server_name directive in Nginx - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding the purpose of the server_name directive

What is the main role of the server_name directive in an Nginx server block?

A It sets the root directory for serving static files.

B It defines the port number on which Nginx listens for incoming connections.

C It specifies the domain names or IP addresses that the server block should respond to.

D It configures the SSL certificate paths for HTTPS connections.

💡 Hint

Think about how Nginx decides which server block handles a request based on the requested domain.

The server_name directive tells Nginx which domain names or IP addresses a server block should respond to. This helps Nginx route requests to the correct configuration.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Output of Nginx server block with multiple server_name values

Given this Nginx server block snippet:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com api.example.com;
    return 200 'Hello from example.com!';
}

What will be the response when a user visits http://api.example.com?

A Hello from example.com!

B 404 Not Found

C 502 Bad Gateway

D Default Nginx welcome page

💡 Hint

Check which server_name matches the requested domain.

The server_name directive lists multiple names. Since api.example.com is included, Nginx matches it and returns the configured response.

❓ Configuration

advanced

Correctly configuring server_name for wildcard subdomains

Which server_name directive correctly matches all subdomains of example.com except the root domain itself?

A server_name *example.com;

B server_name example.com*;

C server_name example.com.*;

D server_name *.example.com;

💡 Hint

Remember how wildcards work in domain matching for Nginx.

The *.example.com syntax matches all subdomains like www.example.com or api.example.com, but not example.com itself.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Troubleshooting server_name mismatch causing 404 errors

An Nginx server block has server_name www.example.com; but requests to example.com return 404 errors. What is the most likely cause?

A The listen directive is missing the port number.

B The server_name does not include <code>example.com</code>, so Nginx does not match the request to this block.

C The root directive is incorrectly set.

D Nginx does not support multiple server_name values.

💡 Hint

Check if the requested domain is listed in server_name.

Since example.com is not in the server_name directive, Nginx does not route requests for it to this server block, causing 404 errors.

🔀 Workflow

expert

Order of server_name matching in Nginx

Given these server blocks, which server block will handle a request to test.example.com?

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;
    return 200 'Root domain';
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name *.example.com;
    return 200 'Wildcard subdomain';
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name test.example.com;
    return 200 'Specific subdomain';
}

A The block with server_name test.example.com

B The block with server_name example.com

C The first server block defined in the config

D The block with server_name *.example.com

💡 Hint

Check how Nginx prioritizes exact names over wildcards.

Nginx matches exact server_name values before wildcard patterns, so the block with test.example.com handles the request.