Nginx

Reverse proxy, TLS termination and static files.

Nginx is taught here in 13 lessons, running from Server blocks and static files through to nginx in containers and as a Kubernetes ingress. Each lesson takes one topic, shows the working code, and links onward to the next, so the course can be read straight through in order.

Lessons

1. Server blocks and static filesHow nginx chooses a virtual host, how root and alias resolve a path, and how to reload a config safely.
2. Reverse proxy and TLSPut an application behind nginx, forward the headers it needs, and terminate HTTPS in one place.
3. Caching, compression and trapsCache responses safely, compress the right things, and recognise the configuration mistakes that cause most incidents.
4. Installing nginx and understanding the configuration layoutPackage and source installs, the main, events and http contexts, conf.d versus sites-available, include order, and testing and reloading safely.
5. How nginx matches a request: locations and rewrite phasesExact, prefix and regex location precedence, the order of the rewrite and access phases, return versus rewrite, and a method for reading an unfamiliar config.
6. Rewrites, redirects and try_filesReturn 301 and 302, rewrite flags last and break, try_files for single-page apps and fallbacks, trailing slash normalisation, and diagnosing redirect loops.
7. TLS hardening and certificates with Let's EncryptCertificate chains, modern protocol and cipher choices, session caching, OCSP stapling, HSTS, and automated issuance and renewal with certbot.
8. Load balancing and upstreamsUpstream blocks, round-robin, least_conn and ip_hash, weights, backup servers, passive and active health checks, and draining a node without dropping requests.
9. Rate limiting, access control and security headerslimit_req and limit_conn with burst and nodelay, allow and deny rules, basic auth, blocking bad clients, and the headers that reduce real risk.
10. WebSockets, gRPC and streaming responsesUpgrade headers for long-lived sockets, timeouts and buffering for streaming, gRPC proxying with HTTP/2, and disabling buffering for server-sent events.
11. Logging, metrics and debugging a configCustom log formats, structured JSON access logs, error log levels, request IDs, stub_status metrics, and isolating a problem by bisecting the config.
12. Performance tuning: workers, buffers and timeoutsWorker processes and connections, sendfile and tcp_nopush, buffer sizing, keepalive timeouts, file descriptor limits, and how to benchmark a change.
13. nginx in containers and as a Kubernetes ingressConfigure with templates and environment variables, run as a non-root user, use the ingress controller, and understand annotations and canary routing.

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