How to Install Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04

In this tutorial, you’ll install Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04, allow HTTP traffic through UFW, verify the default Nginx page, create a custom server block, inspect the logs, and run an end-to-end web server check.

Nginx is a lightweight web server, reverse proxy, and load balancer commonly used in front of websites, APIs, application servers, and containerized workloads. Ubuntu 24.04 provides the Nginx 1.24 release branch through its default repositories and delivers security fixes through normal system updates.

Raff supports 3,000+ customers and 15,000+ VMs in its us-east region. Raff Linux VMs provide KVM virtualization, full root access, NVMe storage, and 3 Gbps unmetered bandwidth for web hosting and application traffic.

:::cluster cloud-networking-private-networks-load-balancing :::

Prerequisites:

• A Raff Linux VM running Ubuntu 24.04
• SSH access with a user that has sudo privileges
• The VM’s public IPv4 address
• Port 22/tcp available for SSH and port 80/tcp available for the HTTP test
• A domain is optional for this tutorial but required before enabling production HTTPS

The original workflow was tested on a Raff VM with 2 vCPU and 2 GB RAM. The commands and package behavior were reviewed against Canonical’s current Ubuntu 24.04 Nginx and firewall documentation in July 2026.

Step 1 — Update Ubuntu and install Nginx

Update the package index and install current security and package updates before exposing a web service:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Nginx, UFW, and curl from Ubuntu’s default repositories:

sudo apt install -y nginx ufw curl

Canonical documents the same package installation method in its Ubuntu Server Nginx guide.

Verify the Ubuntu release and Nginx version:

lsb_release -ds
nginx -v 2>&1

Expected output includes:

Ubuntu 24.04
nginx version: nginx/1.24

The Ubuntu package revision may change as security and maintenance updates are published. Keep the server updated even when the upstream Nginx base version remains 1.24.

Step 2 — Verify the Nginx service

Nginx should start automatically after installation. Confirm that the service is active:

systemctl is-active nginx

Expected output:

active

Confirm that Nginx is enabled at boot:

systemctl is-enabled nginx

Expected output:

enabled

View the full service status without opening an interactive pager:

sudo systemctl status nginx --no-pager

Expected output includes:

Active: active (running)

Useful service commands:

sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl stop nginx
sudo systemctl restart nginx
sudo systemctl reload nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Use reload after a successful configuration test when you want to apply changes without fully stopping the web server.

Step 3 — Configure the UFW firewall

UFW is Ubuntu’s host-based firewall management tool. Allow SSH before enabling it so you do not lock yourself out of the VM.

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH

If the OpenSSH application profile is unavailable, allow the SSH port directly:

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp

List the application profiles registered by Nginx:

sudo ufw app list

Expected output includes:

Nginx Full
Nginx HTTP
Nginx HTTPS

Allow HTTP traffic for this installation test:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'

Enable UFW:

sudo ufw --force enable

Verify the active rules:

sudo ufw status numbered

Expected output includes:

Status: active
OpenSSH                    ALLOW IN
Nginx HTTP                 ALLOW IN

⚠️ Warning: Always permit your current SSH access path before enabling UFW. If you also use an upstream cloud firewall, allow TCP port 80 there for the public browser test.

Canonical’s Ubuntu firewall documentation explains UFW’s role and rule management in more detail.

Step 4 — Test the default Nginx page

Verify the web server locally first:

curl -I http://127.0.0.1

Expected output includes:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: nginx

Get the VM’s public IPv4 address from the Raff dashboard or run:

curl -4s https://icanhazip.com

Open the address in a browser:

http://your_server_ip

Visible state check:

The browser shows the default Nginx welcome page.
The page includes the message "Welcome to nginx!"
The browser uses HTTP because HTTPS is not configured yet.

This confirms that Nginx is installed, the service is running, and HTTP traffic can reach the VM.

Step 5 — Create a custom Nginx server block

Nginx uses server blocks to select the site or application configuration for an incoming request. Ubuntu stores available site configurations in /etc/nginx/sites-available/ and enables them with symbolic links in /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/.

Create a document root for the demo site:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/raff-nginx-demo/html

Create the custom HTML page:

sudo tee /var/www/raff-nginx-demo/html/index.html > /dev/null <<'EOF'
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Nginx server block is working on Raff</title>
  <style>
    body {
      font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
      background: #111;
      color: #fff;
      max-width: 720px;
      margin: 120px auto;
      padding: 0 24px;
      line-height: 1.6;
    }
    h1 {
      color: #db4a2b;
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Nginx server block is working on Raff</h1>
  <p>This custom Nginx page is served from an Ubuntu 24.04 Linux VM.</p>
</body>
</html>
EOF

Create a server block for the demo site:

sudo tee /etc/nginx/sites-available/raff-nginx-demo > /dev/null <<'EOF'
server {
    listen 80 default_server;
    listen [::]:80 default_server;

    server_name _;

    root /var/www/raff-nginx-demo/html;
    index index.html;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/raff-nginx-demo.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/raff-nginx-demo.error.log;

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

Disable the default site and enable the new server block:

sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo ln -sf /etc/nginx/sites-available/raff-nginx-demo \
  /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/raff-nginx-demo

Test the complete Nginx configuration before reloading:

sudo nginx -t

Expected output:

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

Reload Nginx only after the configuration test succeeds:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Ubuntu’s Nginx configuration guide documents the sites-available and sites-enabled server-block model.

