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diff --git a/content/blog/2022-02-16-debian-and-nginx.md b/content/blog/2022-02-16-debian-and-nginx.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c9bb31 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2022-02-16-debian-and-nginx.md @@ -0,0 +1,181 @@ ++++ +date = 2022-02-16 +title = "Migrating to a New Web Server Setup with Debian, Nginx, and Agate" +description = "" +draft = false ++++ + +# Server OS: Debian + + + +I\'ve used various Linux distributions throughout the years, but I\'ve +never used anything except Ubuntu for my servers. Why? I really have no +idea, mostly just comfort around the commands and software availability. + +However, I have always wanted to try Debian as a server OS after testing +it out in a VM a few years ago (side-note: I\'d love to try Alpine too, +but I always struggle with compatibility). So, I decided to launch a new +VPS and use [Debian](https://www.debian.org) 11 as the OS. Spoiler +alert: it feels identical to Ubuntu for my purposes. + +I did the normal things when first launching the VPS, such as adding a +new user, locking down SSH, etc. If you want to see that level of +detail, read my other post about [How to Set Up a VPS Web +Server](https://cleberg.net/blog/how-to-set-up-a-vps-web-server/). + +All of this has been similar, apart from small things such as the +location of users\' home folders. No complaints at all from me - Debian +seems great. + +# Web Server: Nginx + + + +Once I had the baseline server configuration set-up for Debian, I moved +on to trying out [Nginx](https://nginx.org) as my web server software. +This required me to install the `nginx` and `ufw` +packages, as well as setting up the initial UFW config: + +```sh +sudo apt install nginx ufw +sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' +sudo ufw allow SSH +sudo ufw enable +sudo ufw status +sudo systemctl status nginx +``` + +Once I had the firewall set, I moved on to creating the directories and +files for my website. This is very easy and is basically the same as +setting up an Apache server, so no struggles here. + +```sh +sudo mkdir -p /var/www/your_domain/html +sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/your_domain/html +sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/your_domain +nano /var/www/your_domain/html/index.html +``` + +The next part, creating the Nginx configuration files, is quite a bit +different from Apache. First, you need to create the files in the +`sites-available` folder and symlink it the +`sites-enabled` folder. + +Creating the config file for your domain: + +```sh +sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_domain +``` + +Default content for an Nginx config file: + +```sh +server { + listen 80; + listen [::]:80; + + root /var/www/your_domain/html; + index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html; + + server_name your_domain www.your_domain; + + location / { + try_files $uri $uri/ =404; + } +} +``` + +Finally, symlink it together: + +```sh +sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_domain /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ +``` + +This will make your site available to the public (as long as you have +`your_domain` DNS records pointed at the server\'s IP +address)! + +Next, I used [certbot](https://certbot.eff.org/) to issue an HTTPS +certificate for my domains using the following commands: + +```sh +sudo apt install snapd; sudo snap install core; sudo snap refresh core +sudo snap install --classic certbot +sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot +sudo certbot --nginx +``` + +Now that certbot ran successfully and updated my Nginx config files to +include a `443` server block of code, I went back in and +edited the config file to include security HTTP headers. This part is +optional, but is recommended for security purposes; you can even test a +website\'s HTTP header security at [Security +Headers](https://securityheaders.com/). + +The configuration below shows a set-up where you only want your website +to serve content from its own domain, except for images and scripts, +which may come from `nullitics.com`. All other content would +be blocked from loading in a browser. + +```sh +sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_domain +``` + +```sh +server { + ... + add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'none'; img-src 'self' https://nullitics.com; script-src 'self' https://nullitics.com; style-src 'self'; font-src 'self'"; + add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"; + add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"; + add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY"; + add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains"; + add_header Referrer-Policy "no-referrer"; + ... +} +``` + +```sh +sudo systemctl restart nginx +``` + +## Nginx vs. Apache + +As I stated at the beginning, my historical hesitation with trying Nginx +was that the differences in configuration formats scared me away from +leaving Apache. However, I prefer Nginx to Apache for a few reasons: + +1. Nginx uses only one config file (`your_domain`) vs. + Apache\'s two-file approach for HTTP vs. HTTPS + (`your_domain.conf` and + `your_domain-le-ssl.conf`). +2. Symlinking new configurations files and reloading Nginx are way + easier than Apache\'s process of having to enable headers with + `a2enmod mod_headers`, enable PHP with + `a2enmod php` (plus any other mods you need), and then + enabling sites with `a2ensite`, and THEN reloading + Apache. +3. The contents of the Nginx config files seem more organized and + logical with the curly-bracket approach. This is a minor reason, but + everything just felt cleaner while I was installing my sites and + that had a big quality of life impact on the installation for me. + +They\'re both great software packages, but Nginx just seems more +organized and easier to use these days. I will certainly be exploring +the Nginx docs to see what other fun things I can do with all of this. + +# Gemini Server: Agate + + + +Finally, I set up the Agate software on this server again to host my +Gemini server content, using Rust as I have before. You can read my +other post for more information on installing Agate: [Hosting a Gemini +Server](https://cleberg.net/blog/hosting-a-gemini-server/). + +All in all, Debian + Nginx is very slick and I prefer it over my old +combination of Ubuntu + Apache (although it\'s really just Nginx \> +Apache for me, since Debian seems mostly the same as Ubuntu is so far). |