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Let’s set up the Nginx web server, serve a static site, add PHP, and chart a path to HTTPS. The commands are for root on Ubuntu/Debian; as a regular user, add sudo. The server’s IP and root access come from the VPS card in the @lumivps_bot bot.
If you don’t want to fiddle with configs by hand, it’s easier to deploy your app via Coolify: it sets up the reverse proxy and SSL for you. This guide is for those configuring things manually.

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Installing Nginx

1

Install the package

apt update
apt install nginx
The service starts automatically.
2

Verify

Open http://your-server-IP in a browser. The Nginx start page should appear (“Welcome to nginx!”). If the page doesn’t open, port 80 is most likely closed (see the firewall warning below).

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How the configs are organized

Sites in Nginx on Ubuntu/Debian are described by separate files:
  • /etc/nginx/sites-available/ — this is where the configs for all sites live;
  • /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ — a symlink to the active ones goes here.
In other words, you create a file in sites-available and then “enable” it with a symlink in sites-enabled. 
# enable the site
ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/site /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# check the syntax before applying
nginx -t

# apply changes without dropping connections
systemctl reload nginx
Always run nginx -t before reload. If there’s an error in the config, reload won’t apply it and Nginx will keep running on the old configuration — the site won’t go down.

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A simple static site

Create a directory for the site’s files and put an index.html in it: 
mkdir -p /var/www/site
echo '<h1>It works</h1>' > /var/www/site/index.html
Create the config /etc/nginx/sites-available/site:
/etc/nginx/sites-available/site
server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    root /var/www/site;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}
Enable the site and reload Nginx: 
ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/site /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
nginx -t
systemctl reload nginx
The default default config in sites-enabled usually intercepts requests. If your site won’t open, remove the default symlink: rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default and reload again.

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Add PHP

For Nginx to handle .php (WordPress, scripts, etc.), you need PHP-FPM:
1

Install PHP-FPM

apt install php-fpm
2

Add a PHP handler to the site config

The socket path depends on the PHP version. The package creates a versioned socket; the unversioned /run/php/php-fpm.sock doesn’t exist — nginx will fail with a 502. First check which sockets you have:
ls /run/php/
You’ll see something like php8.3-fpm.sock. Substitute the exact name in the config below.
Add a location block for .php inside server { ... }:
location ~ \.php$ {
    include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
    fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;  # substitute your version
}
3

Check and reload Nginx

nginx -t
systemctl reload nginx
4

Verify PHP works

Create /var/www/site/info.php with the contents <?php phpinfo(); and open http://example.com/info.php. A table of PHP information should appear. After checking, delete this file — it exposes the server’s configuration.

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HTTPS

A site on http:// is worth securing with a certificate so that https:// works. The certificate is installed separately — for free via Let’s Encrypt, automated by the certbot tool. The full walkthrough is on a separate page:

SSL certificate (Let's Encrypt)

How to issue a certificate for free and enable HTTPS with auto-renewal.
For the site to be reachable from outside, open ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS) in the firewall. How to set this up — see firewall.
An alternative to Nginx is the Apache web server (apt install apache2); the principles are the same, but the configs and syntax differ.

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Where to next

SSL certificate

Free HTTPS via Let’s Encrypt with auto-renewal.

Firewall

Open ports 80 and 443 for web traffic.