nginx Cookbook

Installs nginx from package OR source code and sets up configuration handling similar to Debian's Apache2 scripts.

READ THIS FIRST

After having struggled with the cookbook format and the interfaces being brittle, the maintainers have decided to begin rewriting the core implmenetation of the nginx cookbook from the ground up, to allow for better flexibility, testability and maintianability.

To this end, we request that you not open new issues for the existing codebase.

Pull requests for bugs will be merged, any obvious optimizations and clarifications will be merged, and a 2.7.5 release will be shipped, and we will focus on writing the 3.0.0 version.

Thank you for your help on this front!

-- The Maintainers

---

Requirements

Cookbooks

The following cookbooks are direct dependencies because they're used for common "default" functionality.

• build-essential (for nginx::source)
• ohai (for nginx::ohai_plugin)

The following cookbook is not a strict dependency because its use can be controlled by an attribute, so it may not be a common "default."

• runit (for nginx::source)
• On RHEL family distros, the "yum" cookbook is required for recipe[yum::epel].
• On Ubuntu, when using Nginx.org's stable package, recipe[apt::default] is required.

Platforms

The following platforms are supported and tested under test kitchen:

• Ubuntu 10.04, Ubuntu 12.04
• CentOS 5.8, 6.3

Other Debian and RHEL family distributions are assumed to work.

Attributes

Node attributes for this cookbook are logically separated into different files. Some attributes are set only via a specific recipe.

default

Generally used attributes. Some have platform specific values. See attributes/default.rb. "The Config" refers to "nginx.conf" the main config file.

• node['nginx']['dir'] - Location for Nginx configuration.
• node['nginx']['conf_template'] - The source template to use when creating the nginx.conf.
• node['nginx']['conf_cookbook'] - The cookbook where node['nginx']['conf_template'] resides.
• node['nginx']['log_dir'] - Location for Nginx logs.
• node['nginx']['log_dir_perm'] - Permissions for Nginx logs folder.
• node['nginx']['user'] - User that Nginx will run as.
• node['nginx']['group] - Group for Nginx.
• node['nginx']['port'] - Port for nginx to listen on.
• node['nginx']['binary'] - Path to the Nginx binary.
• node['nginx']['init_style'] - How to run Nginx as a service when using nginx::source. Values can be "runit", "upstart", "init" or "bluepill". When using runit or bluepill, those recipes will be included as well and are dependencies of this cookbook. Recipes are not included for upstart, it is assumed that upstart is built into the platform you are using (ubuntu or el6). This attribute is not used in the nginx recipe because the package manager's init script style for the platform is assumed. Upstart is never set as a default as this represents a change in behavior, if you are running ubuntu or el6 and want to use upstart, please set this attribute in a role or similar.
• node['nginx']['upstart']['foreground'] - Set this to true if you want upstart to run nginx in the foreground, set to false if you want upstart to detach and track the process via pid.
• node['nginx']['upstart']['runlevels'] - String of runlevels in the format '2345' which determines which runlevels nginx will start at when entering and stop at when leaving.
• node['nginx']['upstart']['respawn_limit'] - Respawn limit in upstart stanza format, count followed by space followed by interval in seconds.
• node['nginx']['pid'] - Location of the PID file.
• node['nginx']['keepalive'] - Whether to use keepalive_timeout, any value besides "on" will leave that option out of the config.
• node['nginx']['keepalive_requests'] - used for config value of keepalive_requests.
• node['nginx']['keepalive_timeout'] - used for config value of keepalive_timeout.
• node['nginx']['worker_processes'] - used for config value of worker_processes.
• node['nginx']['worker_connections'] - used for config value of events { worker_connections }
• node['nginx']['worker_rlimit_nofile'] - used for config value of worker_rlimit_nofile. Can replace any "ulimit -n" command. The value depend on your usage (cache or not) but must always be superior than worker_connections.
• node['nginx']['multi_accept'] - used for config value of events { multi_accept }. Try to accept() as many connections as possible. Disable by default.
• node['nginx']['event'] - used for config value of events { use }. Set the event-model. By default nginx looks for the most suitable method for your OS.
• node['nginx']['accept_mutex_delay'] - used for config value of accept_mutex_delay
• node['nginx']['server_tokens'] - used for config value of server_tokens.
• node['nginx']['server_names_hash_bucket_size'] - used for config value of server_names_hash_bucket_size.
• node['nginx']['disable_access_log'] - set to true to disable the general access log, may be useful on high traffic sites.
• node['nginx']['access_log_options'] - Set to a string of additional options to be appended to the access log directive
• node['nginx']['error_log_options'] - Set to a string of additional options to be appended to the error log directive
• node['nginx']['default_site_enabled'] - enable the default site
• node['nginx']['sendfile'] - Whether to use sendfile. Defaults to "on".
• node['nginx']['tcp_nopush'] - Whether to use tcp_nopush. Defaults to "on".
• node['nginx']['tcp_nodelay'] - Whether to use tcp_nodelay. Defaults to "on".
• node['nginx']['install_method'] - Whether nginx is installed from packages or from source.
• node['nginx']['types_hash_max_size'] - Used for the types_hash_max_size configuration directive.
• node['nginx']['types_hash_bucket_size'] - Used for the types_hash_bucket_size configuration directive.
• node['nginx']['proxy_read_timeout'] - defines a timeout (between two successive read operations) for reading a response from the proxied server.
• node['nginx']['client_body_buffer_size'] - used for config value of client_body_buffer_size.
• node['nginx']['client_max_body_size'] - specifies the maximum accepted body size of a client request, as indicated by the request header Content-Length.
• node['nginx']['repo_source'] - when installed from a package this attribute affects which yum repositories, if any, will be added before installing the nginx package. The default value of 'epel' will use the yum::epel recipe, 'nginx' will use the nginx::repo recipe, 'passenger' will use the 'nginx::repo_passenger' recipe, and setting no value will not add any additional repositories.

