> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://notes.leetdev.net/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://notes.leetdev.net/ubuntu/nginx-server-configuration/installing-nginx-on-ubuntu-18.04-with-multiple-domains-or-leetdev.md).

# Installing Nginx on Ubuntu 18.04 with Multiple Domains

## 1. Install Nginx

Let’s begin by updating the package lists and installing Nginx on Ubuntu 18.04. Below we have two commands separated by `&&`. The first command will update the package lists to ensure you get the latest version and dependencies for Nginx. The second command will then download and install Nginx.

```
sudo apt update && sudo apt install nginx
```

Once installed, check to see if the Nginx service is running.

```
sudo service nginx status
```

If Nginx is running correctly, you should see a green Active state below.

```
● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Mon 2018-05-14 23:03:47 UTC; 16s ago
     Docs: man:nginx(8)
  Process: 13003 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on; (code=exited, status
  Process: 12994 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t -q -g daemon on; master_process on; (code=exite
 Main PID: 13006 (nginx)
    Tasks: 2 (limit: 1153)
   CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
           ├─13006 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on;
           └─13009 nginx: worker process
```

## 2. Configure Firewall

If you haven’t already done so, it is recommended that you enable the `ufw` firewall and add a rule for Nginx. Before enabling `ufw` firewall, make sure you add a rule for SSH, otherwise you may get locked out of your server if you’re connected remotely.

```
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
```

If you get an error *“ERROR: could find a profile matching openSSH”*, this probably means you are not configuring the server remotely and can ignore it.

Now add a rule for Nginx.

```
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'
```

```
Rule added
Rule added (v6)
```

Enable `ufw` firewall.

```
sudo ufw enable
```

```
Command may disrupt existing ssh connections. Proceed with operation (y|n)? y
Firewall is active and enabled on system startup
```

Now check the firewall status.

```
sudo ufw status
```

```
Status: active

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere
Nginx HTTP                 ALLOW       Anywhere
OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
Nginx HTTP (v6)            ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
```

That’s it! Your Nginx web server on Ubuntu 18.04 should now be ready.

## 4. Test Web Server

Go to your web browser and visit your domain or IP. If you don’t have a domain name yet and don’t know your IP, you can find out with:

```
sudo ifconfig | grep -Eo 'inet (addr:)?([0-9]*\.){3}[0-9]*' | grep -Eo '([0-9]*\.){3}[0-9]*' | grep -v '127.0.0.1'
```

![Welcome to Nginx test page](https://devanswers.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/welcome-to-nginx-test-page.png)

You can find this Nginx default welcome page in the document root directory `/var/www/html`. To edit this file in `nano` text editor:

```
sudo nano /var/www/html/index.html
```

To save and close nano, press `CTRL` + `X` and then press `y` and `ENTER` to save changes.

Your Nginx web server is ready to go. You can now add your own html files and images the the `/var/www/html` directory as you please. However, you should acquaint yourself with and set up at least one **Server Block** for Nginx as most of our Ubuntu 18.04 guides are written with Server Blocks in mind.

Server Blocks allow you to host multiple web sites/domains on one server. Even you only ever intend on hosting one website or one domain, it’s still a good idea to configure at least one Server Block.

## 5. Configure Server Blocks

If you wish to host multiple sites/domains on Nginx, you should now set up your directory structures and Server Blocks. Even if you only want to host one site/domain, it’s a good idea to set up a directory and Server Block now because if you ever need to add a new domain later, it will makes things a lot easier for you.

For the purposes of this guide, we will make a Server Block for **mytest1.com** and another for **mytest2.com**. You can substitute these with your own registered domains, or if you don’t have any domains yet, you can still follow this guide and add **mytest1.com** and **mytest2.com** to your `hosts` file to trick your OS into resolving these domains in the browser. We’ll explain how to do this at the end of the guide.

### 5.1. Create Directories and Set Permissions

Let’s create two new directories in the `/var/www/` directory for our two domains.

```
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/mytest1.com/public_html
```

```
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/mytest2.com/public_html
```

If we want our regular non-root user to be able to modify files in these directories, we must change the ownership.

```
sudo chown -R $(whoami):$(whoami) /var/www/mytest1.com/public_html
```

```
sudo chown -R $(whoami):$(whoami) /var/www/mytest2.com/public_html
```

The `$(whoami)` variable will take the value of the user you are currently logged in as.

We must also make sure the permissions for the general web directory `/var/www` and its contents are set to `755` so that pages can be served correctly.

```
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www
```

### 5.2. Create Test Web Pages

We’ll now create a simple `index.html` web page for each domain using the `echo` command.

