At the time of writing, the latest version of nginx available from the AWS yum repo is 1.8.
The best thing to do for now is to build any newer version from source.
The AWS Linux AMI already has the necessary build tools.
For example, based on the Nginx 1.10 (I've assumed you're logged in as the regular ec2-user. Anything needing superuser rights is preceded with sudo)
cd /tmp #so we can clean-up easily
wget http://nginx.org/download/nginx-1.10.0.tar.gz
tar zxvf nginx-1.10.0.tar.gz && rm -f nginx-1.10.0.tar.gz
cd nginx-1.10.0
sudo yum install pcre-devel openssl-devel #required libs, not installed by default
./configure \
--prefix=/etc/nginx \
--conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf \
--pid-path=/var/run/nginx.pid \
--lock-path=/var/run/nginx.lock \
--with-http_ssl_module \
--with-http_v2_module \
--user=nginx \
--group=nginx
make
sudo make install
sudo groupadd nginx
sudo useradd -M -G nginx nginx
rm -rf nginx-1.10.0
You'll then want a service file, so that you can start/stop nginx, and load it on boot.
Here's one that matches the above config. Put it in /etc/rc.d/init.d/nginx:
#!/bin/sh
#
# nginx - this script starts and stops the nginx daemon
#
# chkconfig: - 85 15
# description: NGINX is an HTTP(S) server, HTTP(S) reverse \
# proxy and IMAP/POP3 proxy server
# processname: nginx
# config: /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
# config: /etc/sysconfig/nginx
# pidfile: /var/run/nginx.pid
# Source function library.
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions
# Source networking configuration.
. /etc/sysconfig/network
# Check that networking is up.
[ "$NETWORKING" = "no" ] && exit 0
nginx="/etc/nginx/sbin/nginx"
prog=$(basename $nginx)
NGINX_CONF_FILE="/etc/nginx/nginx.conf"
[ -f /etc/sysconfig/nginx ] && . /etc/sysconfig/nginx
lockfile=/var/run/nginx.lock
make_dirs() {
# make required directories
user=`$nginx -V 2>&1 | grep "configure arguments:" | sed 's/[^*]*--user=\([^ ]*\).*/\1/g' -`
if [ -z "`grep $user /etc/passwd`" ]; then
useradd -M -s /bin/nologin $user
fi
options=`$nginx -V 2>&1 | grep 'configure arguments:'`
for opt in $options; do
if [ `echo $opt | grep '.*-temp-path'` ]; then
value=`echo $opt | cut -d "=" -f 2`
if [ ! -d "$value" ]; then
# echo "creating" $value
mkdir -p $value && chown -R $user $value
fi
fi
done
}
start() {
[ -x $nginx ] || exit 5
[ -f $NGINX_CONF_FILE ] || exit 6
make_dirs
echo -n $"Starting $prog: "
daemon $nginx -c $NGINX_CONF_FILE
retval=$?
echo
[ $retval -eq 0 ] && touch $lockfile
return $retval
}
stop() {
echo -n $"Stopping $prog: "
killproc $prog -QUIT
retval=$?
echo
[ $retval -eq 0 ] && rm -f $lockfile
return $retval
}
restart() {
configtest || return $?
stop
sleep 1
start
}
reload() {
configtest || return $?
echo -n $"Reloading $prog: "
killproc $nginx -HUP
RETVAL=$?
echo
}
force_reload() {
restart
}
configtest() {
$nginx -t -c $NGINX_CONF_FILE
}
rh_status() {
status $prog
}
rh_status_q() {
rh_status >/dev/null 2>&1
}
case "$1" in
start)
rh_status_q && exit 0
$1
;;
stop)
rh_status_q || exit 0
$1
;;
restart|configtest)
$1
;;
reload)
rh_status_q || exit 7
$1
;;
force-reload)
force_reload
;;
status)
rh_status
;;
condrestart|try-restart)
rh_status_q || exit 0
;;
*)
echo $"Usage: $0 {start|stop|status|restart|condrestart|try-restart|reload|force-reload|configtest}"
exit 2
esac
Set the service file to be executable:
sudo chmod 755 /etc/rc.d/init.d/nginx
Now you can start it with:
sudo service nginx start
To load it automatically on boot:
sudo chkconfig nginx on
Finally, don't forget to edit /etc/nginx/nginx.conf to match your requirements and run sudo service nginx reload to refresh the changes.
