This chapter covered a number of critical steps. We first made sure that your system contained all the required components for compiling Nginx. We then proceeded to select the proper version branch for your usage – will you be using the stable version or a more advanced yet potentially less stable one? After downloading the source and configuring the compilation process by enabling or disabling features and modules such as SSL, GeoIP, and more, we compiled the application and installed it on the system in the directory of your choice. We created an init script and modified the system boot sequence to schedule for the service to be started.

From this point on, Nginx is installed on your server and automatically starts with the system. Your web server is functional, though it does not yet answer the most basic functionality – serving a website. The first step towards hosting a website will be to prepare a suitable configuration file. The next chapter will cover the basic configuration of Nginx and will teach you how to optimize performance based on the expected audience and system resources.