Nginx is a fast and lightweight web server that can be further optimized to improve website performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this article, we will explain how to enable Expires headers<\/strong> for static files and Gzip compression<\/strong> on Nginx. These settings can help improve page loading performance by allowing browsers to cache static content and reducing the size of files transferred between the server and client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before proceeding, make sure you have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Nginx is not installed, install and configure it before proceeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Expires headers allow browsers to cache static files for a specified period. This can reduce repeated requests to the server and improve website performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this example, we will configure caching for the following static file types:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Open the website’s Nginx configuration file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Add the following configuration inside the The Check the Nginx configuration for syntax errors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the configuration test is successful, restart Nginx:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use You should see a response similar to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The presence of the Gzip compression reduces the size of text-based files before they are sent to the client. This can reduce bandwidth usage and improve page loading times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Open the Nginx configuration file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Add or update the following configuration:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check the Nginx configuration:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If there are no errors, restart Nginx:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use the following command to check whether Gzip compression is enabled:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Enabling Expires headers<\/strong> and Gzip compression<\/strong> on Nginx can help improve website performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Expires headers allow browsers to cache static resources, reducing repeated requests to the server. Gzip compression reduces the size of supported responses, which can help reduce bandwidth usage and improve transfer times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After making any Nginx configuration changes, always run Expires headers tell the browser how long a static resource can be cached before it needs to request it again from the server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The configuration uses Gzip is a compression method that reduces the size of supported HTTP responses before they are sent to the client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to setup SSL Certificate in Nginx on Ubuntu 20.04 – Pheonix Solutions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nPrerequisites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\/etc\/nginx\/<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nImplementation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Enable Expires Headers on Nginx<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
ico | css | js | gif | jpg | jpeg | png<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
vi \/etc\/nginx\/sites-enabled\/default<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
server {}<\/code> block:<\/p>\n\n\n\nlocation ~* \\.(?:ico|css|js|gif|jpe?g|png)$ {
expires 30d;
add_header Pragma public;
add_header Cache-Control \"public\";
}<\/pre>\n\n\n\nexpires 30d;<\/code> directive tells the browser to cache the specified static files for 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\nnginx -t<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
systemctl restart nginx<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Verification<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
curl<\/code> to check whether the Expires header is being returned:<\/p>\n\n\n\ncurl -I http:\/\/domain.tld\/css\/assets.min.css<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2016 05:51:07 GMT
ETag: \"585cede3-4d843\"
Expires: Fri, 27 Jan 2017 05:51:07 GMT
Last-Modified: Fri, 23 Dec 2016 09:26:59 GMT<\/pre>\n\n\n\nExpires<\/code> header confirms that browser caching has been configured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Enable Gzip Compression<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
vi \/etc\/nginx\/nginx.conf<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
gzip on;
gzip_disable \"msie6\";
gzip_vary on;
gzip_types text\/plain text\/css application\/json application\/javascript text\/xml application\/xml application\/xml+rss text\/javascript image\/x-icon image\/svg+xml;<\/pre>\n\n\n\nnginx -t<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
systemctl restart nginx<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Verification<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
curl -I -H \"Accept-Encoding: gzip\" https:\/\/domain.tld\/css\/asset.min.css<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Cache-Control: max-age=2592000
Cache-Control: public
Content-Encoding: gzip<\/pre>\n\n\n\nContent-Encoding: gzip<\/code> header confirms that the response is being compressed using Gzip.<\/p>\n\n\n\nConclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
nginx -t<\/code> before restarting or reloading the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFAQs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. What are Expires headers?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. How long are static files cached in this configuration?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
expires 30d<\/code>, so the specified static files are cached for 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. What is Gzip compression?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Related Article<\/h2>\n\n\n\n