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Take a typical example: Ingress NGINX allows users to directly add arbitrary NGINX configurations (snippets) through annotations. This was considered an advantage of flexibility in the past, but now it has become a security black hole. Such features fundamentally undermine the "configuration security boundary," making the NGINX runtime almost uncontrollable. In today's context of increasingly strict cloud-native security standards, this is already an "unacceptable level" of design. And there are more than just one such feature. As the user base has grown, these historical burdens have gradually accumulated into technical debt that is difficult to fix. Of course, if a project is complex but has a 20-person team to maintain it, it can still function. However, Ingress NGINX only has 1 - 2 maintainers, who can only spare time in their free time to do the maintenance.

The breadth and flexibility of Ingress NGINX has caused maintenance challenges. Changing expectations about cloud native software have also added complications. What were once considered helpful options have sometimes come to be considered serious security flaws, such as the ability to add arbitrary NGINX configuration directives via the "snippets" annotations. Yesterday’s flexibility has become today’s insurmountable technical debt.

The 2024 edition of the NGINX Cookbook is here, and it’s packed full of new solutions to today’s most common application delivery problems. ... ## Implementing HTTP Basic Authentication with NGINX ### Problem: You need to secure your application or content using HTTP basic authentication. ### Solution: Encrypt passwords using openssl and configure NGINX with auth_basic and auth_basic_user_file directives to require authentication. Ensure security by deploying over HTTPS. … ## Download the Cookbook for Free ... The ‘Welcome to NGINX!’ page is presented when NGINX web server software is installed on a computer but has not finished configuring

### 2. Rising maintenance complexity Keeping ingress-nginx aligned across Kubernetes versions, NGINX releases, Helm, and patch streams has become increasingly difficult. Recent high-severity vulnerabilities exposed how heavy the maintenance load has become and made the sustainability limits clear. … ## What this means for production workloads If you rely on ingress-nginx today, the risks include: - **Security exposure** once support ends - **Compatibility drift** with upcoming Kubernetes releases - **No feature evolution** - **Operational fatigue** for DevOps and platform teams A migration path toward Gateway API-based controllers is recommended.

#### 2. Ingress NGINX carried a massive operational burden. As the most widely used ingress controller, the NGINX implementation became the “default” dumping ground for every edge case and feature request. Performance tuning, security hardening, breaking NGINX OSS changes, Lua scripts, multi-architecture builds — the project became too heavy for a volunteer-driven community to sustain at the quality users expect for production gateways.

## High latency or slow responses ⚠ When NGINX latency issues emerge, pages load slowly and API calls delay. This often happens due to slow upstream servers, blocked workers, heavy file operations, or timeout parameters that hold connections longer than intended. Even if NGINX is healthy, downstream bottlenecks can create noticeable NGINX performance issues. 💡 To troubleshoot slow responses, compare NGINX’s request processing time with backend response time. Review worker load, file I/O patterns, and timeout settings like *proxy_read_timeout*. Optimize backend services if they are delaying responses. For static content, enhance caching, compression, or disk throughput. ## Connection buildup and resource saturation ⚠ A sudden rise in active or idle connections is a common NGINX issue that can overwhelm workers. Connection buildup usually stems from slow clients, long keepalive settings, or insufficient worker capacity. This leads to slow or failed new connections. 💡 Adjust *keepalive_timeout*, restrict idle connections, and refine worker connection limits. Analyze connection states (Reading, Writing, Waiting) to determine where the bottleneck lies. If slow clients are responsible, use rate limiting or connection throttling to stabilize traffic. … ## High CPU usage in worker processes ⚠ NGINX high CPU usage typically surfaces during SSL-heavy traffic, complex rewrite rules, or inefficient buffering. When CPU saturation occurs, throughput drops and request processing slows. 💡 Enable TLS session reuse, optimize cipher suites, and simplify regex or rewrite rules. If CPU load increases with traffic, scale horizontally or offload SSL termination. Inspect worker CPU usage to determine peak conditions. ## Unbounded memory growth ⚠ Memory that climbs continuously is a common NGINX performance issue, often caused by oversized buffers, cache misconfigurations, or memory leaks in third-party modules. This may eventually trigger worker crashes or system instability. 💡 Set strict buffer and upload limits, define cache zone sizes, and remove problematic modules. Track memory usage over time to identify leak patterns. Restrict client upload sizes using *client_max_body_size*. ## Slow SSL handshake times ⚠ NGINX SSL issues can significantly impact first-byte performance. SSL/TLS handshakes become slow due to inefficient ciphers, missing certificate chains, or CPU saturation during handshake bursts. 💡 Improve SSL performance by enabling TLS session reuse, selecting efficient cipher suites, and ensuring complete certificate chains. Consider enabling HTTP/2 to optimize connection handling. Verify TLS version compatibility across client systems. … ## Stale or inconsistent cached content ⚠ NGINX caching issues occur when outdated responses persist after content updates. Cache key collisions or missing purge operations lead to stale data being served. 💡 Adjust cache keys to avoid overlaps, set proper expiration headers, and automate purge actions during deployments. Monitor cache hit ratio and track cache directory growth to ensure healthy caching behavior. … ## Load balancing anomalies ⚠ Problems in NGINX load balancing lead to traffic skew, uneven server load, and inconsistent performance across nodes. This often occurs due to incorrect weight configuration or unstable backend health states. 💡 Review weight assignments, health check logic, and upstream server readiness. Monitor load distribution metrics to ensure consistent balancing. Check network reliability between NGINX and backend pools.

