Where is nginx.conf file? (Nginx Server configuration file)

In this tutorial we'll take a look at how to find nginx.conf file

To find nginx.conf file on your system run this on your command line:

nginx -t

Look for location of nginx.conf file in the cmd output:

$ nginx -t

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

$ nginx -V

nginx version: nginx/1.11.1
built by gcc 4.9.2 (Debian 4.9.2-10)

built with OpenSSL 1.0.1k 8 Jan 2015
TLS SNI support enabled
configure arguments: --prefix=/etc/nginx --sbin-path=/usr/sbin/nginx --modules-path=/usr/lib/nginx/modules --conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

The location of the Nginx configuration file, nginx.conf, depends on how Nginx was installed and configured on your system. In most cases, the configuration file is located in the conf directory within the Nginx installation directory.

On Linux systems, the default installation directory for Nginx is /usr/local/nginx, so the nginx.conf file is typically located at /usr/local/nginx/conf/nginx.conf.

On Windows systems, the default installation directory for Nginx is C:\nginx, so the nginx.conf file is typically located at C:\nginx\conf\nginx.conf.

If you are unsure where the nginx.conf file is located on your system, you can try searching for it using the find or locate command on Linux, or the dir command on Windows.

# Linux

find / -name nginx.conf
# Windows
dir /s nginx.conf

There is another trick you can use to find out where your nginx.conf is (or isn't)

Alternatively, you can check the error.log file in the Nginx log directory (usually located at /usr/local/nginx/logs on Linux or C:\nginx\logs on Windows) for the location of the nginx.conf file. The error.log file should contain a line similar to the following:

[emerg] 1#1: open() "/usr/local/nginx/conf/nginx.conf" failed (2: No such file or directory)

This line shows the location of the nginx.conf file that Nginx is trying to read.

If you cannot find the nginx.conf file in the default location, it is possible that it was moved or renamed during installation. In this case, you can try searching for it using the methods described above, or you can check the documentation for your specific Nginx installation for more information.

Listing of default nginx.conf file

Have you lost your default nginx.conf file? Here's a full example.

user       www www;  ## Default: nobody

worker_processes  5;  ## Default: 1
error_log  logs/error.log;
pid        logs/nginx.pid;
worker_rlimit_nofile 8192;

events {
  worker_connections  4096;  ## Default: 1024
}

http {
  include    conf/mime.types;
  include    /etc/nginx/proxy.conf;
  include    /etc/nginx/fastcgi.conf;
  index    index.html index.htm index.php;

  default_type application/octet-stream;
  log_format   main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local]  $status '
    '"$request" $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
    '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';
  access_log   logs/access.log  main;
  sendfile     on;
  tcp_nopush   on;
  server_names_hash_bucket_size 128; # this seems to be required for some vhosts

  server { # php/fastcgi
    listen       80;
    server_name  domain1.com www.domain1.com;
    access_log   logs/domain1.access.log  main;
    root         html;

    location 
 \.php$ {
      fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:1025;
    }
  }

  server { # simple reverse-proxy
    listen       80;
    server_name  domain2.com www.domain2.com;
    access_log   logs/domain2.access.log  main;

    # serve static files
    location 
 ^/(images|javascript|js|css|flash|media|static)/  {
      root    /var/www/virtual/big.server.com/htdocs;
      expires 30d;
    }

    # pass requests for dynamic content to rails/turbogears/zope, et al
    location / {
      proxy_pass      http://127.0.0.1:8080;
    }
  }

  upstream big_server_com {
    server 127.0.0.3:8000 weight=5;
    server 127.0.0.3:8001 weight=5;
    server 192.168.0.1:8000;
    server 192.168.0.1:8001;
  }

  server { # simple load balancing
    listen          80;
    server_name     big.server.com;
    access_log      logs/big.server.access.log main;

    location / {
      proxy_pass      http://big_server_com;
    }
  }
}