NGINX server block Generator

Fresh server, files already in /var/www, and the only thing missing is the block nginx will read. It is always the same shape, yet a semicolon goes missing or try_files comes out wrong. Fill in server_name, port, root and index, decide whether you want gzip, and the block appears complete with access_log, error_log and a root location. The Copy button drops it on your clipboard.

One thing about the gzip directive: nginx always compresses text/html, which is why that type never appears in gzip_types and adding it changes nothing. The list covers everything else. Watch JavaScript in particular: the output lists application/javascript, but depending on the version nginx serves .js as text/javascript, which then falls outside the list. Check with curl -H "Accept-Encoding: gzip" -I and adjust.

Save it in /etc/nginx/sites-available with a symlink in sites-enabled (Debian and Ubuntu) or straight into /etc/nginx/conf.d/your-site.conf, then run nginx -t before reloading. The generated try_files ends in =404, which is right for a static site; for an SPA with client-side routing, replace =404 with /index.html. No TLS comes out of this: typing 443 ssl in the listen field produces a block with no ssl_certificate and nginx -t will reject it.