Nginx Cheat Sheet

Last Updated: November 21, 2025

Basic Commands

nginx -t
Test configuration
nginx -s reload
Reload configuration
nginx -s stop
Stop server
nginx -s quit
Graceful shutdown
systemctl start nginx
Start nginx (systemd)
systemctl status nginx
Check status

Basic Server Block

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    root /var/www/html;
    index index.html index.htm;

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

    # Static files caching
    location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|ico|css|js)$ {
        expires 30d;
    }
}

Reverse Proxy

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        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;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
}

SSL/HTTPS

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name example.com;

    ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;

    # Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}
💡 Pro Tip: Always test config with nginx -t before reloading!
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