Gzip compression in Nginx - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Check if gzip is enabled in nginx

You run the command nginx -T | grep gzip to check gzip settings. What output indicates gzip is enabled?

Nginx

nginx -T | grep gzip

A gzip off;

B gzip on;

C # gzip on;

D gzip_disable "msie6";

💡 Hint

Look for the directive that explicitly turns gzip on without being commented out.

The directive gzip on; enables gzip compression in nginx. If it is commented out or set to off, gzip is disabled.

❓ Configuration

intermediate

Configure gzip to compress only text files

Which nginx configuration snippet correctly enables gzip compression only for text-based files?

A

gzip on;
gzip_types text/plain text/css application/javascript;

B

gzip on;
gzip_types application/octet-stream;

C

gzip off;
gzip_types text/plain;

D

gzip on;
gzip_types image/png image/jpeg;

💡 Hint

gzip_types defines which MIME types are compressed. Text files have MIME types like text/plain or text/css.

Option A enables gzip and sets it to compress common text MIME types. Option A tries to compress images which is inefficient. Option A disables gzip. Option A compresses binary streams which is not typical.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Why is gzip not compressing responses?

You enabled gzip in nginx but responses are still not compressed. Which of these is a likely cause?

A The <code>Content-Length</code> header is missing in responses.

B The <code>gzip_min_length</code> is set too low.

C The <code>gzip_disable</code> directive disables gzip for the client browser.

D The server is sending <code>Content-Encoding: gzip</code> header manually.

💡 Hint

Check if gzip is disabled for certain browsers or clients.

The gzip_disable directive disables gzip for specified user agents. If it matches the client, gzip won't compress responses.

✅ Best Practice

advanced

Optimal gzip buffer size configuration

Which buffer size setting is recommended to optimize gzip compression performance in nginx?

A gzip_buffers 4 16k;

B gzip_buffers 1 1k;

C gzip_buffers 16 64k;

D gzip_buffers 2 512k;

💡 Hint

Buffers should be moderate size to balance memory and compression efficiency.

Option A uses 4 buffers of 16k each, which is a common recommended setting balancing memory use and performance. Other options use too small or too large buffers.

🔀 Workflow

expert

Order the steps to enable gzip compression in nginx

Put these steps in the correct order to enable gzip compression on an nginx server.

A 2,1,3,4

B 1,2,4,3

C 1,3,2,4

D 1,2,3,4

💡 Hint

You must edit config before testing and reloading.

First edit the config file, then add gzip directives, test syntax, and finally reload nginx to apply.