NGINX projects/web server projects?

System Administration
1

I want to implement most of the flags of nginx. I really want to. I learnt nginx a year ago.
I hosted my static site with nginx. I feel I know a lot but it's not confident about it.
Can anyone give me homeworks related to nginx, step by step.

For example:

  • harden nginx server(However Idk security testing to verify if my server is hardened)
  • install ssl(I know it already)
  • configure reverse proxy(I know)
  • configure log level to include real ipv4 address(i know)
    What more to do?Can anyone give me some assignments? Is there something like RHCSA but for nginx?

Currently going through this list.
{ Admin removed link spam }

2

Your question @Ihattaren is a "made for ChatGPT" question which is well suited for generative AI.

So, I did it for you by simply making your post a ChatGPT prompt :slight_smile:

ChatGPT Reply

Here are some assignments to help you deepen your knowledge of nginx:

1. Harden nginx Server

  • Task: Implement security best practices in nginx.
  • Details:
    • Disable server tokens to hide nginx version.
    • Implement rate limiting to prevent DDoS attacks.
    • Set up access control to restrict access by IP address.
    • Add security headers like X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, and Content-Security-Policy.
    • Verify with tools like securityheaders.io or Mozilla Observatory.

2. Set Up HTTP/2

  • Task: Configure nginx to serve content over HTTP/2.
  • Details:
    • Enable HTTP/2 in your server block.
    • Ensure SSL is configured, as HTTP/2 requires SSL.
    • Test with tools like KeyCDN’s HTTP/2 Test.

3. Configure nginx as a Load Balancer

  • Task: Use nginx to load balance traffic across multiple backend servers.
  • Details:
    • Set up a basic round-robin load balancer.
    • Implement session persistence (sticky sessions).
    • Experiment with different load balancing algorithms (least connections, IP hash).
    • Test the setup using stress-testing tools like ApacheBench or Siege.

4. Implement Caching

  • Task: Configure nginx to cache static and dynamic content.
  • Details:
    • Set up a proxy_cache to cache responses from upstream servers.
    • Configure fastcgi_cache for caching responses from PHP-FPM or other FastCGI servers.
    • Fine-tune cache expiration and purging policies.
    • Test the effectiveness with tools like curl or httperf.

5. Optimize Performance

  • Task: Tune nginx for high performance.
  • Details:
    • Configure gzip compression to reduce response size.
    • Set up asynchronous file handling using sendfile, tcp_nopush, and tcp_nodelay.
    • Increase worker processes and connections to match server capacity.
    • Test using benchmarking tools like wrk or ab.

6. Configure nginx as a Reverse Proxy with SSL Termination

  • Task: Set up nginx to handle SSL termination for a backend application.
  • Details:
    • Configure SSL in nginx while serving content from a backend application server.
    • Set up appropriate headers like X-Forwarded-For and X-Forwarded-Proto.
    • Test using curl or browser dev tools to verify SSL and header configurations.

7. Set Up and Customize Log Formats

  • Task: Create custom log formats in nginx.
  • Details:
    • Customize logs to include additional details like request time, upstream response time, and bytes sent.
    • Set up separate error and access logs for different domains or server blocks.
    • Analyze logs using goaccess or other log analysis tools.

8. Implement Failover Mechanism

  • Task: Configure nginx to handle failover between multiple backend servers.
  • Details:
    • Set up a primary and secondary upstream server.
    • Configure health checks to automatically failover when the primary server is down.
    • Test by taking down the primary server and observing the failover process.

9. Configure nginx with WAF (Web Application Firewall)

  • Task: Set up a basic Web Application Firewall with nginx.
  • Details:
    • Install and configure ModSecurity or NAXSI with nginx.
    • Apply basic rules to protect against common vulnerabilities like SQL injection, XSS, etc.
    • Test using web vulnerability scanners like OWASP ZAP or Burp Suite.

10. Set Up nginx for Multi-Domain Hosting

  • Task: Host multiple domains using a single nginx instance.
  • Details:
    • Configure server blocks for different domains.
    • Set up SSL for each domain with separate certificates.
    • Implement SNI (Server Name Indication) for handling multiple SSL certificates on a single IP.
    • Test using different domain requests to ensure correct site serving.

Resources:

  • Books: nginx: A Practical Guide to High Performance by Owen Garrett.
  • Courses: Consider taking more advanced nginx courses on platforms like Coursera, Udemy, or Pluralsight.
  • Certifications: While there isn’t a specific RHCSA-like certification for nginx, you might consider broader DevOps or Linux certifications that include nginx as part of the curriculum.

These tasks should give you a comprehensive understanding of nginx and prepare you for more advanced configurations and scenarios.

ChatGPT Reference: NGINX projects / web server projects?

@Ihattaren , I highly recommend ChatGPT for these types of non-specific, general questions which are easily generated by today's genAI puppies.

1 Like
3

Didn't know chatgpt was this good at this

4

Now you know.

It is important for you @Ihattaren to learn (1) what kind of questions can easily be answered by Google'ing and doing your own research first (which is actually a rule of our forum, if you read them) and (2) what kind of questions are easily answered by generative AI methods (which is basically just a fashionable automated -search-the-net-and-summarize-nicely process) and (3) the type of questions where you have already done your required research and Google nor ChatGPT or other genAIs can help you because it requires human expert knowledge.

I have noticed that you do not understand this concept well, yet; because you did not even know that ChatGPT can easily answer your original question.

On another note, as a reminder to all, if you use Google or ChatGPT to answer questions, please reference the sites you use and do not Google-for-answers and represent those answers as your own knowledge. The same is true for generative AI - do not use gen AI bots to create answers and post any of that content here without attribution to the generative AI used.

Thanks!

Reference:

However, I need to modify the rules for generative AI, which I will do when I have time.

Thanks

1 Like