nghttpx(1) nghttp2 nghttpx(1)
NAME
nghttpx - HTTP/2 proxy
SYNOPSIS
nghttpx [OPTIONS]... [<PRIVATE_KEY> <CERT>]
DESCRIPTION
A reverse proxy for HTTP/3, HTTP/2, and HTTP/1.
<PRIVATE_KEY>
Set path to server's private key. Required unless
"no-tls" parameter is used in --frontend option.
<CERT> Set path to server's certificate. Required unless
"no-tls" parameter is used in --frontend option.
OPTIONS
The options are categorized into several groups.
Connections
-b,
--backend=(<HOST>,<PORT>|unix:<PATH>)[;[<PATTERN>[:...]][[;<PARAM>]...]
Set backend host and port. The multiple backend
addresses are accepted by repeating this option. UNIX domain
socket can be specified by prefixing path name with "unix:"
(e.g., unix:/var/run/backend.sock).
Optionally, if <PATTERN>s are given, the backend address is
only used if request matches the pattern. The pattern
matching is closely designed to ServeMux in net/http package
of Go programming language. <PATTERN> consists of path, host
+ path or just host. The path must start with "/". If it
ends with "/", it matches all request path in its subtree.
To deal with the request to the directory without trailing
slash, the path which ends with "/" also matches the request
path which only lacks trailing '/' (e.g., path "/foo/"
matches request path "/foo"). If it does not end with "/", it
performs exact match against the request path. If host is
given, it performs a match against the request host. For
a request received on the frontend listener with "sni-fwd"
parameter enabled, SNI host is used instead of a request host.
If host alone is given, "/" is appended to it, so that it
matches all request paths under the host (e.g., specifying
"nghttp2.org" equals to "nghttp2.org/"). CONNECT method is
treated specially. It does not have path, and we don't allow
empty path. To workaround this, we assume that CONNECT method
has "/" as path.
Patterns with host take precedence over patterns with just
path. Then, longer patterns take precedence over shorter
ones.
Host can include "*" in the left most position to
indicate wildcard match (only suffix match is done). The
"*" must match at least one character. For example, host
pattern "*.nghttp2.org" matches against
"www.nghttp2.org" and "git.ngttp2.org", but does not match
against "nghttp2.org". The exact hosts match takes
precedence over the wildcard hosts match.
If path part ends with "*", it is treated as wildcard path.
The wildcard path behaves differently from the normal path.
For normal path, match is made around the boundary of path
component separator,"/". On the other hand, the wildcard path
does not take into account the path component separator. All
paths which include the wildcard path without last "*" as
prefix, and are strictly longer than wildcard path without
last "*" are matched. "*" must match at least one character.
For example, the pattern "/foo*" matches "/foo/" and
"/foobar". But it does not match "/foo", or "/fo".
If <PATTERN> is omitted or empty string, "/" is used as
pattern, which matches all request paths (catch-all
pattern). The catch-all backend must be given.
When doing a match, nghttpx made some normalization to
pattern, request host and path. For host part, they are
converted to lower case. For path part, percent-encoded
unreserved characters defined in RFC 3986 are decoded, and any
dot-segments (".." and ".") are resolved and removed.
For example, -b'127.0.0.1,8080;nghttp2.org/httpbin/' matches
the request host "nghttp2.org" and the request path
"/httpbin/get", but does not match the request host
"nghttp2.org" and the request path "/index.html".
The multiple <PATTERN>s can be specified, delimiting them
by ":". Specifying
-b'127.0.0.1,8080;nghttp2.org:www.nghttp2.org' has the same
effect to specify -b'127.0.0.1,8080;nghttp2.org' and
-b'127.0.0.1,8080;www.nghttp2.org'.
The backend addresses sharing same <PATTERN> are grouped
together forming load balancing group.
Several parameters <PARAM> are accepted after <PATTERN>. The
parameters are delimited by ";". The available parameters
are: "proto=<PROTO>", "tls", "sni=<SNI_HOST>",
"fall=<N>", "rise=<N>", "affinity=<METHOD>", "dns",
"redirect-if-not-tls", "upgrade-scheme",
"mruby=<PATH>", "read-timeout=<DURATION>",
"write-timeout=<DURATION>", "group=<GROUP>",
"group-weight=<N>", "weight=<N>", and "dnf". The parameter
consists of keyword, and optionally followed by "=" and
value. For example, the parameter "proto=h2" consists of the
keyword "proto" and value "h2". The parameter "tls" consists of
the keyword "tls" without value. Each parameter is described
as follows.
The backend application protocol can be specified using
optional "proto" parameter, and in the form of
"proto=<PROTO>". <PROTO> should be one of the following list
without quotes: "h2", "http/1.1". The default value of
<PROTO> is "http/1.1". Note that usually "h2" refers to HTTP/2
over TLS. But in this option, it may mean HTTP/2 over
cleartext TCP unless "tls" keyword is used (see below).
TLS can be enabled by specifying optional "tls"
parameter. TLS is not enabled by default.
With "sni=<SNI_HOST>" parameter, it can override the TLS SNI
field value with given <SNI_HOST>. This will default to
the backend <HOST> name
The feature to detect whether backend is online or offline
can be enabled using optional "fall" and "rise" parameters.
Using "fall=<N>" parameter, if nghttpx cannot connect to a
this backend <N> times in a row, this backend is assumed
to be offline, and it is excluded from load balancing. If
<N> is 0, this backend never be excluded from load balancing
whatever times nghttpx cannot connect to it, and this is the
default. There is also "rise=<N>" parameter. After backend
was excluded from load balancing group, nghttpx periodically
attempts to make a connection to the failed backend, and if the
connection is made successfully <N> times in a row, the
backend is assumed to be online, and it is now eligible for
load balancing target. If <N> is 0, a backend is
permanently offline, once it goes in that state, and this is
the default behaviour.
