trimstray/nginx-admins-handbook

★ 14,147ShellAudience · ops devopsComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Nginx Handbook))
    What it does
      Nginx reference
      Security hardening
      Performance tuning
    Chapters
      HTTP fundamentals
      Config concepts
      Common pitfalls
    Bonus Materials
      Cheat sheets
      Helper scripts
      Tool list
    Audience
      Sysadmins
      DevOps engineers

mindmap root((Nginx Handbook)) What it does Nginx reference Security hardening Performance tuning Chapters HTTP fundamentals Config concepts Common pitfalls Bonus Materials Cheat sheets Helper scripts Tool list Audience Sysadmins DevOps engineers

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Harden an Nginx server by following the security chapter's step-by-step recommendations for headers, TLS, and access controls.

USE CASE 2

Tune Nginx worker processes, connection limits, and buffer sizes for high-traffic production workloads.

USE CASE 3

Use the printable security cheat sheet as a quick reference when setting up a new Nginx instance.

USE CASE 4

Look up common Nginx configuration mistakes in the pitfalls chapter to avoid breaking your setup.

Tech stack

NginxShellLinux

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Assumes comfort with a Linux terminal and reading Nginx configuration files, not a beginner intro to web servers.

MIT License, free to use, share, and modify for any purpose including commercial use.

In plain English

This repository is a detailed reference handbook for people who run or configure Nginx, a widely used web server. Nginx sits between users and web applications, handling incoming requests, routing traffic, serving files, and managing connections. The handbook covers how to set it up correctly, how to make it perform well, and how to harden it against security problems. The author describes it as personal notes on administration basics, tips, caveats, and gotchas collected over time. It is organized as a long document split into several chapters: HTTP fundamentals, Nginx architecture and configuration concepts, performance tuning, security hardening, and common pitfalls. Each section goes into practical depth, explaining the reasoning behind recommendations rather than just listing commands to run. Along with the written content, the repository includes bonus materials: printable cheat sheets for security hardening, a script to generate clean error pages, a tool to parse server name configurations, and a curated list of external books, tools, and resources for further reading. There are references to configuration analysis tools, log analysis tools, benchmarking tools, and testing tools. The handbook is aimed at system administrators and developers who already have some familiarity with running web servers. It does not assume expert knowledge of Nginx specifically, but it does assume comfort working in a Linux terminal and reading configuration files. The project is open source under the MIT license and accepts contributions. The full README is longer than what was shown.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I am configuring Nginx as a reverse proxy with TLS. Using the nginx-admins-handbook as a reference, show me a hardened server block with strong cipher suites, HSTS, and security headers.

Prompt 2

My Nginx server is slow under load. Based on the performance tuning chapter in nginx-admins-handbook, which worker_processes, worker_connections, and buffer settings should I tune first?

Prompt 3

Show me an Nginx configuration that blocks common attack patterns like directory traversal in the URL, following the handbook's security recommendations.

Prompt 4

How do I configure Nginx to serve a static site with gzip compression, browser caching headers, and HTTP/2 enabled, following the handbook guidance?

Prompt 5

I need to rate-limit login requests in Nginx to prevent brute-force attacks. Show me the limit_req_zone and limit_req directives to allow 5 attempts per minute per IP.

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