• node['nginx']['sts_max_age'] - Enable Strict Transport Security for all apps (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Strict_Transport_Security). This attribute adds the following header:

  Strict-Transport-Security max-age=SECONDS

to all incoming requests and takes an integer (in seconds) as its argument.

• node['nginx']['default']['modules'] - Array specifying which modules to enable via the conf-enabled config include function. Currently the only valid value is "socketproxy".

Other configurations

• node['nginx']['extra_configs'] - a Hash of key/values to nginx configuration.

Rate Limiting

• node['nginx']['enable_rate_limiting'] - set to true to enable rate limiting (limit_req_zone in nginx.conf)
• node['nginx']['rate_limiting_zone_name'] - sets the zone in limit_req_zone.
• node['nginx']['rate_limiting_backoff'] - sets the backoff time for limit_req_zone.
• node['nginx']['rate_limit'] - set the rate limit amount for limit_req_zone.

gzip module

• node['nginx']['gzip'] - Whether to use gzip, can be "on" or "off"
• node['nginx']['gzip_http_version'] - used for config value of gzip_http_version.
• node['nginx']['gzip_comp_level'] - used for config value of gzip_comp_level.
• node['nginx']['gzip_proxied'] - used for config value of gzip_proxied.
• node['nginx']['gzip_vary'] - used for config value of gzip_vary.
• node['nginx']['gzip_buffers'] - used for config value of gzip_buffers.
• node['nginx']['gzip_types'] - used for config value of gzip_types - must be an Array.
• node['nginx']['gzip_min_length'] - used for config value of gzip_min_length.
• node['nginx']['gzip_disable'] - used for config value of gzip_disable.
• node['nginx']['gzip_static'] - used for config value of gzip_static (http_gzip_static_module must be enabled)

Attributes set in recipes

nginx::source

• node['nginx']['daemon_disable'] - Whether the daemon should be disabled which can be true or false; disable the daemon (run in the foreground) when using a service supervisor such as runit or bluepill for "init_style". This is automatically set in the nginx::source recipe when the init style is not bluepill or runit.

