Install Varnish Ubuntu 16.04 Nginx


Install Varnish Ubuntu 16.04 Nginx

What is Varnish?

Varnish is a web application accelerator which is also known as a caching HTTP reverse proxy. It’s much faster than traditional web servers like Apache because it caches static pages. When a request is made for a page, Varnish will first check its cache to see if there is a version of the page already stored. If so, it will serve the version from the cache, making the entire process faster. Varnish works with the web server to provide faster page loading times and reduce the strain on the server.

Varnish is an open source software, so it is free to download and use. It is also highly configurable allowing you to customize your configuration to best suit your needs. Varnish works with most web servers including Apache, Nginx, and Lighttpd.

Why Install Varnish on Ubuntu?

Installing Varnish on Ubuntu 16.04 is a great choice because of its speed and flexibility. Varnish is known for its speed and it can help your web server respond to requests faster. It is also easier to setup than other caching proxies which can be a time-saving benefit. Additionally, if you are already using an Apache or Nginx web server, setting up Varnish to work with it is relatively easy.

Installing Varnish on Ubuntu 16.04

Before you start, you will need to have a web server installed and running on your system. In this guide, we will be using Nginx. Once you have your web server running, you can begin to install Varnish.

The first step is to install the software. You can do this with the apt package manager:

sudo apt-get install varnish

Next, you need to enable the varnish service to run on your system. You can do this with the following command:

sudo systemctl enable varnish

Once the varnish service is enabled, you need to configure it to work with your web server. To do this, you need to edit the /etc/varnish/default.vcl file. This file contains the configuration details for varnish and you can edit it to change the settings. The most important setting is the backend, which sets the IP address and port of your web server.

Once you have edited the configuration file, you can start the varnish service with the following command:

sudo systemctl start varnish

Configuring Nginx

Now that you have Varnish running on your system, you need to configure your web server to work with it. In this guide, we will be using Nginx. To configure Nginx to work with Varnish, you need to edit the /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default file. This file contains the configuration details for Nginx and you need to add the following lines:

  • proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
  • proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr;
  • proxy_set_header Host $host;
  • proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
  • proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:6081;

These lines tell Nginx to forward all requests to port 6081 on the local machine, where Varnish is running. Once you have added these lines, you can save the file and restart Nginx for the changes to take effect:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Testing Varnish

Once Varnish is up and running, you can test it by making a request to your website. If everything is configured correctly, you should see the page load faster. Additionally, you can check the log files to see if Varnish is working correctly:

tail /var/log/varnish/varnish.log

Conclusion & FAQs

Varnish is a great tool for speeding up web applications. When configured correctly, it can dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes for pages to load. It is easy to set up and configure on Ubuntu 16.04 and can be used with most web servers to provide better performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Can I use Varnish on other web servers? Yes, Varnish can be used with most web servers. The configuration settings may differ, but the basics remain the same.
  • How much faster is Varnish than regular web servers? It depends on the configuration, but Varnish can often reduce page loading times by 50-80%.
  • Is Varnish free? Yes, Varnish is open source software and is available for free.

Thank you for reading this article. Please check out some of our other articles for more information.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *