Multiple Block Server With Same Port In Nginx Configuration


Multiple Block Server With Same Port In Nginx Configuration

Introduction to Multiple Server Block

Nginx is an extremely powerful and useful web server. One of its most powerful features is its ability to run multiple server blocks on the same port with different domain names. This feature allows developers to create multiple server blocks for different websites, without changing the underlying port configurations. Doing so can greatly reduce the configuration overhead and make maintenance easier. In this article, we will discuss how to configure multiple server blocks with same port in Nginx.

Configure Multiple Server blocks with same port

The first step in configuring multiple server blocks with same port is to open the Nginx configuration file. This file is usually located in the /etc/nginx/ directory, and its name is usually nginx.conf. From within the file, you will need to define two server blocks with different domains for each one. The syntax should look something like this:


http {
server {
listen 80;
server_name www.example1.com;
...
}
server {
listen 80;
server_name www.example2.com;
...
}
}

The above code shows two server blocks, each one listening on port 80, with a different domain name defined for each one. Now it’s time to configure the actual server blocks. This is done by adding directives inside each of the two server blocks.

For example, you can set up different document root directories for each server block, as follows:


http {
server {
listen 80;
server_name www.example1.com;
root /var/www/example1;
...
}
server {
listen 80;
server_name www.example2.com;
root /var/www/example2;
...
}
}

Here, the first server block has a document root directory of /var/www/example1, while the second server block has a document root directory of /var/www/example2. Depending on the domain name requested by the client, Nginx will serve files from the corresponding directory.

Apart from setting up the document root directory, you can also configure other settings for each server block, such as the proxy_pass directive, the rewrite rules, and so on.

Once you have finished configuring the server blocks with the desired settings, you should save the configuration file and reload or restart Nginx to activate the changes.

Nginx Server Block Parameters

In addition to configuring the document root directory, you can also configure other more specific settings for each server block. These settings are specified by making use of several server block parameters, such as:

  • server_name: this is the main parameter used to differentiate the server blocks. It defines the domain name that will be associated with the given server block.
  • listen: this sets the port number on which Nginx listens for incoming requests. By default, it is set to port 80.
  • root: this is the document root directory. It defines the directory where Nginx will look for files requested by clients.
  • proxy_pass: this is used to set up a proxy server, which can be used to forward requests to another server.
  • location: this is used to set up rules for handling requests for specific locations in the file system.
  • rewrite: this is used to set up URL rewriting rules in order to redirect requests to different pages.

These parameters can be used to further customize the configuration for each server block.

FAQs

Q1. How does Nginx decide which server block to respond to?

Nginx uses the server_name parameter to decide which server block to respond to. If a request matches the domain specified in the server_name parameter, Nginx will respond with the settings found in that server block. This means that different settings can be configured for different domain names.

Q2. Do I need to restart Nginx after making changes to the configuration file?

Yes, you need to restart Nginx after making changes to the configuration file in order for these changes to take effect.

Q3. Can I run multiple server blocks on different ports?

Yes, it is possible to run multiple server blocks on different ports. The syntax for this is slightly different from the one used for multiple server blocks on same port.

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed how to configure multiple server blocks with same port in Nginx. We have also covered some of the parameters used to further customize the server blocks, such as the listen, root, proxy_pass, location, and rewrite parameters. Finally, we have also briefly answered some common questions related to this topic.

Thank you for reading this article. Please read our other articles for more information about Nginx configurations.

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