nginx-config-generator

name	nginx-config-generator
description	Generate production-ready nginx configuration files for reverse proxy, SSL, rate limiting, and caching setups. Use when you need an nginx config for a web application, API, static site, or reverse proxy. Triggers include "nginx config", "nginx configuration", "nginx setup", "reverse proxy config", "SSL nginx", "nginx rate limiting", or any request involving nginx web server configuration.

nginx-config-generator

Generate complete, validated nginx configuration files from a questionnaire or CLI flags.

When to Use

• Setting up nginx for a new web application
• Adding SSL/TLS to an existing nginx server
• Configuring nginx as a reverse proxy for Node.js, Python, PHP, or Go apps
• Adding rate limiting or caching to protect a backend
• Creating a multi-server virtual host configuration
• Getting a starting point nginx config to customize

Prerequisites

1. nginx-config-generator installed or running locally
2. (Optional) nginx binary installed for full config validation

Installation

npm install -g nginx-config-generator

Or run the web UI:

docker compose up -d
# Web UI at http://localhost:3000

Quick Start

CLI - Generate with flags

nginx-conf generate \
  --domain example.com \
  --upstream 127.0.0.1:3000 \
  --ssl \
  --cert /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem \
  --key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem \
  --rate-limit \
  --gzip \
  --output nginx.conf

CLI - Apply a preset template

nginx-conf templates apply nextjs \
  --domain example.com \
  --upstream 127.0.0.1:3000 \
  --output nginx.conf

CLI - Interactive mode

nginx-conf generate
# Walks through all 4 steps interactively

CLI - From saved answers

nginx-conf generate --from answers.json --output nginx.conf

CLI Reference

Command	Description
nginx-conf generate	Interactive questionnaire
nginx-conf generate [flags]	Generate from flags
nginx-conf generate --from <file>	Load answers from JSON
nginx-conf validate <file>	Validate an nginx config
nginx-conf templates	List available templates
nginx-conf templates apply <name>	Generate from preset
nginx-conf --help	Show help
nginx-conf --version	Show version

Generate Flags

Flag	Description	Default
--domain <name>	Server name(s), space-separated	(required)
--upstream <addr>	Upstream server address	-
--ssl	Enable SSL	0
--cert <path>	SSL certificate path	-
--key <path>	SSL key path	-
--redirect-http	301 redirect HTTP to HTTPS	1 (if --ssl)
--hsts	Strict-Transport-Security header	0
--cipher-profile <name>	modern, intermediate, or custom	intermediate
--rate-limit	Enable rate limiting	0
--rate <n>	Request rate (e.g. 10r/s)	10r/s
--burst <n>	Rate limit burst	20
--cache	Enable proxy cache	0
--gzip	Enable gzip compression	1
--max-body <size>	Max upload size (e.g. 10m)	10m
--load-balancing <method>	round-robin, least-conn, ip-hash	round-robin
--websocket	WebSocket upgrade headers	0
--output <file>	Output file path	nginx.conf
--validate	Run nginx -t after generation	0
--preset <name>	Start from a template preset	-

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
PORT	Web server port	3000
NODE_ENV	development or production	development
NGINX_BINARY	Path to nginx binary	nginx (from PATH)
CONFIG_TTL_MINUTES	How long generated configs are held	10
ENABLE_VALIDATION	Enable nginx -t validation	1
MAX_CONFIG_SIZE_KB	Maximum generated config size	512

Available Presets

Preset	Description
wordpress	WordPress + PHP-FPM with permalink rewriting
nextjs	Next.js with static asset caching
spa	React/Vue/Angular SPA with HTML5 history routing
api-gateway	Rate-limited REST API reverse proxy
static	Static site with gzip and browser caching
laravel	Laravel + PHP-FPM
django	Django + Gunicorn via UNIX socket
go-app	Go binary upstream with health checks

API (when running as a server)

POST /api/generate        # Generate config from answers JSON
POST /api/validate        # Validate a config string
GET  /api/templates       # List all presets
GET  /api/templates/:id/generate  # Generate from preset
GET  /api/download/:id    # Download a generated config file

Validation

When nginx is available on PATH, nginx -t is used for validation. Otherwise, a structural validator checks:

• Balanced braces
• Required directives (server, listen, server_name)
• No obviously invalid directive names

To validate after generating:

nginx-conf validate nginx.conf

Or validate any existing config:

nginx-conf validate /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Troubleshooting

"nginx not found on PATH"

The CLI uses a structural fallback validator. For full validation, install nginx:

# Ubuntu/Debian
apt install nginx

# macOS
brew install nginx

"directive X is not allowed in context"

nginx directives are context-sensitive. Some directives only work in the http block, others in server or location. The generated configs use correct contexts. If you edited the config manually, check the nginx documentation for that directive.

"worker_connections is below recommended"

For production, set worker_connections to at least 1024 per worker. For high-traffic sites, 4096 or higher. The default is conservative for compatibility.

Generated config fails nginx -t

If the generated config fails validation, check:

1. SSL certificate and key paths exist on the server
2. Upstream server addresses are reachable
3. No conflicting server blocks with the same listen + server_name combination