nginx::authorized_ips

• node['nginx']['remote_ip_var'] - The remote ip variable name to use.
• node['nginx']['authorized_ips'] - IPs authorized by the module

nginx::http_realip_module

From: http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_realip_module.html

• node['nginx']['realip']['header'] - Header to use for the RealIp Module; only accepts "X-Forwarded-For" or "X-Real-IP"
• node['nginx']['realip']['addresses'] - Addresses to use for the http_realip configuration.
• node['nginx']['realip']['real_ip_recursive'] - If recursive search is enabled, the original client address that matches one of the trusted addresses is replaced by the last non-trusted address sent in the request header field. Can be on "on" or "off" (default).

source

These attributes are used in the nginx::source recipe. Some of them are dynamically modified during the run. See attributes/source.rb for default values.

• node['nginx']['source']['url'] - (versioned) URL for the Nginx source code. By default this will use the version specified as node['nginx']['version'].
• node['nginx']['source']['prefix'] - (versioned) prefix for installing nginx from source
• node['nginx']['source']['conf_path'] - location of the main config file, in node['nginx']['dir'] by default.
• node['nginx']['source']['modules'] - Array of modules that should be compiled into Nginx by including their recipes in nginx::source.
• node['nginx']['source']['default_configure_flags'] - The default flags passed to the configure script when building Nginx.
• node['nginx']['configure_flags'] - Preserved for compatibility and dynamically generated from the node['nginx']['source']['default_configure_flags'] in the nginx::source recipe.

• node['nginx']['source']['use_existing_user'] - set to true if you do not want nginx::source recipe to create system user with name node['nginx']['user'].

geoip

These attributes are used in the nginx::http_geoip_module recipe. Please note that the country_dat_checksum and city_dat_checksum are based on downloads from a datacenter in Fremont, CA, USA. You really should override these with checksums for the geo tarballs from your node location.

Note The upstream, maxmind.com, may block access for repeated downloads of the data files. It is recommended that you download and host the data files, and change the URLs in the attributes.

• node['nginx']['geoip']['path'] - Location where to install the geoip libraries.
• node['nginx']['geoip']['enable_city'] - Whether to enable City data
• node['nginx']['geoip']['country_dat_url'] - Country data tarball URL
• node['nginx']['geoip']['country_dat_checksum'] - Country data tarball checksum
• node['nginx']['geoip']['city_dat_url'] - City data tarball URL
• node['nginx']['geoip']['city_dat_checksum'] - City data tarball checksum
• node['nginx']['geoip']['lib_version'] - Version of the GeoIP library to install
• node['nginx']['geoip']['lib_url'] - (Versioned) Tarball URL of the GeoIP library
• node['nginx']['geoip']['lib_checksum'] - Checksum of the GeoIP library tarball

upload_progress

These attributes are used in the nginx::upload_progress_module recipe.

• node['nginx']['upload_progress']['url'] - URL for the tarball.
• node['nginx']['upload_progress']['checksum'] - Checksum of the tarball.
• node['nginx']['upload_progress']['javascript_output'] - Output in javascript. Default is true for backwards compatibility.
• node['nginx']['upload_progress']['zone_name'] - Zone name which will be used to store the per-connection tracking information. Default is proxied.
• node['nginx']['upload_progress']['zone_size'] - Zone size in bytes. Default is 1m (1 megabyte).

passenger

These attributes are used in the nginx::passenger recipe.

