2.2. Configuring NGINX as a web server that provides different content for different domains

Procedure

1. Edit the /etc/nginx/nginx.conf file:

   1. By default, the /etc/nginx/nginx.conf file already contains a catch-all configuration. If you have deleted this part from the configuration, re-add the following server block to the http block in the /etc/nginx/nginx.conf file:

      server {
          listen       80 default_server;
          listen       [::]:80 default_server;
          server_name  _;
          root         /usr/share/nginx/html;
      }

      These settings configure the following:

      • The listen directive define which IP address and ports the service listens. In this case, NGINX listens on port 80 on both all IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. The default_server parameter indicates that NGINX uses this server block as the default for requests matching the IP addresses and ports.
      • The server_name parameter defines the host names for which this server block is responsible. Setting server_name to _ configures NGINX to accept any host name for this server block.
      • The root directive sets the path to the web content for this server block.

   2. Append a similar server block for the example.com domain to the http block:

      server {
          server_name  example.com;
          root         /var/www/example.com/;
          access_log   /var/log/nginx/example.com/access.log;
          error_log    /var/log/nginx/example.com/error.log;
      }

      • The access_log directive defines a separate access log file for this domain.
      • The error_log directive defines a separate error log file for this domain.

   3. Append a similar server block for the example.net domain to the http block:

      server {
          server_name  example.net;
          root         /var/www/example.net/;
          access_log   /var/log/nginx/example.net/access.log;
          error_log    /var/log/nginx/example.net/error.log;
      }

2. Create the root directories for both domains:

   # mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/
   # mkdir -p /var/www/example.net/

3. Set the httpd_sys_content_t context on both root directories:

   # semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/var/www/example.com(/.*)?"
   # restorecon -Rv /var/www/example.com/
   # semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/var/www/example.net(/.\*)?"
   # restorecon -Rv /var/www/example.net/

   These commands set the httpd_sys_content_t context on the /var/www/example.com/ and /var/www/example.net/ directories.

   Note that you must install the policycoreutils-python-utils package to run the restorecon commands.

4. Create the log directories for both domains:

   # mkdir /var/log/nginx/example.com/
   # mkdir /var/log/nginx/example.net/

5. Restart the nginx service:

   # systemctl restart nginx

Verification

1. Create a different example file in each virtual host’s document root:

   # echo "Content for example.com" > /var/www/example.com/index.html
   # echo "Content for example.net" > /var/www/example.net/index.html
   # echo "Catch All content" > /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html

2. Use a browser and connect to http://example.com. The web server shows the example content from the /var/www/example.com/index.html file.
3. Use a browser and connect to http://example.net. The web server shows the example content from the /var/www/example.net/index.html file.
4. Use a browser and connect to http://IP_address_of_the_server. The web server shows the example content from the /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html file.