The session affinity is enabled using
"affinity=<METHOD>" parameter. If "ip" is given in
<METHOD>, client IP based session affinity is enabled. If
"cookie" is given in <METHOD>, cookie based session affinity
is enabled. If "none" is given in <METHOD>, session affinity
is disabled, and this is the default. The session affinity is
enabled per <PATTERN>. If at least one backend has
"affinity" parameter, and its <METHOD> is not "none", session
affinity is enabled for all backend servers sharing the same
<PATTERN>. It is advised to set "affinity" parameter to
all backend explicitly if session affinity is desired. The
session affinity may break if one of the backend gets
unreachable, or backend settings are reloaded or
replaced by API.
If "affinity=cookie" is used, the additional
configuration is required.
"affinity-cookie-name=<NAME>" must be used to specify a name
of cookie to use. Optionally,
"affinity-cookie-path=<PATH>" can be used to specify a path
which cookie is applied. The optional
"affinity-cookie-secure=<SECURE>" controls the Secure
attribute of a cookie. The default value is "auto", and the
Secure attribute is determined by a request scheme. If a
request scheme is "https", then Secure attribute is set.
Otherwise, it is not set. If <SECURE> is "yes", the Secure
attribute is always set. If <SECURE> is "no", the
Secure attribute is always omitted.
"affinity-cookie-stickiness=<STICKINESS>" controls
stickiness of this affinity. If <STICKINESS> is
"loose", removing or adding a backend server might break the
affinity and the request might be forwarded to a different
backend server. If <STICKINESS> is "strict", removing the
designated backend server breaks affinity, but adding new
backend server does not cause breakage. If the designated
backend server becomes unavailable, new backend server is
chosen as if the request does not have an affinity cookie.
<STICKINESS> defaults to "loose".
By default, name resolution of backend host name is done at
start up, or reloading configuration. If "dns" parameter
is given, name resolution takes place dynamically. This
is useful if backend address changes frequently. If "dns"
is given, name resolution of backend host name at
start up, or reloading configuration is skipped.
If "redirect-if-not-tls" parameter is used, the matched backend
requires that frontend connection is TLS encrypted. If
it isn't, nghttpx responds to the request with 308 status code,
and https URI the client should use instead is included in
Location header field. The port number in redirect URI is 443
by default, and can be changed using --redirect-https-port
option. If at least one backend has "redirect-if-not-tls"
parameter, this feature is enabled for all backend servers
sharing the same <PATTERN>. It is advised to set
"redirect-if-no-tls" parameter to all backends
explicitly if this feature is desired.
If "upgrade-scheme" parameter is used along with "tls"
parameter, HTTP/2 :scheme pseudo header field is changed to
"https" from "http" when forwarding a request to this particular
backend. This is a workaround for a backend server which
requires "https" :scheme pseudo header field on TLS encrypted
connection.
"mruby=<PATH>" parameter specifies a path to mruby script
file which is invoked when this pattern is matched. All
backends which share the same pattern must have the same mruby
path.
"read-timeout=<DURATION>" and "write-timeout=<DURATION>"
parameters specify the read and write timeout of the backend
connection when this pattern is matched. All backends which
share the same pattern must have the same timeouts. If these
timeouts are entirely omitted for a pattern,
--backend-read-timeout and --backend-write-timeout are
used.
"group=<GROUP>" parameter specifies the name of group this
backend address belongs to. By default, it belongs to the
unnamed default group. The name of group is unique per
pattern. "group-weight=<N>" parameter specifies the weight
of the group. The higher weight gets more frequently
selected by the load balancing algorithm. <N> must be [1,
256] inclusive. The weight 8 has 4 times more weight than 2.
<N> must be the same for all addresses which share the same
<GROUP>. If "group-weight" is omitted in an address, but the
other address which belongs to the same group specifies
"group-weight", its weight is used. If no
"group-weight" is specified for all addresses, the weight
of a group becomes 1. "group" and "group-weight" are ignored if
session affinity is enabled.
"weight=<N>" parameter specifies the weight of the backend
address inside a group which this address belongs to.
The higher weight gets more frequently selected by the load
balancing algorithm. <N> must be [1, 256] inclusive. The
weight 8 has 4 times more weight than weight 2. If this
parameter is omitted, weight becomes 1. "weight" is
ignored if session affinity is enabled.
If "dnf" parameter is specified, an incoming request is not
forwarded to a backend and just consumed along with the
request body (actually a backend server never be contacted).
It is expected that the HTTP response is generated by mruby
script (see "mruby=<PATH>" parameter above). "dnf" is an
abbreviation of "do not forward".
Since ";" and ":" are used as delimiter, <PATTERN> must not
contain these characters. In order to include ":" in
<PATTERN>, one has to specify "%3A" (which is
percent-encoded from of ":") instead. Since ";" has special
meaning in shell, the option value must be quoted.
Default: 127.0.0.1,80
-f, --frontend=(<HOST>,<PORT>|unix:<PATH>)[[;<PARAM>]...]
Set frontend host and port. If <HOST> is '*', it assumes
all addresses including both IPv4 and IPv6. UNIX domain
socket can be specified by prefixing path name with "unix:"
(e.g., unix:/var/run/nghttpx.sock). This option can be used
multiple times to listen to multiple addresses.
This option can take 0 or more parameters, which are
described below. Note that "api" and "healthmon"
parameters are mutually exclusive.
Optionally, TLS can be disabled by specifying "no-tls"
parameter. TLS is enabled by default.
If "sni-fwd" parameter is used, when performing a match to
select a backend server, SNI host name received from the client
is used instead of the request host. See --backend option
about the pattern match.
To make this frontend as API endpoint, specify "api"
parameter. This is disabled by default. It is
important to limit the access to the API frontend.
Otherwise, someone may change the backend server, and break
your services, or expose confidential information to the
outside the world.
To make this frontend as health monitor endpoint, specify
"healthmon" parameter. This is disabled by default. Any
requests which come through this address are replied with 200
HTTP status, without no body.
To accept PROXY protocol version 1 and 2 on frontend
connection, specify "proxyproto" parameter. This is
disabled by default.
