Install Nginx on Ubuntu/Debian (Official Stable)

From installation to production-ready deployment.

Applies to: Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04, Debian 11/12

Goal: Install the latest stable Nginx from the official repository and configure firewall rules.

1. Update System and Install Prerequisites

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y curl gnupg2 ca-certificates lsb-release ubuntu-keyring

2. Add Official Nginx Repository

echo "deb http://nginx.org/packages/mainline/ubuntu `lsb_release -cs` nginx" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx.list
curl -fsSL https://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/nginx.gpg > /dev/null

3. Install Nginx

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nginx
nginx -v

4. Start and Enable Nginx

sudo systemctl enable --now nginx
sudo systemctl status nginx --no-pager

5. Configure Firewall (UFW)

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
sudo ufw reload
sudo ufw status

6. Basic Availability Check

curl -I http://127.0.0.1
sudo ss -tulpen | grep ':80'

Visit http://your-server-ip in browser. If you see the Nginx welcome page, installation succeeded.

7. Common Management Commands

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx
sudo systemctl restart nginx
sudo systemctl stop nginx

8. Important Paths

/etc/nginx/nginx.conf: Main configuration file
/etc/nginx/sites-available/: Site configurations
/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/: Enabled sites (symlinks)
/var/www/html: Default web root
/var/log/nginx/: Access and error logs