We have
chosen to download the source code of the application and compile it
manually, as opposed to installing it using a package manager such as
Yum, Aptitude, or Yast. There are two reasons behind this choice first,
the package may not be available in the enabled repositories of your
Linux distribution. On top of that, the rare repositories that offer to
download and install Nginx automatically mostly contain outdated
versions. More importantly, there is the fact that we need to configure a
variety of significant compile time options. As a result of this
choice, your system will require some tools and libraries for the
compilation process.
Depending
on the optional modules that you select at compile time, you will
perhaps need different prerequisites. We will guide you through the
process of installing the most common one such as GCC, PCRE, zlib, and
OpenSSL.
GCC-GNU Compiler Collection
Nginx is a program written in C, so you will first need to install a compiler tool such as the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)
on your system. GCC usually comes with most distributions, but if, for
some reason, you do not already have it, this step will be required.
GCC is a collection of free
open source compilers for various languages C, C++, Java, Ada, FORTRAN,
and so on. It is the most commonly-used compiler suite in Linux world,
and Windows versions are also available. A vast amount of processors are
supported such as x86, AMD64, PowerPC, ARM, MIPS, and more.
First, make sure it isn't already installed on your system:
[alex@example.com ~]$ gcc
If you get the following output, GCC is correctly installed on your system and you can skip to the next section:
If you receive the following message, you will have to proceed with the installation of the compiler:
~bash: gcc: command not found
GCC can be installed
using the default repositories of your package manager. Depending on
your distribution, the package manager will vary yum for Red Hat-based distribution, apt for Debian and Ubuntu, yast for SuSE Linux, and so on. Here is the typical way to proceed with the download and installation of the GCC package:
[root@example.com ~]# yum install gcc
If you use apt-get:
[root@example.com ~]# apt-get install gcc
If you use another package manager with a different syntax, you will probably find the documentation with the man
utility. Either way, your package manager should be able to download
and install GCC correctly, after having solved the dependencies
automatically.
PCRE library
The Perl Compatible
Regular Expression (PCRE) library is required for compiling Nginx. The
Rewrite and HTTP Core modules of Nginx use PCRE for the syntax of their
regular expressions. You will
need to install two packages pcre and pcre-devel.
The first one provides the compiled version of the library, whereas the
second one provides development headers and source for compiling
projects, which are required in our case.
Here are example commands that you can run in order to install both the packages.
Using yum:
[root@example.com ~]# yum install pcre pcre-devel
Or install all PCRE-related packages:
[root@example.com ~]# yum install pcre*
If you use apt-get:
[root@example.com ~]# apt-get install libpcre3 libpcre3-dev
If these packages are already installed on your system, you will receive a message saying something like Nothing to do, in other words, the package manager did not install or update any component.
zlib library
The zlib library provides developers with compression algorithms. It is required for the use of gzip
compression in various modules of Nginx. Again, you can use your
package manager to install this component as it is part of the default
repositories. Similar to PCRE, you will need both the library and its
source zlib and zlib-devel.
Using yum:
[root@example.com ~]# yum install zlib zlib-devel
Using apt-get:
[root@example.com ~]# apt-get install zlib1g zlib1g-dev
These packages install quickly and have no known dependency issues.
OpenSSL
The OpenSSL project is a
collaborative effort to develop a robust, commercial-grade,
full-featured, and open source toolkit implementing the Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL v2/v3) and Transport Layer Security (TLS v1) protocols as
well as a full-strength general purpose cryptography library. The
project is managed by a worldwide community of volunteers that use the
Internet to communicate, plan, and develop the OpenSSL toolkit and its
related documentation http://www.openssl.org
The OpenSSL library
will be used by Nginx to serve secure web pages. We thus need to install
the library and its development package. The process remains the same
here you install openssl and openssl-devel:
[root@example.com ~]# yum install openssl openssl-devel
Using apt-get:
[root@example.com ~]# apt-get install openssl openssl-dev
Please be aware of the laws
and regulations in your own country. Some countries do not allow usage
of strong cryptography. The author, publisher, and developers of the
OpenSSL and Nginx projects will not be held liable for any violations or
law infringements on your part.
Now that you have installed all the prerequisites, you are ready to download and compile the Nginx source code.