To receive HTTP/3 (QUIC) traffic, specify "quic"
parameter. It makes nghttpx listen on UDP port rather than
TCP port. UNIX domain socket, "api", and "healthmon"
parameters cannot be used with "quic" parameter.
Default: *,3000
--backlog=<N>
Set listen backlog size.
Default: 65536
--backend-address-family=(auto|IPv4|IPv6)
Specify address family of backend connections. If "auto"
is given, both IPv4 and IPv6 are considered. If "IPv4" is
given, only IPv4 address is considered. If "IPv6" is given,
only IPv6 address is considered.
Default: auto
--backend-http-proxy-uri=<URI>
Specify proxy URI in the form
http://[<USER>:<PASS>@]<PROXY>:<PORT>. If a proxy
requires authentication, specify <USER> and <PASS>. Note
that they must be properly percent-encoded. This proxy is
used when the backend connection is HTTP/2. First, make a
CONNECT request to the proxy and it connects to the
backend on behalf of nghttpx. This forms tunnel. After
that, nghttpx performs SSL/TLS handshake with the downstream
through the tunnel. The timeouts when connecting and making
CONNECT request can be specified by
--backend-read-timeout and --backend-write-timeout options.
Performance
-n, --workers=<N>
Set the number of worker threads.
Default: 1
--single-thread
Run everything in one thread inside the worker process. This
feature is provided for better debugging experience,
or for the platforms which lack thread support. If
threading is disabled, this option is always enabled.
--read-rate=<SIZE>
Set maximum average read rate on frontend connection.
Setting 0 to this option means read rate is unlimited.
Default: 0
--read-burst=<SIZE>
Set maximum read burst size on frontend connection.
Setting 0 to this option means read burst size is
unlimited.
Default: 0
--write-rate=<SIZE>
Set maximum average write rate on frontend connection.
Setting 0 to this option means write rate is unlimited.
Default: 0
--write-burst=<SIZE>
Set maximum write burst size on frontend connection.
Setting 0 to this option means write burst size is
unlimited.
Default: 0
--worker-read-rate=<SIZE>
Set maximum average read rate on frontend connection per worker.
Setting 0 to this option means read rate is unlimited. Not
implemented yet.
Default: 0
--worker-read-burst=<SIZE>
Set maximum read burst size on frontend connection per worker.
Setting 0 to this option means read burst size is unlimited.
Not implemented yet.
Default: 0
--worker-write-rate=<SIZE>
Set maximum average write rate on frontend connection per
worker. Setting 0 to this option means write rate is
unlimited. Not implemented yet.
Default: 0
--worker-write-burst=<SIZE>
Set maximum write burst size on frontend connection per worker.
Setting 0 to this option means write burst size is unlimited.
Not implemented yet.
Default: 0
--worker-frontend-connections=<N>
Set maximum number of simultaneous connections frontend
accepts. Setting 0 means unlimited.
Default: 0
--backend-connections-per-host=<N>
Set maximum number of backend concurrent connections (and/or
streams in case of HTTP/2) per origin host. This option is
meaningful when --http2-proxy option is used. The origin
host is determined by authority portion of request URI (or
:authority header field for HTTP/2). To limit the number
of connections per frontend for default
mode, use --backend-connections-per-frontend.
Default: 8
--backend-connections-per-frontend=<N>
Set maximum number of backend concurrent connections (and/or
streams in case of HTTP/2) per frontend. This option is
only used for default mode. 0 means unlimited. To limit
the number of connections per host with --http2-proxy
option, use --backend-connections-per-host.
Default: 0
--rlimit-nofile=<N>
Set maximum number of open files (RLIMIT_NOFILE) to <N>. If 0
is given, nghttpx does not set the limit.
Default: 0
--rlimit-memlock=<N>
Set maximum number of bytes of memory that may be locked into
RAM. If 0 is given, nghttpx does not set the limit.
Default: 0
--backend-request-buffer=<SIZE>
Set buffer size used to store backend request.
Default: 16K
--backend-response-buffer=<SIZE>
Set buffer size used to store backend response.
Default: 128K
--fastopen=<N>
Enables "TCP Fast Open" for the listening socket and limits
the maximum length for the queue of connections that have not
yet completed the three-way handshake. If value is 0 then fast
open is disabled.
Default: 0
--no-kqueue
Don't use kqueue. This option is only applicable for the
platforms which have kqueue. For other platforms, this option
will be simply ignored.
Timeout
--frontend-http2-idle-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify idle timeout for HTTP/2 frontend connection. If no
active streams exist for this duration, connection is closed.
Default: 3m
--frontend-http3-idle-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify idle timeout for HTTP/3 frontend connection. If no
active streams exist for this duration, connection is closed.
Default: 3m
--frontend-write-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify write timeout for all frontend connections.
Default: 30s
--frontend-keep-alive-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify keep-alive timeout for frontend HTTP/1
connection.
Default: 1m
--frontend-header-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify duration that the server waits for an HTTP request
header fields to be received completely. On timeout, HTTP/1
and HTTP/2 connections are closed. For HTTP/3, the stream
is shutdown, and the connection itself is left intact.
Default: 1m
--stream-read-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify read timeout for HTTP/2 streams. 0 means no
timeout.
Default: 0
--stream-write-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify write timeout for HTTP/2 streams. 0 means no
timeout.
Default: 1m
--backend-read-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify read timeout for backend connection.
Default: 1m
--backend-write-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify write timeout for backend connection.
Default: 30s
--backend-connect-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify timeout before establishing TCP connection to
backend.
Default: 30s
--backend-keep-alive-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify keep-alive timeout for backend HTTP/1
connection.
Default: 2s
--listener-disable-timeout=<DURATION>
After accepting connection failed, connection listener is
disabled for a given amount of time. Specifying 0 disables
this feature.
Default: 30s
--frontend-http2-setting-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify timeout before SETTINGS ACK is received from client.
