Nginx Reverse Proxy Configuration Guide

What is a Reverse Proxy?

A reverse proxy sits in front of your application server, forwarding client requests and returning responses. Nginx excels at this role — handling SSL termination, load balancing, caching, and static files while your application focuses on logic.

Basic Reverse Proxy

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

WebSocket Support

location /ws {
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
}

Load Balancing

upstream backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:3001;
    server 127.0.0.1:3002;
    server 127.0.0.1:3003;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://backend;
    }
}

Timeouts and Buffers

proxy_connect_timeout 60s;
proxy_send_timeout 60s;
proxy_read_timeout 60s;
proxy_buffering on;
proxy_buffer_size 4k;
proxy_buffers 8 4k;