NGINX CLI Cheatsheet

This cheatsheet is just for the commands you can run for Nginx and is nothing to do with the configuration files.

Test The Configuration

If you make a change to your configuration and want to check that everything is okay before having the changes take effect, then use this command.

sudo nginx -t

Reload the Configs

The safest way to apply a configuration change when your nginx server is already running. If you messed up your config, the server will just keep running wit the original configuration. Refer here.

sudo nginx -s reload

Restart The Service

sudo service nginx restart

If your configs are invalid/malformed, this will result in your webserver stopping and not starting. It is safer to use the reload command above if you are just making a configuration change.

Graceful Shutdown

This will cause nginx to stop accepting new requests and finish serving any that are currently processing before stopping.

nginx -s quit

Fast Shutdown

This will terminate nginx, even in the middle of handling a request.

nginx -s stop

References

• Nginx Beginner's Guide