NGNIX: Redirecting Website to Different Ports using NGINX

A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction:
NGINX is a powerful web server and reverse proxy that offers robust features for configuring and managing web traffic. Redirecting website traffic to different ports can be useful for various purposes, such as load balancing, routing requests to specific services, or exposing multiple applications on a single domain. In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of setting up NGINX to redirect website traffic to different ports on the same server.

1. Installing NGINX:

• Before we begin, ensure that NGINX is installed on your server. You can install NGINX using your package manager. For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following command:
  sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install nginx

1. Configuring NGINX:

• NGINX configuration files are located in the /etc/nginx directory. The main configuration file is nginx.conf, but we’ll focus on creating a separate configuration file for our website redirection.
• Create a new configuration file for your website in the /etc/nginx/sites-available directory. For example:
  sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-website

1. Configuring Redirection:

• In the new configuration file, define the redirection rules using NGINX server blocks. Each server block represents a virtual server configuration.
• Here’s an example configuration to redirect traffic from port 80 to port 8080: server { listen 80; server_name example.com www.example.com; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:8080; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; } }

1. Explanation:

• In this configuration, the listen directive specifies that NGINX should listen on port 80 for incoming requests.
• The server_name directive defines the domain names for which this server block should be active.
• The location / block defines the URL path where the redirection should occur. In this case, requests to the root path / are redirected.
• The proxy_pass directive specifies the backend server to which NGINX should proxy requests. Here, we’re redirecting to http://localhost:8080.
• The proxy_set_header directives pass additional headers to the backend server to preserve client information.

1. Enabling the Configuration:

• After creating the configuration file, create a symbolic link to enable it in the /etc/nginx/sites-enabled directory:
  sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-website /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

1. Testing and Reloading NGINX:

• Test the NGINX configuration for syntax errors:
  sudo nginx -t
• If the test is successful, reload NGINX to apply the changes:
  sudo systemctl reload nginx

1. Verification:

• Open a web browser and navigate to your domain (e.g., http://example.com). NGINX should redirect the request to the specified port (8080 in this example).
• Verify that the redirection works as expected and that your application hosted on port 8080 is accessible through the NGINX proxy.

Conclusion:
Redirecting website traffic to different ports using NGINX is a powerful technique for managing web traffic and routing requests to specific services. By configuring NGINX server blocks, you can easily set up redirection rules to direct traffic from one port to another on the same server. Experiment with different configurations and explore NGINX’s capabilities to optimize your website’s performance and enhance its functionality. Happy redirecting!