Default: 10s
--backend-http2-settings-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify timeout before SETTINGS ACK is received from backend
server.
Default: 10s
--backend-max-backoff=<DURATION>
Specify maximum backoff interval. This is used when doing
health check against offline backend (see "fail" parameter in
--backend option). It is also used to limit the maximum
interval to temporarily disable backend when nghttpx failed
to connect to it. These intervals are calculated using
exponential backoff, and consecutive failed attempts increase
the interval. This option caps its maximum value.
Default: 2m
SSL/TLS
--ciphers=<SUITE>
Set allowed cipher list for frontend connection. The format
of the string is described in OpenSSL ciphers(1). This option
sets cipher suites for TLSv1.2. Use --tls13-ciphers for
TLSv1.3.
Default:
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384
--tls13-ciphers=<SUITE>
Set allowed cipher list for frontend connection. The format
of the string is described in OpenSSL ciphers(1). This option
sets cipher suites for TLSv1.3. Use --ciphers for
TLSv1.2.
Default:
TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256:TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256
--client-ciphers=<SUITE>
Set allowed cipher list for backend connection. The format
of the string is described in OpenSSL ciphers(1). This option
sets cipher suites for TLSv1.2. Use
--tls13-client-ciphers for TLSv1.3.
Default:
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384
--tls13-client-ciphers=<SUITE>
Set allowed cipher list for backend connection. The format
of the string is described in OpenSSL ciphers(1). This option
sets cipher suites for TLSv1.3. Use --client-ciphers for
TLSv1.2.
Default:
TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256:TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256
--groups=<LIST>
Set the supported group list for frontend connections. <LIST>
is a colon separated list of group NID or names in the
preference order. The supported curves depend on the linked
OpenSSL library. This function requires OpenSSL >= 1.0.2.
Default: X25519:P-256:P-384:P-521
-k, --insecure
Don't verify backend server's certificate if TLS is enabled
for backend connections.
--cacert=<PATH>
Set path to trusted CA certificate file. It is used in backend
TLS connections to verify peer's certificate. The file must
be in PEM format. It can contain multiple certificates. If
the linked OpenSSL is configured to load system wide
certificates, they are loaded at startup regardless of this
option.
--private-key-passwd-file=<PATH>
Path to file that contains password for the server's private
key. If none is given and the private key is password
protected it'll be requested interactively.
--subcert=<KEYPATH>:<CERTPATH>[[;<PARAM>]...]
Specify additional certificate and private key file.
nghttpx will choose certificates based on the hostname
indicated by client using TLS SNI extension. If nghttpx is
built with OpenSSL >= 1.0.2, the signature algorithms (e.g.,
ECDSA+SHA256) presented by client are also taken into
consideration. This allows nghttpx to send ML-DSA or ECDSA
certificate to modern clients, while sending RSA based
certificate to older clients. This option can be used multiple
times.
Additional parameter can be specified in <PARAM>. The
available <PARAM> is "sct-dir=<DIR>".
"sct-dir=<DIR>" specifies the path to directory which
contains *.sct files for TLS
signed_certificate_timestamp extension (RFC 6962). This feature
requires OpenSSL >= 1.0.2. See also --tls-sct-dir
option.
--dh-param-file=<PATH>
Path to file that contains DH parameters in PEM format.
Without this option, DHE cipher suites are not
available.
--alpn-list=<LIST>
Comma delimited list of ALPN protocol identifier sorted in the
order of preference. That means most desirable protocol comes
first. The parameter must be delimited by a single comma only
and any white spaces are treated as a part of protocol string.
Default: h2,http/1.1
--verify-client
Require and verify client certificate.
--verify-client-cacert=<PATH>
Path to file that contains CA certificates to verify client
certificate. The file must be in PEM format. It can contain
multiple certificates.
--verify-client-tolerate-expired
Accept expired client certificate. Operator should handle
the expired client certificate by some means (e.g., mruby
script). Otherwise, this option might cause a security risk.
--client-private-key-file=<PATH>
Path to file that contains client private key used in backend
client authentication.
--client-cert-file=<PATH>
Path to file that contains client certificate used in backend
client authentication.
--tls-min-proto-version=<VER>
Specify minimum SSL/TLS protocol. The name matching is done in
case-insensitive manner. The versions between
--tls-min-proto-version and --tls-max-proto-version are
enabled. If the protocol list advertised by client does not
overlap this range, you will receive the error message
"unknown protocol". The available versions are: TLSv1.3 and
TLSv1.2
Default: TLSv1.2
--tls-max-proto-version=<VER>
Specify maximum SSL/TLS protocol. The name matching is done in
case-insensitive manner. The versions between
--tls-min-proto-version and --tls-max-proto-version are
enabled. If the protocol list advertised by client does not
overlap this range, you will receive the error message
"unknown protocol". The available versions are: TLSv1.3 and
TLSv1.2
Default: TLSv1.3
--tls-ticket-key-file=<PATH>
Path to file that contains random data to construct TLS session
ticket parameters. If aes-128-cbc is given in
--tls-ticket-key-cipher, the file must contain exactly 48
bytes. If aes-256-cbc is given in
--tls-ticket-key-cipher, the file must contain exactly 80
bytes. This options can be used repeatedly to specify
multiple ticket parameters. If several files are given, only
the first key is used to encrypt TLS session tickets. Other
keys are accepted but server will issue new session ticket
with first key. This allows session key rotation. Please
note that key rotation does not occur automatically. User
should rearrange files or change options values and restart
nghttpx gracefully. If opening or reading given file fails,
all loaded keys are discarded and it is treated as if none of
this option is given. If this option is not given or an error
occurred while opening or reading a file, key is generated
every 1 hour internally and they are valid for 12 hours.
This is recommended if ticket key sharing between nghttpx
instances is not required.
