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Nginx

The Nginx section appears for servers that run nginx. It turns the configuration into a map, so that the sites, their targets and their problems are visible at a glance.

The Nginx screen with six sites drawn from domain through nginx to target, and a side panel for the selected site api.portway.test that reports that its upstream is not responding.
Figure 1. The Nginx map and the panel of a selected site.

How the data is read

Section titled “How the data is read”

Portway reads the configuration that nginx actually loads, with nginx -T, and adds the files of sites-available that are not enabled. Certificates are read from what nginx serves, with openssl s_client and the right server name. The proxy targets that lie on the server are checked with a TCP connection. Reading the configuration needs root. For a regular user, Portway states that and offers sudo.

The map

Section titled “The map”

Each site is one row with three parts.

  • Domain shows the name and the state of the certificate: No SSL, SSL valid for N more days or SSL expires in N days, with colors that mark what needs attention.
  • Nginx shows the listening ports and features such as :443 SSL, gzip, websocket or HTTP→HTTPS.
  • Target shows what the site does: a reverse proxy with its address, a static site with its folder, a redirect, or a fixed response. A proxy whose upstream does not answer shows not responding.

Sites that are disabled are dimmed. The header summarizes the nginx version, whether it runs, how many sites exist and how many certificates expire soon.

The panel of a site

Section titled “The panel of a site”

Selecting a site shows its details: whether it is on, the type, the ports, the proxy target with a warning when nothing listens there (visitors would get a 502), and the certificate with its expiry time. The panel also warns about a self-signed certificate, a certificate that does not include the site name, and an HTTP port that serves content instead of redirecting to HTTPS. Logs offers Follow for the access and error logs in the log viewer, and Configuration file shows the path, with View configuration, Edit on this Mac and Open folder in Files.

Test, reload, enable and disable

Section titled “Test, reload, enable and disable”
Action What it does
Test configuration Runs nginx -t. It reads and checks the syntax, and changes nothing
Reload Tests the configuration first and does not reload if the test fails. Open connections are not dropped
Enable site Creates a link in sites-enabled, tests the configuration, then reloads. If nginx -t fails, the link is removed right away
Disable site Removes the link in sites-enabled, which keeps the file in sites-available, tests the configuration, then reloads. If nginx -t fails, the link is put back

Editing a configuration file with Edit on this Mac uploads each save, as described in Edit files locally. After editing, run Test configuration and then Reload. A site whose file is not in sites-available cannot be enabled or disabled from Portway.