A Configuration Guide

The NGINX configuration file follows a very logical format. Learning this format

and how to use each section is one of the building blocks that will help you to create
a configuration file by hand. This chapter will help you reach that goal by explaining

the following topics:

• Basic configuration format


• NGINX global configuration parameters


• Using include files


• The HTTP server section


• The virtual server section


• Locations – where, when, and how


• The mail server section


• Full sample configuration

The basic configuration format

The basic NGINX configuration file is set up in a number of sections. Each section
is delineated in the following way:

<section> {

<directive> <parameters>;

}

It is important to note that each directive line ends with a semicolon (;). This marks

the end-of-line. The curly braces ({}) actually denote a new configuration context,
but we will read these as "sections" for the most part.