--tls-ticket-key-memcached=<HOST>,<PORT>[;tls]
Specify address of memcached server to get TLS ticket keys
for session resumption. This enables shared TLS ticket key
between multiple nghttpx instances. nghttpx does not set TLS
ticket key to memcached. The external ticket key generator is
required. nghttpx just gets TLS ticket keys from memcached,
and use them, possibly replacing current set of keys. It is
up to extern TLS ticket key generator to rotate keys
frequently. See "TLS SESSION TICKET RESUMPTION" section in
manual page to know the data format in memcached entry.
Optionally, memcached connection can be encrypted with TLS
by specifying "tls" parameter.
--tls-ticket-key-memcached-address-family=(auto|IPv4|IPv6)
Specify address family of memcached connections to get TLS
ticket keys. If "auto" is given, both IPv4 and IPv6 are
considered. If "IPv4" is given, only IPv4 address is
considered. If "IPv6" is given, only IPv6 address is
considered.
Default: auto
--tls-ticket-key-memcached-interval=<DURATION>
Set interval to get TLS ticket keys from memcached.
Default: 10m
--tls-ticket-key-memcached-max-retry=<N>
Set maximum number of consecutive retries before
abandoning TLS ticket key retrieval. If this number is
reached, the attempt is considered as failure, and
"failure" count is incremented by 1, which contributed to
the value controlled
--tls-ticket-key-memcached-max-fail option.
Default: 3
--tls-ticket-key-memcached-max-fail=<N>
Set maximum number of consecutive failure before
disabling TLS ticket until next scheduled key retrieval.
Default: 2
--tls-ticket-key-cipher=<CIPHER>
Specify cipher to encrypt TLS session ticket. Specify either
aes-128-cbc or aes-256-cbc. By default, aes-128-cbc is
used.
--tls-ticket-key-memcached-cert-file=<PATH>
Path to client certificate for memcached connections to get TLS
ticket keys.
--tls-ticket-key-memcached-private-key-file=<PATH>
Path to client private key for memcached connections to get TLS
ticket keys.
--tls-dyn-rec-warmup-threshold=<SIZE>
Specify the threshold size for TLS dynamic record size
behaviour. During a TLS session, after the threshold number
of bytes have been written, the TLS record size will be
increased to the maximum allowed (16K). The max record size
will continue to be used on the active TLS session. After
--tls-dyn-rec-idle-timeout has elapsed, the record size is
reduced to 1300 bytes. Specify 0 to always use the maximum
record size, regardless of idle period. This behaviour
applies to all TLS based frontends, and TLS HTTP/2
backends.
Default: 1M
--tls-dyn-rec-idle-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify TLS dynamic record size behaviour timeout. See
--tls-dyn-rec-warmup-threshold for more information. This
behaviour applies to all TLS based frontends, and TLS HTTP/2
backends.
Default: 1s
--no-http2-cipher-block-list
Allow block listed cipher suite on frontend HTTP/2
connection. See
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7540#appendix-A for the
complete HTTP/2 cipher suites block list.
--client-no-http2-cipher-block-list
Allow block listed cipher suite on backend HTTP/2
connection. See
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7540#appendix-A for the
complete HTTP/2 cipher suites block list.
--tls-sct-dir=<DIR>
Specifies the directory where *.sct files exist. All *.sct
files in <DIR> are read, and sent as extension_data
of TLS signed_certificate_timestamp (RFC 6962) to client.
These *.sct files are for the certificate specified in
positional command-line argument <CERT>, or certificate
option in configuration file. For additional certificates,
use --subcert option. This option requires OpenSSL >= 1.0.2.
--psk-secrets=<PATH>
Read list of PSK identity and secrets from <PATH>. This is used
for frontend connection. The each line of input file is
formatted as <identity>:<hex-secret>, where <identity> is
PSK identity, and <hex-secret> is secret in hex. An empty
line, and line which starts with '#' are skipped. The default
enabled cipher list might not contain any PSK cipher suite. In
that case, desired PSK cipher suites must be enabled using
--ciphers option. The desired PSK cipher suite may be block
listed by HTTP/2. To use those cipher suites with
HTTP/2, consider to use --no-http2-cipher-block-list option.
But be aware its implications.
--client-psk-secrets=<PATH>
Read PSK identity and secrets from <PATH>. This is used for
backend connection. The each line of input file is formatted
as <identity>:<hex-secret>, where <identity> is PSK identity,
and <hex-secret> is secret in hex. An empty line, and line
which starts with '#' are skipped. The first identity and
secret pair encountered is used. The default enabled cipher
list might not contain any PSK cipher suite. In that case,
desired PSK cipher suites must be enabled using
--client-ciphers option. The desired PSK cipher suite may be
block listed by HTTP/2. To use those cipher suites with
HTTP/2, consider to use --client-no-http2-cipher-block-list
option. But be aware its implications.
--tls-no-postpone-early-data
By default, except for QUIC connections, nghttpx
postpones forwarding HTTP requests sent in early data,
including those sent in partially in it, until TLS
handshake finishes. If all backend server recognizes
"Early-Data" header field, using this option makes nghttpx
not postpone forwarding request and get full potential of
0-RTT data.
--tls-max-early-data=<SIZE>
Sets the maximum amount of 0-RTT data that server
accepts.
Default: 16K
--tls-ktls
Enable ktls.
HTTP/2
-c, --frontend-http2-max-concurrent-streams=<N>
Set the maximum number of the concurrent streams in one
frontend HTTP/2 session.
Default: 100
--backend-http2-max-concurrent-streams=<N>
Set the maximum number of the concurrent streams in one backend
HTTP/2 session. This sets maximum number of concurrent
opened pushed streams. The maximum number of concurrent
requests are set by a remote server.
Default: 100
--frontend-http2-window-size=<SIZE>
Sets the per-stream initial window size of HTTP/2
frontend connection.
Default: 65535
--frontend-http2-connection-window-size=<SIZE>
Sets the per-connection window size of HTTP/2 frontend
connection.
Default: 65535
--backend-http2-window-size=<SIZE>
Sets the initial window size of HTTP/2 backend
connection.
Default: 65535
--backend-http2-connection-window-size=<SIZE>
Sets the per-connection window size of HTTP/2 backend
connection.