• node['nginx']['passenger']['version'] - passenger gem version
• node['nginx']['passenger']['root'] - passenger gem root path
• node['nginx']['passenger']['install_rake'] - set to false if rake already present on system
• node['nginx']['passenger']['max_pool_size'] - maximum passenger pool size (default=10)
• node['nginx']['passenger']['ruby'] - Ruby path for Passenger to use (default=$(which ruby))
• node['nginx']['passenger']['spawn_method'] - passenger spawn method to use (default=smart-lv2)
• node['nginx']['passenger']['buffer_response'] - turns on or off response buffering (default=on)
• node['nginx']['passenger']['max_pool_size'] - passenger maximum pool size (default=6)
• node['nginx']['passenger']['min_instances'] - minimum instances (default=1)
• node['nginx']['passenger']['max_instances_per_app'] - maximum instances per app (default=0)
• node['nginx']['passenger']['pool_idle_time'] - passenger pool idle time (default=300)
• node['nginx']['passenger']['max_requests'] - maximum requests (default=0)
• node['nginx']['passenger']['nodejs'] - Nodejs path for Passenger to use (default=nil)

Basic configuration to use the official Phusion Passenger repositories:

• node['nginx']['repo_source'] - 'passenger'
• node['nginx']['package_name'] - 'nginx-extras'
• node['nginx']['passenger']['install_method'] - 'package'

echo

These attributes are used in the nginx::http_echo_module recipe.

• node['nginx']['echo']['version'] - The version of http_echo you want (default: 0.40)
• node['nginx']['echo']['url'] - URL for the tarball.
• node['nginx']['echo']['checksum'] - Checksum of the tarball.

status

These attributes are used in the nginx::http_stub_status_module recipe.

• node['nginx']['status']['port'] - The port on which nginx will serve the status info (default: 8090)

syslog

These attributes are used in the nginx::syslog_module recipe.

• node['nginx']['syslog']['git_repo'] - The git repository url to use for the syslog patches.
• node['nginx']['syslog']['git_revision'] - The revision on the git repository to checkout.

openssl_source

These attributes are used in the nginx::openssl_source recipe.

• node['nginx']['openssl_source']['version'] - The version of OpenSSL you want to download and use (default: 1.0.1e)
• node['nginx']['openssl_source']['url'] - The url for the OpenSSL source

socketproxy.rb

These attributes are used in the nginx::socketproxy recipe.

• node['nginx']['socketproxy']['root'] - The directory (on your server) where socketproxy apps are deployed.
• node['nginx']['socketproxy']['default_app'] - Static assets directory for requests to "/" that don't meet any proxy_pass filter requirements.
• node['nginx']['socketproxy']['apps']['app_name']['prepend_slash'] - Prepend a slash to requests to app "app_name" before sending them to the socketproxy socket.
• node['nginx']['socketproxy']['apps']['app_name']['context_name'] - URI (e.g. "app_name" in order to achieve "http://mydomain.com/app_name") at which to host the application "app_name"
• node['nginx']['socketproxy']['apps']['app_name']['subdir'] - Directory (under node['nginx']['socketproxy']['root']) in which to find the application.

Recipes

This cookbook provides three main recipes for installing Nginx.

• default.rb - Use this recipe if you have a native package for Nginx.
• repo.rb - The developer of Nginx also maintain stable packages for several platforms.
• source.rb - Use this recipe if you do not have a native package for Nginx, or if you want to install a newer version than is available, or if you have custom module compilation needs.

Several recipes are related to the source recipe specifically. See that recipe's section below for a description.

default

The default recipe will install Nginx as a native package for the system through the package manager and sets up the configuration according to the Debian site enable/disable style with sites-enabled using the nxensite and nxdissite scripts. The nginx service will be managed with the normal init scripts that are presumably included in the native package.

Includes the ohai_plugin recipe so the plugin is available.

socketproxy

This will add socketproxy support to your nginx proxy setup. Do not include this recipe directly. Instead, add it to the node['nginx']['default']['modules'] array (see below).

ohai_plugin

This recipe provides an Ohai plugin as a template. It is included by both the default and source recipes.

authorized_ips

Sets up configuration for the authorized_ip nginx module.

source

This recipe is responsible for building Nginx from source. It ensures that the required packages to build Nginx are installed (pcre, openssl, compile tools). The source will be downloaded from the node['nginx']['source']['url']. The node['nginx']['user'] will be created as a system user. If you want to use existing user set node['nginx']['source']['use_existing_user'] to true. The appropriate configuration and log directories and config files will be created as well according to the attributes node['nginx']['dir'] and node['nginx']['log_dir'].

