In this tutorial, we will build Nginx with all available modules in the open-source version of Nginx.
NGINX can be used as an HTTP/HTTPS server, reverse proxy server, mail proxy server, load balancer, TLS terminator, or caching server.
Initial Steps
Update system.
# dnf update # cat /etc/redhat-release CentOS Linux release 8.1.1911 (Core)
Build NGINX from source
Install “Development Tools” .
# dnf groupinstall 'Development Tools'
Install Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL).
# dnf install epel-release
Download the latest NGINX source code and untar it.
# wget https://nginx.org/download/nginx-1.17.8.tar.gz && tar zxvf nginx-1.17.8.tar.gz
Download the mandatory NGINX dependencies source code and untar them.
# PCRE version 8.44 # wget https://ftp.pcre.org/pub/pcre/pcre-8.44.tar.gz && tar zxvf pcre-8.44.tar.gz # zlib version 1.2.11 # wget https://www.zlib.net/zlib-1.2.11.tar.gz && tar xzvf zlib-1.2.11.tar.gz # OpenSSL version 1.1.1d # wget https://www.openssl.org/source/openssl-1.1.1d.tar.gz && tar zxvf openssl-1.1.1d.tar.gz
Install optional Nginx dependencies.
# dnf install perl perl-devel perl-ExtUtils-Embed libxslt libxslt-devel libxml2 libxml2-devel gd gd-devel GeoIP GeoIP-devel
Enter the Nginx source directory.
# cd nginx-1.17.8/
Configure, compile and install NGINX.
./configure --prefix=/etc/nginx \ --sbin-path=/usr/sbin/nginx \ --modules-path=/usr/lib64/nginx/modules \ --conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf \ --error-log-path=/var/log/nginx/error.log \ --pid-path=/var/run/nginx.pid \ --lock-path=/var/run/nginx.lock \ --user=nginx \ --group=nginx \ --build=CentOS \ --builddir=nginx-1.17.8 \ --with-select_module \ --with-poll_module \ --with-threads \ --with-file-aio \ --with-http_ssl_module \ --with-http_v2_module \ --with-http_realip_module \ --with-http_addition_module \ --with-http_xslt_module=dynamic \ --with-http_image_filter_module=dynamic \ --with-http_geoip_module=dynamic \ --with-http_sub_module \ --with-http_dav_module \ --with-http_flv_module \ --with-http_mp4_module \ --with-http_gunzip_module \ --with-http_gzip_static_module \ --with-http_auth_request_module \ --with-http_random_index_module \ --with-http_secure_link_module \ --with-http_degradation_module \ --with-http_slice_module \ --with-http_stub_status_module \ --with-http_perl_module=dynamic \ --with-perl_modules_path=/usr/lib64/perl5 \ --with-perl=/usr/bin/perl \ --http-log-path=/var/log/nginx/access.log \ --http-client-body-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/client_temp \ --http-proxy-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/proxy_temp \ --http-fastcgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/fastcgi_temp \ --http-uwsgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/uwsgi_temp \ --http-scgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/scgi_temp \ --with-mail=dynamic \ --with-mail_ssl_module \ --with-stream=dynamic \ --with-stream_ssl_module \ --with-stream_realip_module \ --with-stream_geoip_module=dynamic \ --with-stream_ssl_preread_module \ --with-compat \ --with-pcre=../pcre-8.44 \ --with-pcre-jit \ --with-zlib=../zlib-1.2.11 \ --with-openssl=../openssl-1.1.1d \ --with-openssl-opt=no-nextprotoneg \ --with-debug # make # make install
Symlink /usr/lib64/nginx/modules to /etc/nginx/modules directory, so that you can load dynamic modules in Nginx configuration like this load_module modules/ngx_foo_module.so;
# ln -s /usr/lib64/nginx/modules /etc/nginx/modules
Check NGINX version and installed modules.
# nginx -V nginx version: nginx/1.17.8 (CentOS) built by gcc 8.3.1 20190507 (Red Hat 8.3.1-4) (GCC) built with OpenSSL 1.1.1d 10 Sep 2019 TLS SNI support enabled configure arguments: --prefix=/etc/nginx --sbin-path=/usr/sbin/nginx --modules-path=/usr/lib64/nginx/modules --conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf --error-log-path=/var/log/nginx/error.log --pid-path=/var/run/nginx.pid --lock-path=/var/run/nginx.lock --user=nginx --group=nginx --build=CentOS --builddir=nginx-1.17.8 --with-select_module --with-poll_module --with-threads --with-file-aio --with-http_ssl_module --with-http_v2_module --with-http_realip_module --with-http_addition_module --with-http_xslt_module=dynamic --with-http_image_filter_module=dynamic --with-http_geoip_module=dynamic --with-http_sub_module --with-http_dav_module --with-http_flv_module --with-http_mp4_module --with-http_gunzip_module --with-http_gzip_static_module --with-http_auth_request_module --with-http_random_index_module --with-http_secure_link_module --with-http_degradation_module --with-http_slice_module --with-http_stub_status_module --with-http_perl_module=dynamic --with-perl_modules_path=/usr/lib64/perl5 --with-perl=/usr/bin/perl --http-log-path=/var/log/nginx/access.log --http-client-body-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/client_temp --http-proxy-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/proxy_temp --http-fastcgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/fastcgi_temp --http-uwsgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/uwsgi_temp --http-scgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/scgi_temp --with-mail=dynamic --with-mail_ssl_module --with-stream=dynamic --with-stream_ssl_module --with-stream_realip_module --with-stream_geoip_module=dynamic --with-stream_ssl_preread_module --with-compat --with-pcre=../pcre-8.44 --with-pcre-jit --with-zlib=../zlib-1.2.11 --with-openssl=../openssl-1.1.1d --with-openssl-opt=no-nextprotoneg --with-debug
Create Nginx system group and user.
# useradd --system --home /var/cache/nginx --shell /sbin/nologin --comment "nginx user" --user-group nginx
Сreate directory.
# mkdir -p /var/cache/nginx
Check syntax and potential errors.
# nginx -t nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
Create Nginx systemd unit file.
# nano /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service
Copy the next to it.
[Unit]
Description=nginx - high performance web server
Documentation=https://nginx.org/en/docs/
After=network-online.target remote-fs.target nss-lookup.target
Wants=network-online.target
[Service]
Type=forking
PIDFile=/var/run/nginx.pid
ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
ExecReload=/bin/kill -s HUP $MAINPID
ExecStop=/bin/kill -s TERM $MAINPID
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Start and enable the NGINX service.
# systemctl start nginx.service && sudo systemctl enable nginx.service
Check if NGINX is running.
# systemctl status nginx.service ● nginx.service - nginx - high performance web server Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled) Active: active (running) since Tue 2020-02-18 10:14:54 CET; 1min 5s ago Docs: https://nginx.org/en/docs/ Main PID: 30581 (nginx) Tasks: 2 (limit: 24434) Memory: 1.7M CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service ├─30581 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf └─30582 nginx: worker process Feb 18 10:14:54 uni systemd[1]: Starting nginx - high performance web server... Feb 18 10:14:54 uni nginx[30578]: nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok Feb 18 10:14:54 uni nginx[30578]: nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful Feb 18 10:14:54 uni systemd[1]: Started nginx - high performance web server.
You can open your browser and enter your domain/IP address to see the default Nginx page.
Now, you have the latest version of Nginx installed by building it from source code.