How to Install NGINX Mainline on Debian 12

Introduction

Before we discuss how to install NGINX mainline on Debian 12, let's first understand-What is Nginx Mainline?

Nginx Mainline is the development version of the popular web server, Nginx. It provides the latest features, bug fixes, and performance improvements. Utilizing Nginx's state-of-the-art features is possible when you install Nginx Mainline on Debian 12.

This tutorial will walk you through the process of installing Nginx Mainline on Debian 12.

Advantages

1. Latest Features and Enhancements: Nginx Mainline offers the most recent updates, ensuring access to the latest features, performance optimizations, and security enhancements.
2. Enhanced Performance: Nginx is known for its high-performance architecture and efficient resource utilization, allowing it to handle many concurrent connections and requests.
3. Flexible Configuration Options: Nginx provides extensive configuration options, allowing fine-tuning and customization to meet specific requirements and optimize server performance.
4. Ease of Use: Nginx is designed with ease-of-use in mind, providing clear documentation and a user-friendly configuration syntax that simplifies server setup and management.
5. Support and Community: Nginx has a large and active community of users and developers, ensuring access to support, troubleshooting resources, and a wealth of community-contributed modules and extensions.

Nginx Mainline Pre-Installation Steps on Debian 12

Step 1: Update Debian System Packages

Making sure your Debian system is up-to-date is the first step. By doing this, you can be confident that all of your packages and security fixes are up-to-date. You must first run the following command in your terminal in order to update the packages themselves as well as the package list:

sudo apt update

To update any out-of-date packages, use the command below:

sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Required Packages

The current Nginx mainline version can be installed on your Debian system using one of two methods, both of which could need extra packages. What's needed can be installed with the following command:

sudo apt install curl gnupg2 ca-certificates lsb-release dirmngr software-properties-common apt-transport-https -y

Most may be installed already, but re-run this command to ensure they are.

Install Nginx Mainline on Debian 12 via Nginx.org

By using the official APT repository of nginx.org, the most recent stable or mainline version of Nginx is obtained directly. If you want to be the first to know when a new version of Nginx is published, this is the best version.

Step 1: Import nginx.org GPG Key on Debian

The Nginx GPG key needs to be downloaded and added first. To confirm the validity of the packages we'll install, we need this key:

curl -fSsL https://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key | sudo gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/nginx-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null

The GPG key will now be used to confirm that the key was successfully imported:

gpg --dry-run --quiet --import --import-options import-show /usr/share/keyrings/nginx-archive-keyring.gpg

You should see the result verifying the details of the key, if the import was successful.

Example output:

pub   rsa2048 2011-08-19 [SC] [expires: 2024-06-14]
      573BFD6B3D8FBC641079A6ABABF5BD827BD9BF62
uid                      nginx signing key <[email protected]>

Step 3: Import Nginx.org APT Repository on Debian

We may add the Nginx Mainline or Stable repository to our APT package manager list now that the GPG key is safely stored.

Use this method to import the Nginx Mainline repository:

echo "deb [arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nginx-archive-keyring.gpg] http://nginx.org/packages/mainline/debian `lsb_release -cs` nginx" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx.list

Or in the case of the Nginx Stable repository:

echo "deb [arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nginx-archive-keyring.gpg] http://nginx.org/packages/debian `lsb_release -cs` nginx" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx.list

Setting up APT pinning to favor Nginx packages from the nginx.org repository over any packages from the Debian default repository or other third-party repositories is our next goal.

This is accomplished using the following command:

echo -e "Package: *\nPin: origin nginx.org\nPin: release o=nginx\nPin-Priority: 900\n" | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/99nginx

Example output:

x\nPin-Priority: 900\n" | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/99nginx
Package: *
Pin: origin nginx.org
Pin: release o=nginx
Pin-Priority: 900

We currently need to include the latest additions into our APT repository.

sudo apt update

Step 4: Install Nginx Mainline or Stable from Nginx.org on Debian

Now that everything is configured properly, we can install Nginx:

sudo apt install nginx

It's important to confirm the installation was successful after it's finished. We may verify the installed version of Nginx to ensure proper installation:

nginx -v

Depending on the version you installed, the most recent Nginx Mainline or Stable version should be shown in the command output.

Install Nginx Mainline on Debian 12 via PPA

The second approach makes advantage of the well-known PPA through Ondřej Surþ, who many in the Ubuntu and Debian community are aware of as the person who keeps upstream releases of the Apache, Nginx, and PHP repositories.  

Although this version lacks the speed of the Nginx.org APT repository, it does have more compiled modules, one of which uses Brotli.

Step 1: Import Nginx PPA on Debian

It's simple to import the Nginx Mainline repository from the PPA by using the following command:

curl -sSL https://packages.sury.org/nginx-mainline/README.txt | sudo bash -x

If you would rather go back to the most recent stable version or utilize stable instead of mainline, you can import this version using the following command:

curl -sSL https://packages.sury.org/nginx/README.txt | sudo bash -x

To prevent conflicts, make sure you have deleted the mainline version.

Step 2: Install Nginx Mainline on Debian

Now, you can use the following command to install Nginx mainline or stable:

sudo apt install nginx

Step 3: Confirm Nginx Mainline Installation

Once Nginx is installed, run the following command to verify the installation:

nginx -v

The result ought to display the installed version of Nginx; if it corresponds with the most recent mainline version, the mainline installation was successful.

Additional Nginx Tips with Nginx PPA Installation

Setup Brotli on Nginx Mainline or Stable

Since the brotli module is included in both Nginx mainline and stable versions, you can install it by running the following command:

sudo apt install libnginx-mod-brotli

Open the Nginx configuration file you have now:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

You must add the following configuration to the HTTP block of your nginx.conf configuration file in order to activate Brotli compression on your Nginx server:

brotli on;
brotli_comp_level 6;
brotli_static on;
brotli_types application/atom+xml application/javascript application/json application/rss+xml
        application/vnd.ms-fontobject application/x-font-opentype application/x-font-truetype
        application/x-font-ttf application/x-javascript application/xhtml+xml application/xml
        font/eot font/opentype font/otf font/truetype image/svg+xml image/vnd.microsoft.icon
        image/x-icon image/x-win-bitmap text/css text/javascript text/plain text/xml;

To make sure there are no issues, try the nginx settings now before reloading:

sudo nginx -t

Now use the following command to test brotli compression:

curl -I --compressed http://your-server.com/some-path

In the output, look for a header that states Content-Encoding: br. This suggests the application of Brotli compression:

Content-Encoding: br

FAQs to Install Nginx Mainline on Debian 12

Conclusion

Upgrading web server solutions means installing Nginx mainline or stable from the nginx.org repository or PPA on a Debian Linux distribution. As we've seen, the procedure is simple but guarantees that your server has the most recent, secure, and dependable version of Nginx installed.

Please feel free to ask any queries you may have in the comments section.