Nginx Config Generator Free Online Tool 2026

Last updated March 22, 2026

Static Website Configuration

Serve a static HTML/CSS/JS site with caching and gzip:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    root /var/www/example.com;
    index index.html;

    # Gzip compression
    gzip on;
    gzip_types text/plain text/css application/javascript application/json image/svg+xml;
    gzip_min_length 1024;

    # Cache static assets
    location ~* \.(css|js|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg|woff2)$ {
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
    }

    # HTML — no cache (for SPA routing)
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
        add_header Cache-Control "no-cache";
    }
}

Reverse Proxy to Node.js Application

Forward requests to a Node.js app running on port 3000:

upstream nodejs_app {
    server 127.0.0.1:3000;
    keepalive 64;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://nodejs_app;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;

        # Pass real client IP
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

        # Required for WebSocket support
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

        # Pass host header for virtual hosting
        proxy_set_header Host $host;

        # Timeouts
        proxy_connect_timeout 60s;
        proxy_send_timeout 60s;
        proxy_read_timeout 60s;
    }
}

SSL/TLS Configuration with Let's Encrypt

HTTPS with modern cipher suites and HSTS:

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    # Let's Encrypt certificates
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem;

    # Modern TLS configuration
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;
    ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
    ssl_session_timeout 1d;

    # HSTS — force HTTPS for 1 year
    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;

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

# Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

Load Balancer Configuration

Distribute traffic across three backend servers:

# Round-robin (default)
upstream backend_pool {
    server 10.0.0.1:8080;
    server 10.0.0.2:8080;
    server 10.0.0.3:8080;
    keepalive 32;
}

# Least connections
upstream backend_least_conn {
    least_conn;
    server 10.0.0.1:8080;
    server 10.0.0.2:8080;
    server 10.0.0.3:8080;
}

# IP hash (sticky sessions)
upstream backend_sticky {
    ip_hash;
    server 10.0.0.1:8080;
    server 10.0.0.2:8080;
    server 10.0.0.3:8080 backup;  # Only used if others are down
}

server {
    listen 80;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://backend_pool;
    }
}

Security Headers

Add security headers to all responses:

server {
    # ...

    # Prevent MIME type sniffing
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;

    # Prevent clickjacking
    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;

    # XSS protection (legacy browsers)
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;

    # Referrer policy
    add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;

    # Content Security Policy
    add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; img-src 'self' data: https:;" always;

    # Permissions policy
    add_header Permissions-Policy "camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=()" always;
}

Rate Limiting

Protect against abuse and brute force attacks:

http {
    # Define rate limit zones
    limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=general:10m rate=10r/s;
    limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=login:10m rate=1r/s;
    limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=api:10m rate=30r/s;

    server {
        # General rate limit with burst allowance
        location / {
            limit_req zone=general burst=20 nodelay;
        }

        # Strict limit on login endpoint
        location /auth/login {
            limit_req zone=login burst=5;
            limit_req_status 429;
        }

        # API rate limit
        location /api/ {
            limit_req zone=api burst=50 nodelay;
        }
    }
}

Multiple Location Blocks

Handle different URL patterns with different configurations:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;
    root /var/www/example.com;

    # Exact match — highest priority
    location = /health {
        return 200 "OK";
        add_header Content-Type text/plain;
    }

    # API requests — proxy to backend
    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
    }

    # Static files — serve directly
    location /static/ {
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
    }

    # Everything else — SPA fallback
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
    }
}

WebSocket Proxy

Proxy WebSocket connections alongside regular HTTP:

map $http_upgrade $connection_upgrade {
    default upgrade;
    ''      close;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name ws.example.com;

    location /ws/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection $connection_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_read_timeout 3600s;  # Keep WebSocket connections open
    }

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
    }
}

Worker Process Tuning

Optimize Nginx for the server's CPU count:

# nginx.conf
worker_processes auto;  # One worker per CPU core
worker_rlimit_nofile 65535;

events {
    worker_connections 1024;  # Per worker process
    use epoll;                # Linux — most efficient I/O model
    multi_accept on;
}

http {
    sendfile on;
    tcp_nopush on;
    tcp_nodelay on;
    keepalive_timeout 65;
    types_hash_max_size 2048;
    server_tokens off;  # Hide Nginx version number
}