Installing and Configuring Nginx on Ubuntu 22.04

Nginx has become my go-to web server whenever I need something fast, reliable, and easy to scale. In this article I’ll show you how I install and configure it on a fresh Ubuntu 22.04 server—from the first package update to serving a custom site securely.

Prerequisites

Ubuntu 22.04 server with SSH access
sudo user (or root)
Domain name pointed at the server (optional, but handy for the later steps)
Firewall configured to allow SSH—UFW, firewalld, or your cloud provider’s ruleset all work

Step 1 — Update the server

I start every server session with a quick package refresh to pull in the latest security patches:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

When the upgrade step asks to continue, I confirm with Y.

Step 2 — Install Nginx

Ubuntu’s repositories already ship Nginx, so the install is one command away:

sudo apt install nginx

The systemd service kicks off automatically. You can verify it:

sudo systemctl status nginx

If everything went well you’ll see "active (running)". Hit q to leave the status view.

Step 3 — Adjust the firewall

If you rely on UFW, allow the Nginx Full application profile so HTTP/HTTPS traffic is accepted:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

Unsure about the current state? sudo ufw status gives you the list of active rules. Feel free to skip this if you’re using a different firewall.

Step 4 — Test the default site

Nginx ships with a landing page. Grab the server’s IP:

hostname -I

Paste it into your browser; you should land on the "Welcome to nginx!" placeholder.

Prefer cURL? This works too:

curl -I http://your_server_ip

You’re looking for a 200 OK in the return headers.

Step 5 — Create your own site

The default placeholder isn’t helpful for long. I favor a separate root folder per site:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/html
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/example.com/html
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/example.com

Swap example.com for your domain or any identifier (you can use myproject). Add a quick test page:

cat <<'HTML' > /var/www/example.com/html/index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>It works!</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Nginx is serving my site 🎉</h1>
  </body>
</html>
HTML

Step 6 — Define an Nginx server block

Nginx lets us keep configurations tidy through server blocks. Create one for your site:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

Drop this configuration (again, replace the domain and the root path if needed):

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log  /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Save and exit (Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X in nano).

Enable the site by linking it into sites-enabled:

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

To keep things clean, remove the default site unless you need it:

sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

Step 7 — Validate the configuration and reload

Nginx includes a linting command. I always run it before reloading:

sudo nginx -t

If it says "test is successful," apply the changes:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Refreshing the browser should now show the custom page we made earlier.

Step 8 — (Optional) Secure it with Let’s Encrypt

If your domain resolves to the server, Let’s Encrypt can issue a free TLS certificate.

Install Certbot and the Nginx plugin:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Request a certificate:

sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com

Certbot updates your server block, requests HTTPS, and sets an automatic renewal timer. You can simulate the renewal job to be sure:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Step 9 — Know the common maintenance commands

Here are the systemctl commands I keep handy:

# Check status
sudo systemctl status nginx

# Restart (useful after module or config changes)
sudo systemctl restart nginx

# Stop or start (rare, but good to know)
sudo systemctl stop nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

# Enable Nginx at boot (usually already set)
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Logs live in /var/log/nginx. Use tail -f to inspect them in real time.

Wrapping up

That’s the workflow I follow whenever I provision a new Ubuntu 22.04 box:

Update the server
Install Nginx
Punch through the firewall
Serve a custom site from /var/www
Optionally secure it with Let’s Encrypt
Keep the service healthy with systemctl + logs

If you run into issues (think "403 Forbidden" or "502 Bad Gateway"), the Nginx error log usually points to the exact file or upstream service that needs attention. Happy hosting!