Nginx Directory Structure

Standard Directory Layout

/etc/nginx/
├── nginx.conf              # Main configuration file
├── mime.types              # MIME type mappings
├── conf.d/                 # Additional configurations
│   └── *.conf              # Auto-included .conf files
├── sites-available/        # Available site configs (Debian/Ubuntu)
│   ├── default
│   └── example.com
├── sites-enabled/          # Enabled sites (symlinks)
│   └── default -> ../sites-available/default
├── snippets/               # Reusable config snippets
│   ├── ssl-params.conf
│   └── gzip.conf
├── modules-available/      # Available modules
├── modules-enabled/        # Enabled modules (symlinks)
└── fastcgi_params          # FastCGI parameters

Managing Sites (Debian/Ubuntu)

# Create site config
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

# Enable site (create symlink)
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Disable site (remove symlink)
sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/example.com

# Test and reload
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

RHEL/CentOS Structure

/etc/nginx/
├── nginx.conf
├── conf.d/                 # Put your .conf files here
│   ├── default.conf
│   └── example.com.conf
└── default.d/              # Default server config fragments

Creating Snippets

Snippets let you reuse common configurations:

# /etc/nginx/snippets/ssl-params.conf
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256;
ssl_session_timeout 1d;
ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:50m;
ssl_stapling on;
ssl_stapling_verify on;

# Include in server block
server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    include snippets/ssl-params.conf;
    # ...
}

Best Practices

1. One site per file - Keep each virtual host in its own file
2. Use snippets - Reuse common configurations
3. Comment your config - Explain non-obvious settings
4. Use variables - For repeated values
5. Test before reload - Always run nginx -t