How to build an Nginx forward proxy

Hello everyone, today I come to explain how to build Nginx forward proxy. I believe that we are no strangers to proxy servers, which can help us hide the real IP address, increase network security, and at the same time in some specific scenarios can also improve network access speed. Nginx forward proxy as a common proxy server, with lightweight, efficient features, is widely used in various fields.

Installing Nginx

First, we need to install Nginx on the server. the installation process is very simple and requires only a few commands.

Open a terminal and enter the following command to install Nginx:

“`
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx
“`

During the installation process, the system may ask you to enter the administrator password, please follow the prompts. After the installation is complete, we can use Nginx.

Configuring the Nginx Forward Proxy

Next, we need to configure Nginx to be a forward proxy server.The configuration file for Nginx is located in the `/etc/nginx` directory.Open that directory and you will see a file called `nginx.conf`.

Open the `nginx.conf` file with a text editor and start configuring it for Nginx. Find the `http` block and add the following configuration to it:

http {
server {
listen 80;
location / {
proxy_pass http://目标服务器的IP地址;
}
}
}

Please replace the `IP address of the target server` in the above configuration with the actual IP address of the target server you want to proxy. This way, Nginx will forward all requests sent to the local machine via port 80 to the target server.

Starting Nginx

Once the configuration is complete, we can start Nginx. Start the Nginx service by typing the following command in the terminal:

“`
sudo service nginx start
“`

If all is well, you will see the message Successful startup. At this point, Nginx has successfully become a forward proxy server.

Verify Proxy Server

To verify that the Nginx forward proxy configuration is correct, we can test it using curl or a browser.

Enter the following command in the terminal to send a request using curl:

“`
curl -x http://代理服务器的IP地址:80 http://www.example.com
“`

Please replace `Proxy Server IP Address` in the above command with the IP address of the proxy server you are actually using and `www.example.com` with the target website you want to visit. If the command is executed successfully and the page content of `www.example.com` is returned, it means your Nginx forward proxy configuration is successful.

If you prefer to use your browser for testing, simply configure the proxy server's IP address and port as Nginx's IP address and port 80 in your browser's proxy settings. Open your browser and visit the website. If the content of the target website can be displayed normally, it means that the Nginx forward proxy has been configured successfully.

summarize

With the above steps, we have successfully built a Nginx forward proxy server. A forward proxy server can provide us with a more secure and faster web access experience. I hope this article will help you understand and apply Nginx forward proxy. Thank you for reading!