Step-by-Step NGINX Server Block Setup

Step 1: Install NGINX (if not already installed)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Step 2: Create a Directory for Your Site

This will hold your website’s files.

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/html

Set ownership and permissions:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/example.com/html
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/example.com

Step 3: Add a Sample index.html (optional)

nano /var/www/example.com/html/index.html

Step 4: Create the NGINX Server Block File

Create a new config file in /etc/nginx/sites-available/:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

Paste this configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html index.htm;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }


    # reverse proxy for backend
    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:5000;
        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 5: Enable the Server Block

Create a symlink to sites-enabled:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Step 6: Test NGINX Configuration

sudo nginx -t

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Bonus: Secure with SSL (Optional but Recommended)

Install Certbot and get a free SSL certificate:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com