Nginx (pronounced “engine x”) is an open-source, high-performance HTTP and reverse proxy server used by some of the largest sites on the Internet. It can act as a standalone web server, load balancer, content cache, and proxy for HTTP and non-HTTP services.

This guide explains how to install Nginx on Ubuntu 26.04, configure the firewall, and manage the service.

Prerequisites #

Before continuing, make sure you are logged in as a user with sudo privileges , and that no other service such as Apache is running on port 80 or 443.

Installing Nginx #

Nginx is available in the default Ubuntu repositories. To install it, run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Once the installation is completed, the Nginx service starts automatically. To verify it is running:

sudo systemctl status nginx

● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2026-04-25 15:00:00 UTC; 10s ago
...

Nginx is now installed and running. You can manage the Nginx service in the same way as any other systemd unit.

Configuring the Firewall #

Now that Nginx is running, you need to make sure the firewall allows traffic on HTTP (80) and HTTPS (443). If you are using ufw , enable the Nginx Full profile which covers both ports:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

To verify the firewall status:

sudo ufw status

Status: active
To Action From
-- ------ ----
22/tcp ALLOW Anywhere
Nginx Full ALLOW Anywhere
22/tcp (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6)
Nginx Full (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6)

Testing the Installation #

To confirm Nginx is serving requests, open http://YOUR_IP in a browser. You should see the default Nginx welcome page. You can also test from the command line:

curl -I http://localhost

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: nginx/1.28.1 (Ubuntu)
...

Nginx Configuration Structure #

• All Nginx configuration files are located in /etc/nginx/.
• The main configuration file is /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.
• Create a separate configuration file for each domain to keep things manageable. Server block files are stored in /etc/nginx/sites-available/ and must be symlinked to /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ to be active.
• Follow the standard naming convention: if your domain is mydomain.com, name the file /etc/nginx/sites-available/mydomain.com.conf.
• The /etc/nginx/snippets/ directory holds reusable configuration fragments that can be included in server block files.
• Log files (access.log and error.log) are located in /var/log/nginx/. Use a separate log file per server block.
• Common document root locations: /var/www/<site_name>, /var/www/html/<site_name>, or /home/<user>/<site_name>.

Conclusion #

Nginx is now installed and ready to serve your applications on Ubuntu 26.04. To set up multiple sites on the same server, see the guide on Nginx server blocks .