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Setting up multiple websites on one Nginx server is a common task in web hosting. This tutorial will guide you through the process of configuring Nginx to host multiple websites on a single server using Server Blocks (Nginx's equivalent of Apache Virtual Hosts). We'll assume you have a basic understanding of Linux and have already installed Nginx on your server.

Note: This tutorial is based on a Linux environment. The specific steps may vary depending on your distribution, but the concepts are generally the same.

Step 1: Prepare Your Server

Make sure your server is up-to-date and Nginx is installed. You can do this by running the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install nginx

Step 2: Create Website Directories

Create directories for your websites. Each website should have its own directory structure. For example:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/website1.com/html
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/website2.com/html

Step 3: Set Permissions

Make sure Nginx can read these directories:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/website1.com/html
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/website2.com/html

Step 4: Create Sample Web Pages

You can create simple HTML pages or copy your website files into the respective directories (e.g., /var/www/website1.com/html and /var/www/website2.com/html).

Step 5: Create Server Block Configuration Files

Create a Server Block configuration file for each website you want to host. These files will tell Nginx how to handle each domain. You can create these files in the /etc/nginx/sites-available/ directory:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/website1.com

Inside the file, add the following configuration for website1.com. Customize it according to your needs:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name website1.com www.website1.com;
    root /var/www/website1.com/html;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Save the file and exit the text editor.

Repeat the process for website2.com:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/website2.com

And add similar configuration with the appropriate values for website2.com.

Step 6: Enable Server Blocks

Enable the server blocks you've created by creating symbolic links from the sites-available directory to the sites-enabled directory:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/website1.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/website2.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Step 7: Test Configuration and Reload Nginx

Before you reload Nginx, it's a good idea to test your configuration for syntax errors:

sudo nginx -t

If you receive a message that says "syntax is okay" and "test is successful," you can proceed to reload Nginx:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 8: Configure DNS

Point the DNS records for your domain names to the IP address of your server. This can usually be done through your domain registrar's control panel.

Step 9: Verify Your Websites

In your web browser, visit http://website1.com and http://website2.com to verify that your websites are working correctly.

Congratulations! You have successfully set up multiple websites on a single Nginx server using Server Blocks. You can repeat the process to add more websites as needed, following the same general steps.