Default: 2147483647
--http2-no-cookie-crumbling
Don't crumble cookie header field.
--padding=<N>
Add at most <N> bytes to a HTTP/2 frame payload as
padding. Specify 0 to disable padding. This option is meant
for debugging purpose and not intended to enhance protocol
security.
--no-server-push
Disable HTTP/2 server push. Server push is supported by default
mode and HTTP/2 frontend via Link header field. It is also
supported if both frontend and backend are HTTP/2 in default
mode. In this case, server push from backend session is
relayed to frontend, and server push via Link header field is
also supported.
--frontend-http2-optimize-write-buffer-size
(Experimental) Enable write buffer size optimization in
frontend HTTP/2 TLS connection. This optimization aims to
reduce write buffer size so that it only contains bytes
which can send immediately. This makes server more
responsive to prioritized HTTP/2 stream because the buffering
of lower priority stream is reduced. This option is only
effective on recent Linux platform.
--frontend-http2-optimize-window-size
(Experimental) Automatically tune connection level window
size of frontend HTTP/2 TLS connection. If this feature is
enabled, connection window size starts with the default
window size, 65535 bytes. nghttpx automatically adjusts
connection window size based on TCP receiving window size.
The maximum window size is capped by the value
specified by --frontend-http2-connection-window-size.
Since the stream is subject to stream level window size, it
should be adjusted using --frontend-http2-window-size option as
well. This option is only effective on recent Linux
platform.
--frontend-http2-encoder-dynamic-table-size=<SIZE>
Specify the maximum dynamic table size of HPACK encoder in the
frontend HTTP/2 connection. The decoder (client) specifies the
maximum dynamic table size it accepts. Then the negotiated
dynamic table size is the minimum of this option value and the
value which client specified.
Default: 4K
--frontend-http2-decoder-dynamic-table-size=<SIZE>
Specify the maximum dynamic table size of HPACK decoder in the
frontend HTTP/2 connection.
Default: 4K
--backend-http2-encoder-dynamic-table-size=<SIZE>
Specify the maximum dynamic table size of HPACK encoder in the
backend HTTP/2 connection. The decoder (backend) specifies the
maximum dynamic table size it accepts. Then the negotiated
dynamic table size is the minimum of this option value and the
value which backend specified.
Default: 4K
--backend-http2-decoder-dynamic-table-size=<SIZE>
Specify the maximum dynamic table size of HPACK decoder in the
backend HTTP/2 connection.
Default: 4K
Mode
(default mode)
Accept HTTP/2, and HTTP/1.1 over SSL/TLS. "no-tls"
parameter is used in --frontend option, accept HTTP/2 and
HTTP/1.1 over cleartext TCP. The incoming HTTP/1.1 connection
can be upgraded to HTTP/2 through HTTP Upgrade.
-s, --http2-proxy
Like default mode, but enable forward proxy. This is so called
HTTP/2 proxy mode.
Logging
-L, --log-level=<LEVEL>
Set the severity level of log output. <LEVEL> must be one of
INFO, NOTICE, WARN, ERROR and FATAL.
Default: NOTICE
--accesslog-file=<PATH>
Set path to write access log. To reopen file, send USR1 signal
to nghttpx.
--accesslog-syslog
Send access log to syslog. If this option is used,
--accesslog-file option is ignored.
--accesslog-format=<FORMAT>
Specify format string for access log. The default format
is combined format. The following variables are available:
o $remote_addr: client IP address.
o $time_local: local time in Common Log format.
o $time_iso8601: local time in ISO 8601 format.
o $request: HTTP request line.
o $status: HTTP response status code.
o $body_bytes_sent: the number of bytes sent to client as
response body.
o $http_<VAR>: value of HTTP request header <VAR> where '_' in
<VAR> is replaced with '-'.
o $remote_port: client port.
o $server_port: server port.
o $request_time: request processing time in seconds with
milliseconds resolution.
o $pid: PID of the running process.
o $alpn: ALPN identifier of the protocol which generates the
response. For HTTP/1, ALPN is always http/1.1, regardless
of minor version.
o $tls_cipher: cipher used for SSL/TLS connection.
o $tls_client_fingerprint_sha256: SHA-256 fingerprint of client
certificate.
o $tls_client_fingerprint_sha1: SHA-1 fingerprint of client
certificate.
o $tls_client_subject_name: subject name in client
certificate.
o $tls_client_issuer_name: issuer name in client
certificate.
o $tls_client_serial: serial number in client
certificate.
o $tls_protocol: protocol for SSL/TLS connection.
o $tls_session_id: session ID for SSL/TLS connection.
o $tls_session_reused: "r" if SSL/TLS session was reused.
Otherwise, "."
o $tls_sni: SNI server name for SSL/TLS connection.
o $backend_host: backend host used to fulfill the
request. "-" if backend host is not available.
o $backend_port: backend port used to fulfill the
request. "-" if backend host is not available.
o $method: HTTP method
o $path: Request path including query. For CONNECT
request, authority is recorded.
o $path_without_query: $path up to the first '?'
character. For CONNECT request, authority is
recorded.
o $protocol_version: HTTP version (e.g., HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2)
The variable can be enclosed by "{" and "}" for
disambiguation (e.g., ${remote_addr}).
Default: $remote_addr - - [$time_local] "$request" $status
$body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" "$http_user_agent"
--accesslog-write-early
Write access log when response header fields are
received from backend rather than when request
transaction finishes.
--errorlog-file=<PATH>
Set path to write error log. To reopen file, send USR1 signal
to nghttpx. stderr will be redirected to the error log file
unless --errorlog-syslog is used.
Default: /dev/stderr
--errorlog-syslog
Send error log to syslog. If this option is used,
--errorlog-file option is ignored.
--syslog-facility=<FACILITY>
Set syslog facility to <FACILITY>.
Default: daemon
HTTP
--add-x-forwarded-for
Append X-Forwarded-For header field to the downstream
request.
