How to Install Nginx on Ubuntu (26.04, 24.04 and 22.04)

Updated: May 2026 | Covers APT and official Nginx repository methods | Ubuntu 26.04 (Resolute Raccoon), 24.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS

Nginx is the world’s most widely used web server, powering everything from personal blogs to the largest sites on the internet. If you want to know how to install Nginx on Ubuntu, you have two main paths: the Ubuntu APT repository, which is the simplest option, or the official Nginx repository, which gives you the latest upstream version. This guide covers both methods across all three active Ubuntu LTS releases, with firewall configuration, virtual host setup, SSL, and troubleshooting included.

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Nginx versions by Ubuntu release — what you get from APT

Before you install, it is worth knowing which version of Nginx comes with your Ubuntu release out of the box:

Ubuntu release	Nginx version (APT default)	Nginx latest stable (upstream)
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon)	1.28.3	1.30.1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)	1.24.0	1.30.1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)	1.18.0	1.30.1

The latest stable Nginx release is 1.30.1, released on May 13, 2026, which includes fixes for multiple CVEs including an HTTP/2 request injection vulnerability. If you are running a production server and need the latest security patches and features, use Method 2 (the official Nginx repository) instead of the default APT package.

For most development environments and low-traffic servers, the APT default is perfectly fine. For production, use the official Nginx repo.

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Method 1 — How to install Nginx on Ubuntu using APT (simplest)

This is the fastest way to install Nginx on Ubuntu. The package is maintained by Canonical and integrates cleanly with Ubuntu’s systemd, UFW firewall, and standard file layout.

Step 1: Update the package index

bash

sudo apt update

Step 2: Install Nginx

bash

sudo apt install nginx

Ubuntu automatically starts and enables the Nginx service during installation on all supported LTS releases — you do not need a separate start command.

Step 3: Verify Nginx is running

bash

sudo systemctl status nginx

You should see active (running) in the output. If not, start it manually:

bash

sudo systemctl enable --now nginx

Step 4: Check the installed version

bash

nginx -v

Expected output per release:

• Ubuntu 26.04: nginx version: nginx/1.28.3 (Ubuntu)
• Ubuntu 24.04: nginx version: nginx/1.24.0 (Ubuntu)
• Ubuntu 22.04: nginx version: nginx/1.18.0 (Ubuntu)

Step 5: Test in a browser

Open a browser and navigate to your server’s IP address:

http://your_server_ip

You should see the default Nginx welcome page. To find your server’s IP:

bash

ip addr show | grep "inet " | grep -v 127.0.0.1

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Method 2 — How to install Nginx on Ubuntu from the official Nginx repository (latest version)

Use this method if you need Nginx 1.30.1 (the current stable release) or want access to the latest security patches independently of Ubuntu’s release cycle.

Step 1: Install prerequisites

bash

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y curl gnupg2 ca-certificates lsb-release ubuntu-keyring

Step 2: Import the official Nginx signing key

bash

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

Verify the key fingerprint:

bash

gpg --dry-run --quiet --no-keyring --import --import-options import-show \
    /usr/share/keyrings/nginx-archive-keyring.gpg

The output should contain 573BFD6B3D8FBC641079A6ABABF5BD827BD9BF62. If it doesn’t match, remove the file and do not continue.

Step 3: Add the Nginx stable repository

bash

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nginx-archive-keyring.gpg] \
http://nginx.org/packages/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) nginx" \
    | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx.list

Step 4: Pin the Nginx repository to take priority over Ubuntu’s default

bash

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

Step 5: Install Nginx

bash

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Step 6: Verify the version

bash

nginx -v

You should now see nginx version: nginx/1.30.1.

Step 7: Start and enable

bash

sudo systemctl enable --now nginx
sudo systemctl status nginx

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Configure UFW firewall

Ubuntu’s UFW firewall blocks incoming connections by default. Nginx registers application profiles with UFW automatically — use them to open the correct ports.

