Nginx - Basics

🧭 NGINX – Basic Setup + Usage

NGINX is a web server that’s also commonly used as a reverse proxy — a tool to forward requests to services running on your server, like blockchain RPCs, APIs, dashboards, etc.

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🛠️ Step 1: Install NGINX on Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx -y

Check if it’s running:

sudo systemctl status nginx

Start or enable if needed:

sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

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🌐 Step 2: Allow HTTP/HTTPS Ports in Firewall

If you're using ufw, allow necessary ports:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

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🌍 Step 3: Basic Web Server Test

Open your server’s public IP in a browser, you should see the NGINX welcome page:

http://<your-server-ip>

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🔁 Step 4: Using NGINX as Reverse Proxy (for RPC / API)

Let’s say your node’s RPC is running on:

http://localhost:26657

And you want to expose it via:

https://rpc.yourdomain.com

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📁 Create Config File for Subdomain

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/rpc.yourdomain.com

Paste this:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name rpc.yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:26657;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

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🔗 Enable the Site

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/rpc.yourdomain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Then test and reload:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Now open: http://rpc.yourdomain.com

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🔐 Step 5: Add Free SSL (HTTPS) with Certbot

Install Certbot and plugin for NGINX:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Run Certbot:

sudo certbot --nginx

Follow the instructions. Certbot will:

• Automatically get an SSL cert from Let's Encrypt

• Reload NGINX with secure HTTPS

To auto-renew:

sudo systemctl list-timers | grep certbot

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🧪 Other Use Cases for NGINX

Purpose	Example
Expose RPC	rpc.yourdomain.com -> localhost:26657
Expose Explorer	explorer.yourdomain.com -> localhost:3000
Protect with auth	Use auth_basic in config
Rate limit RPC	Use limit_req module
Proxy with HTTPS	Add Certbot SSL on any service/subdomain

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🧠 Tips

• Use separate files in sites-available/ for each service.

• Always test config with: sudo nginx -t

• Reload NGINX after changes: sudo systemctl reload nginx

• Protect sensitive endpoints using IP allowlist or auth

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💡 NGINX makes it easy to manage many services on one VPS. It’s lightweight, powerful, and essential in modern DevOps.

Next → Learn to:

• Set up Basic Authentication

• Add rate limiting to RPC endpoints

• Run multiple subdomains on a single VPS