--strip-incoming-x-forwarded-for
Strip X-Forwarded-For header field from inbound client
requests.
--no-add-x-forwarded-proto
Don't append additional X-Forwarded-Proto header field to the
backend request. If inbound client sets
X-Forwarded-Proto, and
--no-strip-incoming-x-forwarded-proto option is used, they
are passed to the backend.
--no-strip-incoming-x-forwarded-proto
Don't strip X-Forwarded-Proto header field from inbound client
requests.
--add-forwarded=<LIST>
Append RFC 7239 Forwarded header field with parameters
specified in comma delimited list <LIST>. The supported
parameters are "by", "for", "host", and "proto". By
default, the value of "by" and "for" parameters are
obfuscated string. See --forwarded-by and
--forwarded-for options respectively. Note that nghttpx does
not translate non-standard X-Forwarded-* header fields into
Forwarded header field, and vice versa.
--strip-incoming-forwarded
Strip Forwarded header field from inbound client
requests.
--forwarded-by=(obfuscated|ip|<VALUE>)
Specify the parameter value sent out with "by" parameter of
Forwarded header field. If "obfuscated" is given, the string
is randomly generated at startup. If "ip" is given, the
interface address of the connection, including port
number, is sent with "by" parameter. In case of UNIX domain
socket, "localhost" is used instead of address and port. User
can also specify the static obfuscated string. The limitation
is that it must start with "_", and only consists of
character set [A-Za-z0-9._-], as described in RFC 7239.
Default: obfuscated
--forwarded-for=(obfuscated|ip)
Specify the parameter value sent out with "for"
parameter of Forwarded header field. If "obfuscated" is given,
the string is randomly generated for each client connection.
If "ip" is given, the remote client address of the connection,
without port number, is sent with "for" parameter. In case
of UNIX domain socket, "localhost" is used instead of
address.
Default: obfuscated
--no-via
Don't append to Via header field. If Via header field is
received, it is left unaltered.
--no-strip-incoming-early-data
Don't strip Early-Data header field from inbound client
requests.
--no-location-rewrite
Don't rewrite location header field in default mode. When
--http2-proxy is used, location header field will not be
altered regardless of this option.
--host-rewrite
Rewrite host and :authority header fields in default mode.
When --http2-proxy is used, these headers will not be altered
regardless of this option.
--altsvc=<PROTOID,PORT[,HOST,[ORIGIN[,PARAMS]]]>
Specify protocol ID, port, host and origin of
alternative service. <HOST>, <ORIGIN> and <PARAMS> are
optional. Empty <HOST> and <ORIGIN> are allowed and they
are treated as nothing is specified. They are advertised
in alt-svc header field only in HTTP/1.1 frontend. This
option can be used multiple times to specify multiple
alternative services. Example: --altsvc="h2,443,,,ma=3600;
persist=1"
--http2-altsvc=<PROTOID,PORT[,HOST,[ORIGIN[,PARAMS]]]>
Just like --altsvc option, but this altsvc is only sent in
HTTP/2 frontend.
--add-request-header=<HEADER>
Specify additional header field to add to request header set.
The field name must be lowercase. This option just appends
header field and won't replace anything already set. This
option can be used several times to specify multiple header
fields. Example: --add-request-header="foo: bar"
--add-response-header=<HEADER>
Specify additional header field to add to response header
set. The field name must be lowercase. This option just
appends header field and won't replace anything already
set. This option can be used several times to specify multiple
header fields. Example: --add-response-header="foo: bar"
--request-header-field-buffer=<SIZE>
Set maximum buffer size for incoming HTTP request header field
list. This is the sum of header name and value in bytes. If
trailer fields exist, they are counted towards this number.
Default: 64K
--max-request-header-fields=<N>
Set maximum number of incoming HTTP request header fields.
If trailer fields exist, they are counted towards this
number.
Default: 100
--response-header-field-buffer=<SIZE>
Set maximum buffer size for incoming HTTP response header
field list. This is the sum of header name and value in
bytes. If trailer fields exist, they are counted towards
this number.
Default: 64K
--max-response-header-fields=<N>
Set maximum number of incoming HTTP response header fields.
If trailer fields exist, they are counted towards this
number.
Default: 500
--error-page=(<CODE>|*)=<PATH>
Set file path to custom error page served when nghttpx
originally generates HTTP error status code <CODE>. <CODE>
must be greater than or equal to 400, and at most 599. If "*"
is used instead of <CODE>, it matches all HTTP status code.
If error status code comes from backend server, the custom
error pages are not used.
--server-name=<NAME>
Change server response header field value to <NAME>.
Default: nghttpx
--no-server-rewrite
Don't rewrite server header field in default mode. When
--http2-proxy is used, these headers will not be altered
regardless of this option.
--redirect-https-port=<PORT>
Specify the port number which appears in Location header field
when redirect to HTTPS URI is made due to
"redirect-if-not-tls" parameter in --backend option.
Default: 443
--require-http-scheme
Always require http or https scheme in HTTP request. It also
requires that https scheme must be used for an encrypted
connection. Otherwise, http scheme must be used. This
option is recommended for a server deployment which
directly faces clients and the services it provides only require
http or https scheme.
API
--api-max-request-body=<SIZE>
Set the maximum size of request body for API request.
Default: 32M
DNS
--dns-cache-timeout=<DURATION>
Set duration that cached DNS results remain valid. Note that
nghttpx caches the unsuccessful results as well.
Default: 10s
--dns-lookup-timeout=<DURATION>
Set timeout that DNS server is given to respond to the initial
DNS query. For the 2nd and later queries, server is given
time based on this timeout, and it is scaled linearly.
Default: 250ms
--dns-max-try=<N>
Set the number of DNS query before nghttpx gives up name lookup.
Default: 3
--frontend-max-requests=<N>
The number of requests that single frontend connection can
process. For HTTP/2, this is the number of streams in one
HTTP/2 connection. For HTTP/1, this is the number of keep
alive requests. This is hint to nghttpx, and it may allow
additional few requests. The default value is unlimited.