Step 6 — Verify the custom server block

Test the page locally:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1 | grep 'Nginx server block is working on Raff'

Expected output includes:

<h1>Nginx server block is working on Raff</h1>

Test the public response:

SERVER_IP="$(curl -4s https://icanhazip.com)"
curl -I "http://$SERVER_IP"

Expected output includes:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: nginx

Open the public IP in your browser again:

http://your_server_ip

Visible state check:

The browser shows the custom Nginx server block page.
The page includes the message "Nginx server block is working on Raff".
The page is served from /var/www/raff-nginx-demo/html.

The custom server block works when the command-line request and browser both return the demo page.

📌 Production note: Replace server_name _; with your real domain names before enabling HTTPS. Only the public Nginx edge should be internet-facing; application servers, databases, caches, and internal services should use private traffic paths where possible. See Public vs Private Traffic in Cloud Infrastructure.

Step 7 — Review Nginx files and logs

Important Nginx paths on Ubuntu include:

/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
/etc/nginx/sites-available/
/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
/etc/nginx/conf.d/
/var/www/
/var/log/nginx/

Files created by this tutorial:

/var/www/raff-nginx-demo/html/index.html
/etc/nginx/sites-available/raff-nginx-demo
/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/raff-nginx-demo
/var/log/nginx/raff-nginx-demo.access.log
/var/log/nginx/raff-nginx-demo.error.log

Review recent access requests:

sudo tail -n 20 /var/log/nginx/raff-nginx-demo.access.log

Review recent errors:

sudo tail -n 20 /var/log/nginx/raff-nginx-demo.error.log

Confirm which configuration files Nginx loaded:

sudo nginx -T 2>/dev/null | grep -E 'configuration file|server_name|root '

Use nginx -T carefully on shared systems because the complete output can include internal hostnames and configuration details.

Step 8 — Verify the complete Nginx setup

Run the final verification sequence:

SERVER_IP="$(curl -4s https://icanhazip.com)"

echo "Service:"
systemctl is-active nginx

echo "Boot status:"
systemctl is-enabled nginx

echo "Configuration:"
sudo nginx -t

echo "Firewall:"
sudo ufw status numbered

echo "Local HTTP response:"
curl -I http://127.0.0.1

echo "Public HTTP response:"
curl -I "http://$SERVER_IP"

echo "Custom page:"
curl -s http://127.0.0.1 | grep 'Nginx server block is working on Raff'

Expected output includes:

active
enabled
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
Status: active
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Nginx server block is working on Raff

The setup is complete when the service is active and enabled, the configuration test passes, UFW allows HTTP traffic, and both local and public requests return the custom page.

Cleanup (Optional)

Remove the demo server block and web root:

sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/raff-nginx-demo
sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-available/raff-nginx-demo
sudo rm -rf /var/www/raff-nginx-demo

Restore Ubuntu’s default site if the configuration file still exists:

if [ -f /etc/nginx/sites-available/default ]; then
  sudo ln -sf /etc/nginx/sites-available/default \
    /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
fi

Test and reload Nginx:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Remove the HTTP firewall rule only when the VM no longer needs to serve HTTP traffic:

sudo ufw delete allow 'Nginx HTTP'
sudo ufw status numbered

Do not close port 80 when it is still required for a website, redirect, or ACME HTTP challenge.

Troubleshooting

The browser does not load the Nginx page

Cause: Nginx is stopped, the VM’s public IP is wrong, port 80 is blocked, or an upstream firewall does not allow HTTP traffic.

Fix:

systemctl is-active nginx
sudo ufw status numbered
curl -I http://127.0.0.1
curl -4s https://icanhazip.com
sudo ss -lntp | grep ':80'

Expected state:

Nginx is active
Nginx HTTP is allowed
127.0.0.1 returns HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Nginx listens on port 80

sudo nginx -t reports a syntax error

Cause: A file in /etc/nginx/ contains an invalid directive, missing semicolon, or unmatched brace.

Fix:

sudo nginx -t
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/raff-nginx-demo

Correct the file, test again, and reload only after validation succeeds:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

The default Nginx page still appears

Cause: Ubuntu’s default site is still enabled, the new symbolic link is missing, or Nginx was not reloaded.

Fix:

ls -l /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo ln -sf /etc/nginx/sites-available/raff-nginx-demo \
  /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/raff-nginx-demo
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Verify the selected site:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1 | grep 'Nginx server block is working on Raff'

UFW does not show the Nginx profiles

Cause: Nginx was not installed correctly, or the application profile files are missing.

Fix:

dpkg -s nginx
ls -l /etc/ufw/applications.d/nginx
sudo ufw app list

You can allow HTTP directly when necessary:

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp

Nginx reload fails

Cause: Nginx refuses to reload an invalid configuration or another service is already using port 80.

Fix:

sudo nginx -t
sudo ss -lntp | grep ':80'
sudo journalctl -u nginx --no-pager -n 50

Resolve the reported problem, then reload:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

The site works over HTTP but shows “Not Secure”

Cause: This tutorial intentionally verifies the server over plain HTTP. HTTPS has not been configured yet.

Fix: Point a domain to the VM, replace the catch-all server_name, and follow Secure Nginx with Let’s Encrypt on Ubuntu 24.04.

Conclusion

You installed Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04, configured UFW with the Nginx HTTP profile, verified the default page, created and enabled a custom server block, inspected the logs, and completed an end-to-end HTTP check.

Next, configure free HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt, build a LEMP stack on Ubuntu 24.04, or use Docker on Ubuntu 24.04 for containerized applications behind Nginx.

As the architecture grows, review public vs private cloud traffic and load balancing explained before exposing multiple application servers.