## Scalability Challenges One primary concern is Nginx's limited scalability. Microservice architectures typically require horizontal scaling, but Nginx’s standard configuration may restrict the number of simultaneous requests it can handle, posing problems under high-load conditions. Nginx configuration example with sticky sessions: Nginx * * … - When multiple microservices have different configuration requirements, Nginx configurations may overlap and conflict. For example, one service may require SSL, while another may not. This complicates the maintenance and updating of configurations. - As the number of microservices grows, the number of sections in the Nginx configuration file increases exponentially, making it difficult to manage and maintain. For example, if you have 10 microservices, each requiring separate settings, your configuration file can become very large and confusing. According to Nginx documentation, each section in the configuration file must be clearly defined and not conflict with others. This requirement becomes particularly challenging in a microservices environment, where each service may have unique needs. To simplify configuration management, tools such as Ansible or Terraform can be used to automate the creation and management of Nginx configurations. These tools allow you to create configuration templates that can be easily adapted to different microservices. … ### Dynamic Configuration Changes In a microservices environment, changes occur rapidly and unpredictably. It is crucial to dynamically update configurations without restarting the service to avoid downtime and ensure high system availability. However, Nginx does not fully support dynamic configuration reloading. This means that changes require a service restart, which can cause unacceptable downtime. To address this issue, additional tools and approaches can be used: … ### Integration With Monitoring and Management Systems For a microservices architecture, integrating Nginx with various monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana) and configuration management (Ansible, Terraform) systems is crucial. However, this requires additional setup. For example, integrating Nginx with Prometheus requires configuring metrics and exporters and ensuring proper data collection. To simplify this process, tools like NGINX Proxy Manager can be used, allowing easy configuration and monitoring of Nginx in a microservices context. … ## Limited Number of Threads In its default configuration, Nginx has a limit on the number of simultaneously processed requests. This is because Nginx uses an event-driven model to manage connections and requests. As a result, under high loads, all threads may become occupied, preventing new requests from being processed. This limitation is especially noticeable in a microservices environment, where each service can generate numerous concurrent requests. To address this issue, the number of threads in the Nginx configuration can be increased, but this requires careful analysis and testing. For example, if you use the `worker_connections`  parameter, its value should be set appropriately to match the maximum number of concurrent connections. ## Load Balancing Challenges When using multiple microservices, load balancing becomes a more complex task. Nginx offers various load-balancing strategies (round-robin, least connections), but they may not always be optimal for a specific case. Each strategy has its strengths and weaknesses, making the choice of the best option challenging. For example: - The round-robin strategy distributes requests evenly among all available servers but does not consider the current load on each one. - The least connections strategy attempts to route new requests to the server with the fewest active connections. … ## Security Issues Security is a key aspect of microservices architecture. When multiple microservices are used, each requiring a separate certificate, configuring SSL/TLS becomes a complex task. For example, when working across multiple cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), DNS synchronization issues can arise, making it difficult to automate the issuance and renewal of Let’s Encrypt certificates. … ### Lack of Built-In Authentication and Authorization Nginx does not provide built-in authentication mechanisms for managing access to microservices. This requires integration with external systems (OAuth, JWT). For example, when using an OAuth 2.0** ** Authorization Server such as Ory Hydra, Vouch Proxy needs to be configured to set JWT cookies in the user’s browser and redirect them back to the requested URL. … ### CI/CD Challenges Integrating Nginx into CI/CD workflows is one of the key challenges in a microservices architecture. Transitioning to agile methodologies and implementing CI/CD in existing projects is not always straightforward. This is especially true for large projects, where any changes can impact multiple processes. To integrate Nginx into CI/CD, the configuration files must be automatically built and deployed. This requires scripting or using specialized tools such as Jenkins or GitLab CI/CD. ### Lack of Built-In Automation For efficient microservices management, it is essential to automate processes such as service reloading and configuration updates. However, Nginx does not provide built-in automation mechanisms for this. Tools such as Ansible or Terraform can be used to automate processes related to Nginx. These tools allow creating and managing Nginx configurations autonomously, simplifying operations.

