Compiling Nginx

Nginx modules must be selected at compile-time. A full summary of the compile-time options, including optional modules, can be found in the install guide.

Example:

./configure \
  --prefix=/usr \
  --sbin-path=/usr/sbin/nginx \
  --conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf \
  --error-log-path=/var/log/nginx/error.log \
  --pid-path=/var/run/nginx/nginx.pid  \
  --lock-path=/var/lock/nginx.lock \
  --user=nginx \
  --group=nginx \
  --with-http_ssl_module \
  --with-http_flv_module \
  --with-http_gzip_static_module \
  --http-log-path=/var/log/nginx/access.log \
  --http-client-body-temp-path=/var/tmp/nginx/client/ \
  --http-proxy-temp-path=/var/tmp/nginx/proxy/ \
  --http-fastcgi-temp-path=/var/tmp/nginx/fcgi/

The most current list of modules and compile options is always available with "./configure --help"

Nginx core modules

These modules are required.

Name	Description
Main	Configure error logging, processes, permissions, etc.
Events	Configure epoll, kqueue, select, poll, etc.

Standard HTTP modules

These modules are automatically compiled in unless explicitly disabled with configure.

Name	Description	Version	configure argument to disable
Core	Control ports, locations, error pages, aliases, and other essentials.		--without-http
Access	Allow/deny based on IP address.		--without-http_access_module
Auth Basic	Basic HTTP authentication.		--without-http_auth_basic_module
Auto Index	Generates automatic directory listings.		--without-http_autoindex_module
Browser	Interpret "User-Agent" string.		--without-http_browser_module
Charset	Recode web pages.		--without-http_charset_module
Empty GIF	Serve a 1x1 image from memory.		--without-http_empty_gif_module
FastCGI	FastCGI Support.		--without-http_fastcgi_module
Geo	Set config variables using key/value pairs of IP addresses.		--without-http_geo_module
Gzip	Gzip responses.		--without-http_gzip_module
Headers	Set arbitrary HTTP response headers.
Index	Controls which files are to be used as index.
Limit Requests	Limit frequency of connections from a client.	0.7.20	--without-http_limit_req_module
Limit Zone	Limit simultaneous connections from a client.		--without-http_limit_zone_module
Log	Customize access logs.
Map	Set config variables using arbitrary key/value pairs.		--without-http_map_module
Memcached	Memcached support.		--without-http_memcached_module
Proxy	Proxy to upstream servers.		--without-http_proxy_module
Referer	Filter requests based on `Referer` header.		--without-http_referer_module
Rewrite	Request rewriting using regular expressions.		--without-http_rewrite_module
scgi	scgi protocol support.	0.8.42	--without-http_scgi_module
Split Clients	?	0.8.37	--without-http_split_clients_module
SSI	Server-side includes.		--without-http_ssi_module
Upstream	For load-balancing.		--without-http_upstream_ip_hash_module (ip_hash directive only)
User ID	Issue identifying cookies.		--without-http_userid_module
uwsgi	uwsgi protocol support.	0.8.40	--without-http_uwsgi_module

Optional HTTP modules

The following modules must be enabled at compile-time with the specified option to configure.

Name	Description	Version	configure argument to enable
Addition	Append text to pages.		--with-http_addition_module
Degradation	?	0.8.25	--with-http_degradation_module
Embedded Perl	Use Perl in Nginx config files.		--with-http_perl_module
FLV	Flash Streaming Video		--with-http_flv_module
GeoIP	Creates variables with information from the MaxMind GeoIP binary files.	0.8.6, 0.7.63	--with-http_geoip_module
Google Perftools	Google Performance Tools support.	0.6.29	--with-google_perftools_module
Gzip Precompression	Serves precompressed versions of static files.	0.6.23	--with-http_gzip_static_module
Image Filter	Transform images with Libgd	0.7.54	--with-http_image_filter_module
Random Index	Randomize directory indexes.	0.7.15	--with-http_random_index_module
Real IP	For using nginx as backend		--with-http_realip_module
Secure Link	Protect pages with a secret key.	0.7.18	--with-http_secure_link_module
SSL	HTTPS/SSL support.		--with-http_ssl_module
Stub Status	View server statistics.		--with-http_stub_status_module
Substitution	Replace text in pages		--with-http_sub_module
WebDAV	WebDAV pass-through support.		--with-http_dav_module
XSLT	Post-process pages with XSLT.	0.7.8	--with-http_xslt_module

Mail modules

Name	Description	configure argument
Core	Nginx is able to handle and proxy the IMAP, POP3, SMTP protocols.	--with-mail --without-mail_pop3_module --without-mail_imap_module --without-mail_smtp_module
Auth	Use Nginx to authenticate mail services.
Proxy	Nginx can proxy IMAP, POP3, and SMTP protocols.
SSL	This module ensures SSL/TLS support for POP3/IMAP/SMTP.	--with-mail_ssl_module