# Nginx Config For a Static Website


I noticed pagination was broken in production, but not locally when the site is
built. So after fixing it (it's the `try_files` line), I decided to note down
the setup used.

Ideally, [Cloudfare Pages](/cloudfare-pages) would be better for a static site,
but if you'd like to serve it in a linux box, then follow these steps.

* The site's main nginx config file `/etc/nginx/conf.d/npras.in.conf`:

```conf
server {
  server_name npras.in;

# Remove trailing slash (redirect to non-trailing slash version)
  rewrite ^/(.*)/$ /$1 permanent;

  add_header X-Clacks-Overhead "GNU Terry Pratchett";

  location / {
    root /var/www/npras.in;
    index index.html index.htm;
    try_files $uri $uri.html $uri/index.html =404;
  }

  listen 443 ssl; # managed by Certbot
  ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/npras.in/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
  ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/npras.in/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot
  include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; # managed by Certbot
  ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; # managed by Certbot

}

server {
  if ($host = npras.in) {
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
  } # managed by Certbot

  listen 80;
  server_name npras.in;
  return 404; # managed by Certbot
}
```

* This file is then referenced in nginx's main config file: `/etc/nginx/nginx.conf`.
It's included in the `http` block. Only that's relevant here:

```conf
http {
  include mime.types;
  default_type  application/octet-stream;
  sendfile on;
  gzip on;
  types_hash_max_size 4096;
  access_log logs/access.log;

  # load server configs
  include /etc/nginx/conf.d/npras.in.conf;
}
```

* Ensure right access to the site's directory `var/www/npras.in` should be
chmodded to your user and group. Only then you'll be able to push the files to
the server via rsync.

* Know a few handy commands. Like `nginx -t` to check if config changes are valid.
`nginx -s reload` to have the changes take effect.