---
title: How to Install and Configure NGINX on CWP
description: "NGINX is a high-performance web server and reverse proxy used widely for its speed and resource efficiency. Pairing NGINX with CWP (CentOS Web Panel) allows for improved website performance and a user-friendly management experience. Here’s how to install and configure…"
url: "https://truehost.com/support/knowledge-base/how-to-install-and-configure-nginx-on-cwp/"
updated: "2024-11-28"
category: Cloud servers in Kenya
---

# How to Install and Configure NGINX on CWP

NGINX is a high-performance web server and reverse proxy used widely for its speed and resource efficiency. Pairing NGINX with CWP (CentOS Web Panel) allows for improved website performance and a user-friendly management experience. Here’s how to install and configure NGINX on CWP.

### P**rerequisites**

Before you start, ensure:

- A server running **Almalinux**/**CentOS 7/8** with **[CWP installed](https://truehost.com/support/knowledge-base/complete-guide-on-how-to-properly-install-control-web-panelcwp/)**.
- **Root or sudo access** to the server.
- A domain name pointed to the server’s IP address.

#### **Step by step on How to Install and Configure NGINX on CWP**

Since you have your CWP server ready. We can now proceed with the steps to install and configure NGINX.

- Access your server [via SSH](https://truehost.com/support/knowledge-base/how-to-access-a-server-via-ssh-terminal/), using root user, or a sudo user, then escalate to root terminal.

- **Upgrade your server.**

```
yum update -y
```

![](https://truehost.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-686-1024x262.png)

- Install files that are needed for the set-up

```
yum install pcre pcre-devel zlib-devel openssl-devel -y
```

![](https://truehost.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-687-1024x418.png)

- Enable NGINX Epel Repository then install NGINX.

```
sudo yum install epel-release -y

sudo yum install nginx -y
```

- Create the proxy.inc file.

```
rm -rf /etc/nginx/proxy.inc

vi /etc/nginx/proxy.inc
```

- Then paste the code below in the file

```
#Proxy file starts here
# More info here: http://wiki.nginx.org/HttpProxyModule

proxy_buffering off;
proxy_connect_timeout 59s;
proxy_send_timeout 600;
proxy_read_timeout 600;
proxy_buffer_size 64k;
proxy_buffers 16 32k;
proxy_busy_buffers_size 64k;
proxy_temp_file_write_size 64k;
proxy_pass_header Set-Cookie;
proxy_redirect off;
proxy_hide_header Vary;
proxy_hide_header X-Powered-By;
proxy_set_header Accept-Encoding '';
#If you want to get the cache-control and expire headers from apache, comment out 'proxy_ignore_headers' and uncomment 'proxy_pass_header Expires;' and 'proxy_pass_header Cache-Control
#proxy_pass_header Expires;
#proxy_pass_header Cache-Control;
proxy_ignore_headers Cache-Control Expires;
proxy_set_header Referer $http_referer;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header Cookie $http_cookie;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;

#Proxy file ends here
```

- Create an NGINX configuration file using these commands

```
rm -rf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
vi /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
```

- Add the code below in the file, then save and exit it.

```
# Nginx config starts here

user nobody;
worker_processes auto;
#worker_rlimit_nofile 20480;
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log warn;
pid /var/run/nginx.pid;
events {
worker_connections 1024; # increase for busier servers
use epoll; # you should use epoll for Linux kernels 2.6.x
}
http {
open_file_cache max=5000 inactive=30s;
open_file_cache_valid 120s;
open_file_cache_min_uses 2;
open_file_cache_errors off;
open_log_file_cache max=1024 inactive=30s min_uses=2;
server_names_hash_max_size 10240;
server_names_hash_bucket_size 1024;
include mime.types;
default_type application/octet-stream;
sendfile on;
tcp_nopush on;
tcp_nodelay on;
keepalive_timeout 5;
gzip on;
gzip_vary on;
gzip_disable "MSIE [1-6].";
gzip_proxied any;
gzip_http_version 1.1;
gzip_min_length 1000;
gzip_comp_level 6;
gzip_buffers 16 8k;
gzip_types text/plain text/xml text/css application/x-javascript application/xml image/png image/x-icon image/gif image/jpeg application/xml+rss text/javascript application/atom+xml application/javascript application/json;
ignore_invalid_headers on;
client_header_timeout 3m;
client_body_timeout 3m;
client_max_body_size 200m;
send_timeout 3m;
connection_pool_size 256;
client_header_buffer_size 4k;
large_client_header_buffers 4 32k;
request_pool_size 4k;
output_buffers 4 32k;
postpone_output 1460;
proxy_temp_path /tmp/nginx_temp;
log_format bytes_log "$msec $bytes_sent .";
# Include site configurations
include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
}

# Nginx config ends here
```

