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Installing NGINX on OpenBSD

OpenBSD includes NGINX in its ports and packages system, making installation straightforward.

The easiest way to install NGINX on OpenBSD:

pkg_add nginx

This installs a pre-built NGINX with commonly needed modules.

Enable and Start

# Enable at boot
rcctl enable nginx

# Start now
rcctl start nginx

Configuration Location

  • Main config: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
  • Document root: /var/www/htdocs
  • Logs: /var/log/nginx/

Using Ports

For custom builds with specific modules:

cd /usr/ports/www/nginx
make install clean

Building from Source

Install Dependencies

pkg_add pcre2
pkg_add gmake

Download and Build

# Download latest stable
ftp https://nginx.org/download/nginx-1.26.2.tar.gz
tar xzf nginx-1.26.2.tar.gz
cd nginx-1.26.2

# Configure
./configure \
    --prefix=/usr/local \
    --sbin-path=/usr/local/sbin/nginx \
    --conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf \
    --pid-path=/var/run/nginx.pid \
    --error-log-path=/var/log/nginx/error.log \
    --http-log-path=/var/log/nginx/access.log \
    --http-client-body-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/client_temp \
    --http-proxy-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/proxy_temp \
    --http-fastcgi-temp-path=/var/cache/nginx/fastcgi_temp \
    --user=www \
    --group=www \
    --with-http_ssl_module \
    --with-http_v2_module \
    --with-http_realip_module \
    --with-http_gzip_static_module \
    --with-http_stub_status_module \
    --with-stream \
    --with-stream_ssl_module \
    --with-pcre

# Build and install
gmake -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)
doas gmake install

# Create cache directory
doas mkdir -p /var/cache/nginx
doas chown www:www /var/cache/nginx

rc.d Service Script

If building from source, create /etc/rc.d/nginx:

#!/bin/ksh

daemon="/usr/local/sbin/nginx"

. /etc/rc.d/rc.subr

rc_reload=YES
rc_configtest=YES

rc_cmd $1

chmod 555 /etc/rc.d/nginx

Managing NGINX

# Start
rcctl start nginx

# Stop
rcctl stop nginx

# Restart
rcctl restart nginx

# Reload configuration
rcctl reload nginx

# Check configuration
nginx -t

# Check status
rcctl check nginx

Manual Signals

# Graceful shutdown
kill -QUIT $(cat /var/run/nginx.pid)

# Reload configuration
kill -HUP $(cat /var/run/nginx.pid)

# Reopen log files
kill -USR1 $(cat /var/run/nginx.pid)

OpenBSD-Specific Notes

Pledge and Unveil

OpenBSD's NGINX package is built with pledge(2) and unveil(2) support for enhanced security.

chroot

Consider running NGINX in a chroot for additional isolation:

# In nginx.conf
# Paths are relative to chroot
# chroot /var/www;

PF Firewall

Allow HTTP/HTTPS traffic:

# /etc/pf.conf
pass in on egress proto tcp from any to any port { 80 443 }

pfctl -f /etc/pf.conf

See Also