Nginx has some significant downsides to what we currently use, unless we opt for the paid version which best I can tell is ~$1K/instance/month. These aren't hypothetical differences these are features we actually use: - no sync for load balancing data (sticky peer data, rate limit data, etc): HAProxy supports this out of the box; - no active health checks: HAProxy supports this out of the box; - no API for purging cache: Varnish supports this out of the box. - no ESI support: … Nginx has some significant downsides to what we currently use, unless we opt for the paid version which best I can tell is ~$1K/instance/month. These aren't hypothetical differences these are features we actually use: - no sync for load balancing data (sticky peer data, rate limit data, etc): HAProxy supports this out of the box; - no active health checks: HAProxy supports this out of the box; - no API for purging cache: Varnish supports this out of the box. - no ESI support: Varnish supports this out of the box. Best I can tell even the paid version of nginx doesn't support this.

## Introduction ... However, even experienced developers can encounter various issues when configuring and using Nginx. This guide will walk you through the most common pitfalls that developers face with Nginx and provide practical solutions to overcome them. Whether you're setting up Nginx for the first time or debugging an existing configuration, understanding these common mistakes will help you avoid frustrating issues and ensure your web server runs smoothly. ## Configuration File Structure Pitfalls ### Forgetting to Include Configuration Files One of the most common mistakes is forgetting to include configuration files or using incorrect paths. **Issue:** `# Missing or incorrect include statement` server { listen 80; # No includes or wrong path **Solution:** `# Properly including configuration files` server { listen 80; include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf; ### Misplaced Directives Placing directives in the wrong context can cause Nginx to fail during configuration reload or startup. **Issue:** `# http directive placed inside server block (incorrect)` server { listen 80; http { gzip on; **Solution:** `# Correct structure` http { gzip on; server { listen 80; ## Path and Location Block Pitfalls ### Incorrect Location Block Order Nginx processes location blocks in a specific order, and incorrect ordering can lead to unexpected behavior. **Issue:** `# Incorrect order can cause problems` server { location /api { # Will never be reached for /api/v1 requests # because the next block will match first location ~ ^/api/v\d { … # This matches exactly /api location /api/ { # This matches /api/ and anything under it ## Proxy and Upstream Pitfalls ### Missing or Incomplete Proxy Headers When using Nginx as a reverse proxy, forgetting to set proper headers can cause issues with the backend application. **Issue:** `# Missing important headers` location /api { proxy_pass http://backend; # No proxy headers set **Solution:** `# Complete proxy header configuration` location /api { proxy_pass http://backend; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; ### Incorrect Proxy Pass URL Trailing Slash A common source of confusion is the trailing slash in the `proxy_pass` directive, which affects how URI parts are handled. **Issue:** `# Without understanding trailing slash behavior` location /api { … ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on; ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m; ssl_session_timeout 10m; ### Missing HTTPS Redirect Forgetting to redirect HTTP to HTTPS can leave your site accessible via insecure connections. **Issue:** `# Missing HTTP to HTTPS redirect` server { listen 80; server_name example.com; … ### Inefficient Worker Configuration Incorrect worker settings can lead to poor performance and resource utilization. **Issue:** `# Default or incorrect worker settings` worker_processes 1; # Too few for a multi-core system events { worker_connections 768; # May be too low for high-traffic sites **Solution:** `# Optimized worker configuration` worker_processes auto; # Automatically use all available cores worker_rlimit_nofile 30000; # Increase system file descriptor limit events { worker_connections 4096; # Higher limit for busy servers multi_accept on; # Process multiple connections per worker use epoll; # Use efficient I/O event notification mechanism on Linux … # Enable request body logging for debugging client_body_buffer_size 128k; client_max_body_size 10m; ### Forgetting to Test Configuration Not testing configuration changes before applying them can lead to server downtime. **Issue:** `# Directly applying changes without testing` sudo service nginx restart **Solution:** `# Test configuration first` sudo nginx -t … # Security headers add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always; add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff; add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN; add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"; # Root directory root /var/www/example.com/public; index index.html index.htm;