![](https://truehost.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-696-1024x751.png)

- Make a virtual host for your domain. Ensure to replace **cwpnginx.tke.co.ke** with your actual domain name.
- Also, replace **your_server_IP** with the the actual IP of your server, and **your_username** with your actual user account name.

```
vi /etc/nginx/conf.d/cwpnginx.tke.co.ke.conf
```

```
# Virtual host file starts here

server {
listen your_server_IP:80;
access_log /var/log/nginx/access.cwpnginx.tke.co.ke.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.cwpnginx.tke.co.ke.log;
server_name cwpnginx.tke.co.ke www.cwpnginx.tke.co.ke;
root /home/your_username/public_html;
location / {
location ~.*.(3gp|gif|jpg|jpeg|png|ico|wmv|avi|asf|asx|mpg|mpeg|mp4|pls|mp3|mid|wav|swf|flv|html|htm|txt|js|css|exe|zip|tar|rar|gz|tgz|bz2|uha|7z|doc|docx|xls|xlsx|pdf|iso|woff|ttf|svg|eot)$ {
expires 7d; #Comment this out if you're using the apache backend cache-control/expires headers.
try_files $uri @backend;
}
error_page 405 = @backend;
error_page 500 = @custom;
add_header X-Cache "HIT from Backend";
proxy_pass http://your_server_IP:8181;
include proxy.inc;
}
location @backend {
internal;
proxy_pass http://your_server_IP:8181;
include proxy.inc;
}
location @custom {
internal;
proxy_pass http://your_server_IP:8181;
include proxy.inc;
}
location ~ .*.(php|jsp|cgi|pl|py)?$ {
proxy_pass http://your_server_IP:8181;
include proxy.inc;
}
location ~ /.ht {
deny all;
}
}

# Virtual host file ends here
```

![](https://truehost.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-697-1024x687.png)

- Download and install the **mod_raf** packagem using these commands.

```
cd /usr/local/src

rm -rf mod_rpaf-0.8.4

rm -rf v0.8.4.tar.gz

wget https://github.com/gnif/mod_rpaf/archive/v0.8.4.tar.gz --no-check-certificate

tar xzf v0.8.4.tar.gz

cd mod_rpaf-0.8.4

chmod +x apxs.sh

/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs -i -c -n mod_rpaf.so mod_rpaf.c
```

- Also create a configuration file for **mod_raf**.

```
rm -rf /usr/local/apache/conf.d/rpaf.conf

vi -w /usr/local/apache/conf.d/rpaf.conf
```

- Paste the code below in the file, replacing ****your_server_IP**** with your actual server IP, then save and exit it.

```
# Mod_raf config file starts here

LoadModule rpaf_module modules/mod_rpaf.so
RPAF_Enable On
RPAF_ProxyIPs 127.0.0.1 your_server_IP
RPAF_SetHostName On
RPAF_SetHTTPS On
RPAF_SetPort On
RPAF_ForbidIfNotProxy Off
RPAF_Header X-Forwarded-For

# Mod_raf config file ends here
```

- [Log in to CWP main panel](https://truehost.com/support/knowledge-base/how-to-access-cwp-main-whm-panel/) and navigate to **CWP Settings >> Edit settings**.

![](https://truehost.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-698-1024x400.png)

- Change the Shared IP to your server IP, and Apache Port to 8181

![](https://truehost.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-699.png)

- Use the commands below to retart Apache and NGINX, also setting NGINX to start automatically when you reboot the server

```
service httpd restart
service nginx restart
chkconfig nginx on
```

### To completely remove Nginx and Mod_raf.

- Navigate to CWP Settings -->> Edit Settings and Change apache port to 80

- Once done, run the following commands to remove the services

```
yum remove nginx -y
rm -rf /etc/nginx/
rm -rf /etc/yum.repos.d/nginx.repo
rm -rf /usr/lib64/httpd/modules/mod_rpaf.so
rm -rf /usr/local/apache/modules/mod_rpaf.so
rm -rf /usr/local/apache/conf.d/rpaf.c
```

- Restart Apache using this command

```
service httpd restart
```

- Your server should be back to using Apache, and not NGINX

**That will be all. Cheers!**