How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10

Nginx is a very popular web server with Linux and BSD systems. Many people think that Nginx cannot be installed on Windows. That's not true because this web server can actually be installed on Windows 10.

However, according to Nginx's own website, there are a few performance limitations that have not been fixed until now. They only include a successful, non-scalable web application, and possible UDP authentication issues.

Up to now, Nginx has mentioned that it will solve all problems in future releases for Windows. To successfully install and run Nginx on Windows 10, follow the steps below.

Download Nginx server

There are many download versions of Nginx for Windows and Nginx recommends using the main version. However, you will not see any problems, if you download the most recent stable version for Windows.

Select the latest zip file and download it to a new folder.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 1

As a first step, you need to extract the new directory. You can use 7-zip, WinRAR or any other popular decompression software.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 2

After extracting the file contents in the root directory, you must move the entire directory with the integrated download copy. The example will move the directory to 'Program Files'.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 3

Paste the folder in the program files. The example will run Nginx from this location as a web service program.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 4

Install Nginx

To install and run Nginx, select and double-click the Nginx.exe file . Now it has been activated for use.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 5

In the next step, you need to verify that the installation was successful. To do this, you can access your default browser and enter 'localhost'. If you see the following screen, indicating that Nginx web server has been successfully installed and working, there will be no problems during the installation of Windows 10.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 6

To stop Nginx, you can end it from the Task Manager window.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 7

Run Nginx on a Windows PC

To run Nginx, you must use Internet Information Services (IIS ), a Microsoft web server that provides the requested HTML pages or files. You can enable it from 'Turn Windows Features On or Off' on the Control Panel . Check the required fields 'Web Management Tools' and 'IIS Management Console' .

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 8

It will take a while for IIS to be enabled on the computer when the changes are applied.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 9

You can open IIS Manager directly from the Start menu . Here, you will be able to access the default website, usually located at 'inetpub wwwroot'. This is also known as web application root.

Changing the root's physical path to a desired directory is useful. The example created a new folder named 'Work' in C: and changed the physical path to C: Work.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 10

Then go to the Nginx folder that you have renamed in Program Files . Click on Conf and select 'nginx.conf'. This file can be edited with Notepad ++ text editor.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 11

In Notepad ++, change the root to an edited physical path like the one discussed above.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 12

You can edit the index.html file in the root directory on a separate tab. Change the text to what you want the web server to display on the screen.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 13

Now, run the Nginx.exe program again and type 'localhost' on the browser window. Nginx web server will highlight the edits you have made.

How to install and run Nginx Server on Windows 10 Picture 14

The Nginx resource website has a complete list of web server applications that you can use to run many different applications on your Windows PC. Reference at:

 https://www.nginx.com/resources/wiki/start/ 

Nginx is one of the leading web server companies expected to eclipse Apache in the future. Nginx server is faster, can handle many concurrent problems and is very reliable. In short, if you have a simple website that wants to connect to Nginx, you can do it right now without any problems.

Have you tried installing and running Nginx on Windows systems? What problems do you encounter? Let everyone know in the comments below!

Hope you are succesful.