Don’t forget to replace **mytest1.com** with your own domain here if you have one.

```
sudo echo "Welcome to mytest1.com!" > /var/www/mytest1.com/public_html/index.html
```

Now do the same for **mytest2.com**.

```
sudo echo "Welcome to mytest2.com!" > /var/www/mytest2.com/public_html/index.html
```

### 5.3 Create the First Server Block

Nginx contains a default server block in `/etc/nginx/sites-available/default` which we can use as a template for our own server blocks.

Copy this file to a new file named after your domain. In this example, **mytest1.com**

```
sudo cp /etc/nginx/sites-available/default /etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest1.com
```

Now edit the file you just copied:

```
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest1.com
```

Scroll down and look for the line `root /var/www/html;`. (You can use `CTRL` + `W` to search).

Change this root to the path of the directory you created earlier. In our example, `/var/www/mytest1.com/public_html`

/etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest1.com

```
root /var/www/mytest1.com/public_html;
```

Now look for the line `server_name _;`. (You can use `CTRL` + `W` to search).

Change this to your domain name. In our example, **mytest1.com**. We will also add **[www](http://www).** here as well.

/etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest1.com

```
server_name mytest1.com www.mytest1.com;
```

Save and close nano (Press `CTRL` + `X` and then press `y` and `ENTER` to save changes)

Ensure the Nginx config file syntax is valid before continuing to the next step. If there is an error in your syntax and you restart Nginx, you can crash the web server.

```
sudo nginx -t
```

If syntax is valid you should see:

```
nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
```

### 5.4 Create the Second Server Block

We will now create a server block for our other domain name, in this example, **mytest2.com**.

The only difference between this step and the last is the removal of `default_server` from the `listen` directive in the config file. You can only have one `default_server` – if you have two, the web server will not start.

Firstly, let’s copy the default server block in `/etc/nginx/sites-available/default`. Copy this file to a new file named after your domain. In this example, **mytest2.com**

```
sudo cp /etc/nginx/sites-available/default /etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest2.com
```

Now edit the file you just copied.

```
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest2.com
```

Scroll down to the `listen` directive.

/etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest2.com

```
        listen 80 default_server;
        listen [::]:80 default_server;
```

Only one server block can have the `default_server` specification. This tells Nginx which block to revert to if the `server_name` requested does not match any of the available server blocks.

Remove `default_server` from the `listen` directive so it looks likes this.

/etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest2.com

```
        listen 80;
        listen [::]:80;
```

Next, scroll down and look for the line `root /var/www/html;`. (You can use `CTRL` + `W` to search).

Change this root to the path of the directory you created earlier. In our example, `/var/www/mytest2.com/public_html`

/etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest2.com

```
root /var/www/mytest2.com/public_html;
```

Now look for the line `server_name _;`. (You can use `CTRL` + `W` to search).

Change this to your domain name. In our example, **myest2.com**. We will also add **[www](http://www).** here as well.

/etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest2.com

```
server_name mytest2.com www.mytest2.com;
```

Save and close nano (Press `CTRL` + `X` and then press `y` and `ENTER` to save changes)

Ensure the Nginx config file syntax is valid before continuing to the next step. If there is an error in your syntax and you restart Nginx, you can crash the web server.

```
sudo nginx -t
```

If syntax is valid you should see:

```
nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
```

## 6. Create Symbolic Links

We will now create symbolic links from the `sites-available` directory to the `sites-enabled` directory, which Nginx reads during startup. Be sure to replace **mytest1.com** and **mytest2.com** with your own domains if you have them.

```
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest1.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
```

```
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/mytest2.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
```

We also have to remove the symbolic link for the default server block, otherwise it will interfere with our two new ones.

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

Now restart Nginx.

```
sudo service nginx restart
```

## 7. Test Nginx

Assuming you have already configured DNS on your domain registrar to point your domains to the IP of your Nginx server, you should now be able to view these test web pages in the browser. If you don’t have any domains and just want to test **mytest1.com** and **mytest2.com**, continue to the next step.

![Nginx web page test](https://devanswers.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/apache-test-page-ubuntu-18-04.png)

## 8. Edit Hosts file (optional)

If you do not have any domains registered and instead just want to load **mytest1.com** and **mytest2.com** as a test, you can edit the hosts file in your OS to point these domains to your server.

To edit hosts file , run `sudo nano /etc/hosts`.

hosts

```
x.x.x.x mytest1.com
x.x.x.x mytest2.com
```

Replace `x.x.x.x` with your web server’s IP.

If you don’t know your web server’s IP, you can find out with:

```
sudo ifconfig | grep -Eo 'inet (addr:)?([0-9]*\.){3}[0-9]*' | grep -Eo '([0-9]*\.){3}[0-9]*' | grep -v '127.0.0.1'
```

Once you’ve saved you hosts file, you should be able to access **mytest1.com** and **mytest2.com** in your browser.

##