventory_file install_nginx.yml How to Install Nginx in a Container? To install Nginx in a container, you can use Docker.

Step 1: Install Docker

https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/

Step 2: Create a Dockerfile

# Use the official Nginx image from Docker Hub FROM nginx

# Copy custom configuration file (if needed) # COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

# Expose port 80 EXPOSE 80 Step 3: Build the Docker image

docker build -t my-nginx . Step 4 : Run the Docker container

docker run -d -p 8080:80 --name my-nginx-container my-nginx How to install Nginx on EC2 using Terraform? Step 1: Create Terraform Configuration

provider "aws" { region = "your_aws_region" }

resource "aws_instance" "nginx_server" { ami = "ami-12345678" # Replace with your desired AMI ID instance_type = "t2.micro" # Replace with your desired instance type

tags = { Name = "nginx-server" }

provisioner "remote-exec" { inline = [ "sudo apt-get update", "sudo apt-get install -y nginx" ] } } Step 2: Initialize Terraform

terraform init Step 3: Apply Terraform Configuration

terraform apply How to install Nginx on EC2 using Yum? Step 1: Connect to Your EC2 Instance

ssh -i your-key.pem ec2-user@your-ec2-instance-public-dns Step 2: Update the Packages

sudo yum update -y Step 3: Install Nginx

sudo yum install nginx Step 4: Start the Nginx service

sudo systemctl start nginx Step 5: Enable Nginx to start on boot

sudo systemctl enable nginx Add SSL/TLS to Secure Your Server Step 1: Install Certbot

sudo amazon-linux-extras install epel -y sudo yum install certbot -y Step 2: Obtain a Certificate

sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com Step 3: Renew Certificates Automatically

sudo crontab -e # Add the following line: 0 0,12 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet Common issues during Nginx installation on an EC2 instance and their solutions Issue Solution Permission Denied Errors Use sudo to run commands with elevated privileges. Package Not Found Update package lists with sudo apt-get update before installing Nginx. Port 80 is Already in Use Check running services with sudo lsof -i :80 and stop conflicting services. Firewall Blocking Traffic Allow traffic through the firewall with sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' . Nginx Not Starting Check logs in /var/log/nginx for detailed error messages. Incomplete Installation Ensure all dependencies are installed by running sudo apt-get install -f . Securing Nginx with SSL/TLS Step Description Obtain SSL/TLS Certificates Use Let's Encrypt or a commercial certificate authority (CA) to get SSL/TLS certificates. Install Certbot Install Certbot, a tool to obtain and manage SSL/TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt: sudo apt-get install certbot python3-certbot-nginx . Configure Nginx for SSL Edit the Nginx configuration file to include the SSL certificate and key paths: server { listen 443 ssl; ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/your_domain/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/your_domain/privkey.pem; } Automate Certificate Renewal Set up a cron job to automatically renew certificates: 0 3 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet Enable HTTP/2 Modify the Nginx configuration to support HTTP/2 for improved performance: listen 443 ssl http2; Configuring Firewalls Step Description Install UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) Install UFW if not already installed: sudo apt-get install ufw . Allow OpenSSH Allow OpenSSH to maintain access: sudo ufw allow OpenSSH . Allow Nginx Traffic Enable Nginx Full profile to allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic: sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' . Enable UFW Enable the firewall: sudo ufw enable . Check Firewall Status Verify the firewall status and rules: sudo ufw status . Advanced Configurations Load Balancing Step Description Define Upstream Servers Specify backend servers in the http block: upstream backend { server backend1.example.com; server backend2.example.com; } Configure Load Balancer Use proxy_pass to direct traffic to the upstream block: location / { proxy_pass http://backend; } Caching Step Description Enable Caching Configure caching in the server block: proxy_cache_path /data/nginx/cache levels=1:2 keys_zone=my_cache:10m; Cache Settings Define cache parameters in the location block: location / { proxy_cache my_cache; proxy_pass http://backend; } Reverse Proxy Step Description Set Up Reverse Proxy Forward client requests to backend servers: location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:8080; } Additional Proxy Settings Optimize with settings like: proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; Monitoring Nginx Performance and Managing Logs Monitoring Tools Tool Description Prometheus and Grafana Prometheus collects metrics, and Grafana visualizes them. Use nginx_exporter to gather Nginx metrics. New Relic Provides detailed data on application performance, including Nginx monitoring. Datadog Offers monitoring with built-in Nginx integrations for real-time analytics. Log Management Technique Description Log Rotation Use tools like logrotate to manage log file sizes and rotation schedules. Centralized Logging Implement ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) to aggregate and analyze logs. Custom Log Formats Customize log formats in Nginx configuration to capture relevant data: log_format custom '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" $status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" "$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"'; Useful commands for Nginx Task Script Update Package Index sudo apt update Install NGINX sudo apt install nginx -y Start NGINX Service sudo systemctl start nginx Enable NGINX on Boot sudo systemctl enable nginx Check NGINX Status sudo systemctl status nginx Restart NGINX Service sudo systemctl restart nginx Stop NGINX Service sudo systemctl stop nginx Reload NGINX Configuration sudo systemctl reload nginx Set Up Firewall sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' Create Basic Configuration echo -e "server {listen 80;server_name example.com;location / {root /var/www/html;}}" > /etc/nginx/sites-available/default Test NGINX Configuration sudo nginx -t Automate Installation and Setup #!/bin/bash\nsudo apt update sudo apt install nginx -y sudo systemctl start nginx sudo systemctl enable nginx sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' Automation Script for Nginx #!/bin/bash # Update package index sudo apt update

# Install NGINX sudo apt install nginx -y

# Start NGINX service sudo systemctl start nginx

# Enable NGINX to start on boot sudo systemctl enable nginx

# Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic through the firewall sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

# Create a basic server block configuration echo -e "server { listen 80; server_name example.com; location / { root /var/www/html; } }" | sudo tee /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

# Test NGINX configuration sudo nginx -t

# Reload NGINX to apply configuration changes sudo systemctl reload nginx FAQs What prerequisites are needed to install NGINX on an EC2 instance? Answer: Ensure you have an AWS account, an EC2 instance set up, and SSH access to the instance.

How do I update my package manager on an EC2 instance? Answer: Use sudo apt update (for Ubuntu) or sudo yum update (for Amazon Linux) before installation.

What command installs NGINX on Ubuntu EC2? Answer: Run sudo apt install nginx .

How can I verify if NGINX is running? Answer: Use sudo systemctl status nginx .

What should I do if NGINX doesn’t start? Answer: Check for permission issues or port conflicts using sudo nginx -t .

Some Additional Considerations Virtual Hosts You must configure virtual hosts within Nginx to host multiple websites on the same server. This allows different content to be served based on the domain name accessed.

Security While the basic setup is a starting point, consider implementing additional security measures, such as setting up a firewall and configuring SSL/TLS certificates for HTTPS encryption.

Advanced Configuration Nginx offers a wide range of features and configuration options. Explore the official Nginx documentation for details on load balancing, caching, and other functionalities.

This guide will provide a holistic overview of configuring and installing Nginx on your EC2 instance. Remember to adapt the configuration to your specific needs and website requirements. By following these steps and exploring further resources, you have exercised Nginx's power and flexibility to host your web applications on the AWS cloud. By the above guide, you can simply install Nginx and Nginx configuration on your machine.