Check available Nginx profiles:

bash

sudo ufw app list

You should see three Nginx profiles:

• Nginx HTTP — opens port 80 only
• Nginx HTTPS — opens port 443 only
• Nginx Full — opens both port 80 and 443

Allow HTTP and HTTPS (recommended for production):

bash

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

Allow HTTP only (development or before SSL is configured):

bash

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'

Enable UFW if it isn’t already active:

bash

sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status

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Understanding Nginx’s file structure on Ubuntu

Before editing any configuration, it helps to know where everything lives:

Path	Purpose
/etc/nginx/nginx.conf	Main Nginx configuration file
/etc/nginx/sites-available/	Available virtual host configs (inactive)
/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/	Symlinks to active virtual host configs
/var/www/html/	Default web root
/var/log/nginx/access.log	Access log
/var/log/nginx/error.log	Error log
/etc/nginx/snippets/	Reusable config fragments (e.g. SSL settings)

The sites-available / sites-enabled pattern means you create config files in sites-available and enable them by symlinking to sites-enabled — a clean way to switch virtual hosts on and off without deleting files.

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Set up a virtual host (server block)

A virtual host (called a server block in Nginx) lets you serve multiple websites from the same server. Here’s how to set one up for a domain called example.com.

Step 1: Create the web root directory

bash

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/html
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/example.com/html
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/example.com

Step 2: Create a test page

bash

echo "<h1>Welcome to example.com on Nginx</h1>" | sudo tee /var/www/example.com/html/index.html

Step 3: Create the server block configuration

bash

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

Paste the following:

nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;
}

Step 4: Enable the site

bash

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Step 5: Test the configuration

Always test before reloading — a syntax error in an Nginx config will prevent the service from restarting:

bash

sudo nginx -t

Expected output:

nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

Step 6: Reload Nginx

bash

sudo systemctl reload nginx

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Enable HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt (free SSL)

Once your domain is pointing to the server, add HTTPS with Certbot in two commands.

Install Certbot:

bash

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Obtain and install the certificate:

bash

sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com

Certbot automatically modifies your Nginx server block to handle HTTPS and sets up an auto-renewal cron job. Test renewal works correctly:

bash

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

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Essential Nginx management commands

bash

# Check status
sudo systemctl status nginx

# Start Nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

# Stop Nginx
sudo systemctl stop nginx

# Reload config without dropping connections (use this for config changes)
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Restart Nginx (drops active connections)
sudo systemctl restart nginx

# Test configuration syntax
sudo nginx -t

# View the access log in real time
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log

# View the error log in real time
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log

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Upgrade to the latest Nginx version on Ubuntu 24.04 or 22.04

If you installed Nginx via APT on Ubuntu 24.04 or 22.04 and want to upgrade to Nginx 1.30.1 without reinstalling:

Remove the existing APT installation and switch to the official repo:

bash

sudo apt remove nginx nginx-common
sudo apt autoremove

Then follow Method 2 above from Step 1. Your existing configuration files in /etc/nginx/ are preserved when you remove the package — they will be picked up automatically by the new installation.

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Troubleshooting common issues

Port 80 already in use

If Nginx fails to start with bind() to 0.0.0.0:80 failed (98: Address already in use), something else is using port 80 — often Apache:

bash

sudo ss -tlnp | grep :80
sudo systemctl stop apache2
sudo systemctl disable apache2
sudo systemctl start nginx

Permission denied on web root

If Nginx serves a 403 Forbidden error, check directory permissions:

bash

ls -la /var/www/example.com/html
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/example.com

Changes not taking effect

After editing any config file always run sudo nginx -t first, then sudo systemctl reload nginx. If you use restart instead of reload, active connections are dropped.

Nginx not starting after reboot

Check that the service is enabled:

bash

sudo systemctl is-enabled nginx
# Should return: enabled
sudo systemctl enable nginx

nginx: command not found after install

Check the binary location:

bash

which nginx
ls /usr/sbin/nginx

If the binary exists but the command isn’t found, your PATH may not include /usr/sbin. Add it:

bash

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/sbin

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Summary — how to install Nginx on Ubuntu in one command

For a quick install on any active Ubuntu LTS release:

bash

sudo apt update && sudo apt install nginx && sudo systemctl enable --now nginx

For the latest Nginx 1.30.1 from the official upstream repository:

bash

curl https://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/nginx-archive-keyring.gpg >/dev/null && echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nginx-archive-keyring.gpg] http://nginx.org/packages/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) nginx" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx.list && sudo apt update && sudo apt install nginx && sudo systemctl enable --now nginx

Both result in a running Nginx installation ready to serve traffic. The choice comes down to whether you need the convenience of Ubuntu’s packaged version or the latest upstream release with current security patches.

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