Location matching priority order in Nginx - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Location Matching Priority Order in Nginx

📖 Scenario: You are setting up a simple web server using Nginx. You want to understand how Nginx chooses which location block to use when a user visits different URLs.This is important because different URLs might need different handling, like serving static files or proxying to another server.

🎯 Goal: Build an Nginx configuration with multiple location blocks and learn how Nginx matches URLs to these blocks based on priority rules.You will create a basic server block, add exact and prefix match locations, and then test which location is chosen for a given URL.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an Nginx server block listening on port 80

Add a prefix location / block

Add an exact match location = /exact block

Add a prefix location /images/ block

Print the matched location block name for a test URL

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Web servers often need to serve different content or handle requests differently based on the URL path. Understanding location matching helps configure these behaviors correctly.

💼 Career

DevOps engineers and system administrators frequently configure Nginx for web hosting, load balancing, and reverse proxying. Knowing location matching priority is essential for correct server behavior.

1

Create the basic Nginx server block

Create an Nginx server block listening on port 80 with a root directory set to /var/www/html.

Nginx

server {
    # Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Use listen 80; to listen on port 80 and root /var/www/html; to set the root folder.

2

Add prefix and exact match location blocks

Inside the server block, add a prefix location / block that returns the text Prefix root and an exact match location = /exact block that returns the text Exact match.

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    root /var/www/html;

    # Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Use location / { ... } for prefix match and location = /exact { ... } for exact match.

Use return 200 'text'; to send a simple response.

3

Add a prefix location for images

Add a prefix location /images/ block inside the server that returns the text Images folder.

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    root /var/www/html;

    location / {
        return 200 'Prefix root';
    }

    location = /exact {
        return 200 'Exact match';
    }

    # Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Use location /images/ { ... } for prefix matching URLs starting with /images/.

4

Test and print matched location for URL /exact

Add a comment inside the server block that explains which location block will match the URL /exact and then print the matched location text by simulating a request to /exact.

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    root /var/www/html;

    location / {
        return 200 'Prefix root';
    }

    location = /exact {
        return 200 'Exact match';
    }

    location /images/ {
        return 200 'Images folder';
    }

    # Your code here
}

Need a hint?

The exact match location location = /exact has the highest priority for the URL /exact.

Simulate the output by printing the matched location text.