Nginx Change Default Document Root
Overview
Nginx is one of the most popular web servers in the world and is used by millions of people to host their websites. It is a powerful and flexible web server which allows you to customize it to fit your exact needs. One of the features that Nginx offers is the ability to change the default document root. This can be very useful if you want to serve different content from different directories or if you want to move your website’s files to a different location on the server. In this article, we will discuss how to change the default document root in Nginx.
What is Nginx?
Nginx is an open source web server created by Igor Sysoev in 2002. It is a high-performance web server which can be used to serve static and dynamic content. Nginx handles very high traffic volumes and is known for its low memory usage. It is also very fast and has a low response time, which makes it a great choice for high performance websites. Nginx also offers several advanced features such as caching, load balancing, and SSL support.
Default Document Root
The default document root is the directory where web pages, images, and other files for a website are stored on the server. In Nginx, the default document root is set to the directory “/var/www/html”. This means that if you request a file from the URL “http://example.com/myfile.html”, the server will look for the file “myfile.html” in the “/var/www/html” directory on the server. If the file is not found in this directory, Nginx will return a 404 error.
Changing the Default Document Root in Nginx
Nginx allows you to change the default document root if you need to. You can do this by modifying the “http” configuration block in the Nginx configuration file. The location of the configuration file varies depending on the version of Nginx you are using. For example, in Nginx 1.10, the location of the configuration file is “/etc/nginx/nginx.conf”. Once you have located the configuration file, open it in a text editor and find the “http” configuration block. In this block, you will find the “root” directive which specifies the document root. Here, you can specify the directory you wish to use as the default document root. For example, if you wanted to use the “/var/www/mywebsite/” directory as the document root, you would set the “root” directive to “/var/www/mywebsite/”.
Test Your Configuration
Once you have changed the document root, you will need to test your configuration to make sure that everything is working correctly. You can do this by restarting Nginx and then running the “nginx -t” command to check the syntax of your configuration. If you see any errors, you will need to fix them before restarting Nginx again. Once you have verified that there are no errors in the configuration, you can restart Nginx and the new document root will be in effect.
Using Multiple Document Roots in Nginx
Nginx also allows you to specify multiple document roots. This can be useful if you need to serve different content from different directories or if you want to move your website’s files to a different location on the server. To do this, you will need to add additional “root” directives to the “http” configuration block. For example, if you wanted to serve content from the “/var/www/mywebsite/” directory, you would add a “root” directive with a value of “/var/www/mywebsite/”. You can then specify the locations for which this document root should be used using the “location” directive.
Conclusion
In this article, we have discussed how to change the default document root in Nginx. We have also discussed how to use multiple document roots in Nginx, which can be useful for serving different content from different directories or for moving your website’s files to a different location on the server. If you need any help with changing the default document root or using multiple document roots, please feel free to contact us.
FAQs
-
What is the default document root for Nginx?
The default document root for Nginx is the directory “/var/www/html”.
-
How do I change the default document root in Nginx?
You can change the default document root in Nginx by modifying the “root” directive in the “http” configuration block of the Nginx configuration file.
-
Can I use multiple document roots in Nginx?
Yes, you can use multiple document roots in Nginx by adding additional “root” directives to the “http” configuration block.
Thank you for reading this article. For more information on web hosting topics, please read our other articles.
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