How To Install Nginx on Ubuntu 20.04 Easily

Nginx is a lightweight open-source web server. According to w3tech, Nginx is used by 34.0% of all websites. Many high-traffic websites use Nginx. It is the most popular web server because it is lightweight and works as a reverse proxy server. In this tutorial, I am going to share how to install Nginx on Ubuntu 20.04.

So, Let’s get started.

Prerequisites:

• Ubuntu 20.04(Focal Fossa)
• A non-root user with sudo privilege.
• SSH access to the server.

Nginx Installation Steps

In this tutorial, I am going to install Nginx on an AWS Ubuntu EC2 instance. Now, Login to the server to continue the installation.

Step 1: Update Ubuntu Software Repositories

Before installing any software on the server, it is always recommended to update the software repositories. Update the repositories by following command.

$ sudo apt update

Step 2: Installing Nginx

Nginx comes with default Ubuntu repositories. You can install Nginx on Ubuntu 20.04 by following command.

$ sudo apt install nginx

Now, to make sure Nginx is installed correctly, run the following command.

$ nginx -v

Output should be something like this

nginx version: nginx/1.18.0 (Ubuntu)

Step 3: Checking the Nginx Server Status

Check Nginx status by following command.

$ sudo systemctl status nginx

Output:

Some Frequently used Nginx commands

Services	Command
To stop nginx server	$ sudo systemctl stop nginx
To start nginx server	$ sudo systemctl start nginx
To restart nginx server	$ sudo systemctl restart nginx
To reload nginx server	$ sudo systemctl reload nginx
To disable nginx on start	$ sudo systemctl disable nginx
To enable nginx server on startup	$ sudo systemctl enable nginx

Step 4: Adjust Nginx Firewall

Adjust firewall configuration to all access to the service. Check nginx profile by following command.

$ sudo ufw app list

Output should look like

Available applications:
  Nginx Full
  Nginx HTTP
  Nginx HTTPS
  OpenSSH

Now, allow access to the Nginx with the default firewall.

$ sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'

System will display “Rule Updated”. Now, reload the firewall by following command.

$ sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 5: Test Nginx Server on the Browser

Open your favorite browser and hit the server IP, you should see the default nginx page.

If you haven’t any GUI(Graphical User Interface), you can use curl to check the output.

$ curl -i 3.138.116.130

Output should look like this.

Read Here: How to install LAMP on Ubuntu 20.04

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned to install Nginx on Ubuntu 20.04. If you have any doubts feel free to contact me, I will definitely try to help you. Also, you can join our elite Facebook group to get direct help from me. If you like this tutorial, please share this article on your social media handle.