How to Install Nginx on Ubuntu 26.04

The following steps cover installing the Nginx web server, configuring UFW firewall rules for web traffic, verifying the service, and setting up a server block for your domain.

Installing Nginx #

Update the local package index to ensure the package manager has the latest information about available software versions, then install the nginx package:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y nginx

This installs Nginx 1.28 from the Ubuntu 26.04 (Resolute Raccoon) repositories. The server starts automatically after installation.

Adjusting the Firewall #

Before testing Nginx, configure a firewall to allow external access to web ports while restricting other traffic. This guide uses UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall), which works identically on Ubuntu and Debian.

sudo apt install -y ufw

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH

Allow Nginx through the firewall:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

sudo ufw enable

Verify the status:

sudo ufw status

You should see Nginx listed as well as OpenSSH if you’re using it.

Status: active

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere
Nginx Full                 ALLOW       Anywhere
OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
Nginx Full (v6)            ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)

Verifying the Installation #

Nginx starts automatically after installation. Confirm the service is active:

sudo systemctl status nginx

You should see active (running) in the output.

Test locally or from a remote machine:

curl http://localhost
# or from remote:
curl http://your_server_ip

If you see HTML output in the response, the install was successful.

If you have access to a browser, you should see the default Nginx welcome page displaying ‘Welcome to nginx!’.

The default Nginx welcome page is located at /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html.

Managing the Nginx Service #

Essential systemd commands for managing Nginx:

Important File Locations #

Key paths to know for managing Nginx on Ubuntu 26.04 (Resolute Raccoon):

• Default Web Root: /var/www/html — Your web content goes here.
• Main Configuration: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf — Global configuration file.
• Server Blocks: /etc/nginx/sites-available/ — Per-site configurations.
• Enabled Sites: /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ — Symlinks to active configurations.
• Access Log: /var/log/nginx/access.log — All requests to your server.
• Error Log: /var/log/nginx/error.log — Errors and diagnostics.

Setting Up a Server Block #

To serve content for your domain instead of the default page, configure a server block (Nginx’s equivalent of Apache’s virtual host).

Create a Directory for Your Site #

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com

Create a Sample Page #

echo '<html><head><title>Success</title></head><body><h1>Success! The Server Block is working.</h1><p>You can now replace this file with your own content.</p><p>Return to <a href="https://devanswers.net/series/lemp-stack/">LEMP Stack Documentation</a></p></body></html>' | sudo tee /var/www/example.com/index.html

Set Permissions #

Assign ownership to the web server user and configure group permissions:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/example.com
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/example.com
sudo chmod -R g+s /var/www/example.com

Add your user to the www-data group so you can modify files without sudo:

sudo usermod -aG www-data $USER

Create the Server Block Configuration #

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

Paste the following configuration (replace example.com with your domain):

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    root /var/www/example.com;
    index index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com-access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com-error.log;
}

Save and exit (press CTRL + X, press Y, then press ENTER)

Enable the Site and Reload Nginx #

Create a symlink to enable your server block, remove the default site symlink, and reload Nginx:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Test It #

Visit http://example.com in your browser. As long as your domain’s A record points to your server’s IP, you should see the sample page.

Conclusion #

You now have Nginx 1.28 running on Ubuntu 26.04 (Resolute Raccoon) with a configured server block.