{ts:21} developers, the people who actually built the engine, ended up walking away. {ts:25} Since then, it's felt like many useful {ts:27} features started getting starved. While useful stuff got locked behind a massive {ts:31} plus payw wall while the open source … {ts:114} instructions and the 90% left below are features that Engineix does not have. {ts:118} End to end HTTP3, built-in TLS {ts:121} certificate support, exposing metrics, dynamic upstream updates, session {ts:124} binding, and it goes on. I'll leave the … {ts:250} retries, persistent cues, and scaling up whenever you hit a spike. So whether {ts:254} you're doing heavy lifting like video {ts:256} processing with ffmpeg or building a complex agent that needs to chain a {ts:260} bunch of prompts together, it just … {ts:462} HTTP3 to their mainline version and even then they mostly focused on the {ts:466} connection between the user and the

So recently I was tasked with moving a webserver configuration from Apache to nginx. ... While porting the configuration over from Apache, I wanted to clean things up a bit and make things easier to configure. At this point nginx showed its ugly side. The configuration syntax makes it seem like it's a programming language, but it's not. It has similarities, but I've since learned to ignore that bit in my brain that says: "Look, it has if's and variables with dollars, it's just like PHP!" and tell it: "No, it's still a configuration language. Not a programming language". Anyway, here are some oddities which I've come across: ## There are no AND/OR operators You have comparisons, but you can't combine them in any way. There is no `||` or `&&` so you have to write multiple if-statements: … ## You can't nest if-statements Not possible. Nginx will complain about an "if" not being valid inside another "if". Here's a workaround: … Yes. That's string concatenation... If no variable matches, $check is "0", if only $var1 matches its "1", if only $var2 matches its "10". If both match, it's "11". Stupid? Yes. But it's one of the recommended ways to do it. And just wait, it gets worse. … ## Strings can't be used as Regex Assume you have a regex in a string. You want to match something against that string. That doesn't work, it will just never match. At least with all the issues above, the configtest `nginx -t` will fail, but here it just silently doesn't work. … ## Don't count on ChatGPT to help you It will happily generate nested ifs, hallucinate escape sequences which don't exist, try to match against regexes in variables, etc. Basically all the things mentioned above.

kilburn 82 days ago - A more complicated nginx configuration. This is no light matter. You can see in the comments that even the author got bugs in their first try. For instance, introducing an HSTS header now means you have to remember to do it in all those locations. - Running a few regexes per request. This is probably still significantly cheaper than the stat calls, but I can't tell by how much (and the author hasn't checked either). - Returning the default 404 page instead of the CMS's for any URL in the defined "static prefixes". This is actually the biggest change, both in user-visible behavior and in performance (particularly if a crazy crawler starts checking non-existing URLs ni bulk or similar). The article doesn't even mention this. The performance gains for regular accesses are purely speculative because the author didn't make any effort to try and quantify them. ... Plus, I've found that it's nice to have api.myapp.com and myapp.com as separate bits of config, so that the ambiguity doesn't exist for anything that's reverse proxied and having as much of the static assets (for example, for a SPA) separate from all of that. Ofc it becomes a bit more tricky for server side rendering or the likes of Ruby on Rails, Laravel, Django etc. that try to have everything in a single deployment. … - resources that are dynamically-generated are served by API endpoints, therefore known locations with predictable parameters - everything else must be static files And definitely no dynamic script as the fallback rule, it's too wasteful in an era of crawlers that ignore robots.txt and automated vulnerability scanners. A backend must be resilient. ... Yeah theres the slight Go tax in latency, but almost every comparison online is benchmarking a fairly optimized and often cache configured nginx or apache config versus the most basic caddy config possible. Even worse, most are just testing http1 speeds using near zero-size files, who cares about how many theoretical connections it supports, lets talk how many users it supports on real world content without grinding to a halt. A few more lines of config and a more production intended caddy config is drawing like punches. Least in my real world testing I found little meaningful improvement using nginx, worse, it would grind to a halt a halt under loads that caddy at least while bogged down, would still be responsive during. DoctorOW 80 days ago ... - Running a few regexes per request.