searxng/docs/admin/installation-nginx.rst

NGINX

This section explains how to set up a SearXNG instance using the HTTP server nginx. If you have used the installation scripts and do not have any special preferences you can install the SearXNG site <nginx searxng site> using searxng.sh <searxng.sh overview>:

$ sudo -H ./utils/searxng.sh install nginx

If you have special interests or problems with setting up nginx, the following section might give you some guidance.

further reading

• nginx
• nginx beginners guide
• nginx server configuration
• Getting Started wiki
• uWSGI support from nginx

Contents

The nginx HTTP server

If nginx is not installed, install it now.

Ubuntu / debian

sudo -H apt-get install nginx

Arch Linux

sudo -H pacman -S nginx-mainline
sudo -H systemctl enable nginx
sudo -H systemctl start nginx

Fedora / RHEL

sudo -H dnf install nginx
sudo -H systemctl enable nginx
sudo -H systemctl start nginx

Now at http://localhost you should see a Welcome to nginx! page, on Fedora you see a Fedora Webserver - Test Page. The test page comes from the default nginx server configuration. How this default site is configured, depends on the linux distribution:

Ubuntu / debian

less /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

There is one line that includes site configurations from:

include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;

Arch Linux

less /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

There is a configuration section named server:

server {
    listen       80;
    server_name  localhost;
    # ...
}

Fedora / RHEL

less /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

There is one line that includes site configurations from:

include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;

NGINX's SearXNG site

Now you have to create a configuration file (searxng.conf) for the SearXNG site. If nginx is new to you, the nginx beginners guide is a good starting point and the Getting Started wiki is always a good resource to keep in the pocket.

Depending on what your SearXNG installation is listening on, you need a http or socket communication to upstream.

socket

$DOCS_BUILD/includes/searxng.rst

http

$DOCS_BUILD/includes/searxng.rst

The installation scripts installs the reference setup <use_default_settings.yml> and a uwsgi setup that listens on a socket by default.

Ubuntu / debian

Create configuration at /etc/nginx/sites-available/ and place a symlink to sites-enabled:

sudo -H ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/searxng.conf \
              /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/searxng.conf

Arch Linux

In the /etc/nginx/nginx.conf file, in the server section add a include directive:

server {
    # ...
    include /etc/nginx/default.d/*.conf;
    # ...
}

Create two folders, one for the available sites and one for the enabled sites:

mkdir -p /etc/nginx/default.d
mkdir -p /etc/nginx/default.apps-available

Create configuration at /etc/nginx/default.apps-available and place a symlink to default.d:

sudo -H ln -s /etc/nginx/default.apps-available/searxng.conf \
              /etc/nginx/default.d/searxng.conf

Fedora / RHEL

Create a folder for the available sites:

mkdir -p /etc/nginx/default.apps-available

Create configuration at /etc/nginx/default.apps-available and place a symlink to conf.d:

sudo -H ln -s /etc/nginx/default.apps-available/searxng.conf \
              /etc/nginx/conf.d/searxng.conf

Restart services:

Ubuntu / debian

sudo -H systemctl restart nginx
sudo -H service uwsgi restart searxng

Arch Linux

sudo -H systemctl restart nginx
sudo -H systemctl restart uwsgi@searxng

Fedora / RHEL

sudo -H systemctl restart nginx
sudo -H touch /etc/uwsgi.d/searxng.ini

Disable logs

For better privacy you can disable nginx logs in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.

http {
    # ...
    access_log /dev/null;
    error_log  /dev/null;
    # ...
}