The recipe attempts to detect whether additional modules should be added to the configure command through recipe inclusion (see below), and whether the version or configuration flags have changed and should trigger a recompile.

The nginx service will be set up according to node['nginx']['init_style']. Available options are:

• runit: uses runit cookbook and sets up runit_service.
• bluepill: uses bluepill cookbook and sets up bluepill_service.
• anything else (e.g., "init") will use the nginx init script template.

RHEL/CentOS This recipe should work on RHEL/CentOS with "init" as the init style.

The following recipes are used to build module support into Nginx. To use a module in the nginx::source recipe, add its recipe name to the attribute node['nginx']['source']['modules'].

• ipv6.rb - enables IPv6 support
• http_echo_module.rb - downloads the http_echo_module module and enables it as a module when compiling nginx.
• http_geoip_module.rb - installs the GeoIP libraries and data files and enables the module for compilation.
• http_gzip_static_module.rb - enables the module for compilation. Be sure to set node['nginx']['gzip_static'] = 'yes'.
• http_perl_module.rb - enables embedded Perl for compilation.
• http_realip_module.rb - enables the module for compilation and creates the configuration.
• http_ssl_module.rb - enables SSL for compilation.
• http_stub_status_module.rb - provides nginx_status configuration and enables the module for compilation.
• naxsi_module - enables the naxsi module for the web application firewall for nginx.
• passenger - builds the passenger gem and configuration for "mod_passenger".
• syslog - enables syslog support for nginx. This only works with source builds. See https://github.com/yaoweibin/nginx_syslog_patch
• upload_progress_module.rb - builds the upload_progress module and enables it as a module when compiling nginx.
• openssl_source.rb - downloads and uses custom OpenSSL source when compiling nginx

Definitions

The cookbook provides a new definition. At some point in the future this definition may be refactored into a lightweight resource and provider as suggested by foodcritic rule FC015.

nginx_site

Enable or disable a Server Block in #{node['nginx']['dir']}/sites-available by calling nxensite or nxdissite (introduced by this cookbook) to manage the symbolic link in #{node['nginx']['dir']}/sites-enabled.

The template for the site must be managed as a separate resource.

Parameters:

• name - Name of the site.
• enable - Default true, which uses nxensite to enable the site. If false, the site will be disabled with nxdissite.

Adding New Modules

To add a new module to be compiled into nginx in the source recipe, the node's run state is manipulated in a recipe, and the module as a recipe should be added to node['nginx']['source']['modules']. For example:

node.run_state['nginx_configure_flags'] =
  node.run_state['nginx_configure_flags'] | ['--with-http_stub_status_module']

The recipe will be included by recipe[nginx::source] automatically, adding the configure flags. Add any other configuration templates or other resources as required. See the recipes described above for examples.

Ohai Plugin

The ohai_plugin recipe includes an Ohai plugin. It will be automatically installed and activated, providing the following attributes via ohai, no matter how nginx is installed (source or package):

• node['nginx']['version'] - version of nginx
• node['nginx']['configure_arguments'] - options passed to ./configure when nginx was built
• node['nginx']['prefix'] - installation prefix
• node['nginx']['conf_path'] - configuration file path

In the source recipe, it is used to determine whether control attributes for building nginx have changed.

Usage

Include the recipe on your node or role that fits how you wish to install Nginx on your system per the recipes section above. Modify the attributes as required in your role to change how various configuration is applied per the attributes section above. In general, override attributes in the role should be used when changing attributes.

There's some redundancy in that the config handling hasn't been separated from the installation method (yet), so use only one of the recipes, default or source.

License & Authors

• Author:: Joshua Timberman (joshua@chef.io)
• Author:: Adam Jacob (adam@chef.io)
• Author:: AJ Christensen (aj@chef.io)
• Author:: Jamie Winsor (jamie@vialstudios.com)
• Author:: Mike Fiedler (miketheman@gmail.com)

Copyright 2008-2014, Chef Software, Inc

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.