Debug
--frontend-http2-dump-request-header=<PATH>
Dumps request headers received by HTTP/2 frontend to the file
denoted in <PATH>. The output is done in HTTP/1 header field
format and each header block is followed by an empty line. This
option is not thread safe and MUST NOT be used with option
-n<N>, where <N> >= 2.
--frontend-http2-dump-response-header=<PATH>
Dumps response headers sent from HTTP/2 frontend to the file
denoted in <PATH>. The output is done in HTTP/1 header field
format and each header block is followed by an empty line. This
option is not thread safe and MUST NOT be used with option
-n<N>, where <N> >= 2.
-o, --frontend-frame-debug
Print HTTP/2 frames in frontend to stderr. This option is not
thread safe and MUST NOT be used with option -n=N, where N
>= 2.
Process
-D, --daemon
Run in a background. If -D is used, the current working
directory is changed to '/'.
--pid-file=<PATH>
Set path to save PID of this program.
--user=<USER>
Run this program as <USER>. This option is intended to be used
to drop root privileges.
--single-process
Run this program in a single process mode for debugging
purpose. Without this option, nghttpx creates at least 2
processes: main and worker processes. If this option is used,
main and worker are unified into a single process.
nghttpx still spawns additional process if neverbleed is
used. In the single process mode, the signal handling
feature is disabled.
--max-worker-processes=<N>
The maximum number of worker processes. nghttpx spawns new
worker process when it reloads its configuration. The
previous worker process enters graceful termination period and
will terminate when it finishes handling the existing
connections. However, if reloading configurations
happen very frequently, the worker processes might be
piled up if they take a bit long time to finish the existing
connections. With this option, if the number of worker
processes exceeds the given value, the oldest worker
process is terminated immediately. Specifying 0 means no
limit and it is the default behaviour.
--worker-process-grace-shutdown-period=<DURATION>
Maximum period for a worker process to terminate
gracefully. When a worker process enters in graceful
shutdown period (e.g., when nghttpx reloads its
configuration) and it does not finish handling the
existing connections in the given period of time, it is
immediately terminated. Specifying 0 means no limit and it is
the default behaviour.
Scripting
--mruby-file=<PATH>
Set mruby script file
--ignore-per-pattern-mruby-error
Ignore mruby compile error for per-pattern mruby script file.
If error occurred, it is treated as if no mruby file were
specified for the pattern.
HTTP/3 and QUIC
--frontend-quic-idle-timeout=<DURATION>
Specify an idle timeout for QUIC connection.
Default: 30s
--frontend-quic-debug-log
Output QUIC debug log to /dev/stderr.
--quic-bpf-program-file=<PATH>
Specify a path to eBPF program file reuseport_kern.o to direct
an incoming QUIC UDP datagram to a correct socket.
Default: /usr/local/lib/nghttp2/reuseport_kern.o
--frontend-quic-early-data
Enable early data on frontend QUIC connections. nghttpx sends
"Early-Data" header field to a backend server if a request is
received in early data and handshake has not finished. All
backend servers should deal with possibly replayed requests.
--frontend-quic-qlog-dir=<DIR>
Specify a directory where a qlog file is written for
frontend QUIC connections. A qlog file is created per each
QUIC connection. The file name is ISO8601 basic format,
followed by "-", server Source Connection ID and ".sqlog".
--frontend-quic-require-token
Require an address validation token for a frontend QUIC
connection. Server sends a token in Retry packet or
NEW_TOKEN frame in the previous connection.
--frontend-quic-congestion-controller=<CC>
Specify a congestion controller algorithm for a frontend QUIC
connection. <CC> should be either "cubic" or "bbr".
Default: cubic
--frontend-quic-secret-file=<PATH>
Path to file that contains secure random data to be used as QUIC
keying materials. It is used to derive keys for encrypting
tokens and Connection IDs. It is not used to encrypt QUIC
packets. Each line of this file must contain exactly 136
bytes hex-encoded string (when decoded the byte string is 68
bytes long). The first 3 bits of decoded byte string are
used to identify the keying material. An empty line or a
line which starts '#' is ignored. The file can contain more
than one keying materials. Because the identifier is 3 bits,
at most 8 keying materials are read and the remaining data is
discarded. The first keying material in the file is primarily
used for encryption and decryption for new connection. The
other ones are used to decrypt data for the existing
connections. Specifying multiple keying materials enables
key rotation. Please note that key rotation does not occur
automatically. User should update files or change options
values and restart nghttpx gracefully. If opening or
reading given file fails, all loaded keying materials are
discarded and it is treated as if none of this option is given.
If this option is not given or an error occurred while opening
or reading a file, a keying material is generated
internally on startup and reload.
--quic-server-id=<HEXSTRING>
Specify server ID encoded in Connection ID to identify this
particular server instance. Connection ID is encrypted and
this part is not visible in public. It must be 4 bytes long
and must be encoded in hex string (which is 8 bytes long). If
this option is omitted, a random server ID is generated
on startup and configuration reload.
--frontend-quic-initial-rtt=<DURATION>
Specify the initial RTT of the frontend QUIC connection.
Default: 333ms
--no-quic-bpf
Disable eBPF.
--frontend-http3-window-size=<SIZE>
Sets the per-stream initial window size of HTTP/3
frontend connection.
Default: 256K
--frontend-http3-connection-window-size=<SIZE>
Sets the per-connection window size of HTTP/3 frontend
connection.
Default: 1M
--frontend-http3-max-window-size=<SIZE>
Sets the maximum per-stream window size of HTTP/3
frontend connection. The window size is adjusted based on the
receiving rate of stream data. The initial value is the value
specified by --frontend-http3-window-size and the window size
grows up to <SIZE> bytes.
Default: 6M
--frontend-http3-max-connection-window-size=<SIZE>
Sets the maximum per-connection window size of HTTP/3
frontend connection. The window size is adjusted based on the
receiving rate of stream data. The initial value is the
value specified by
--frontend-http3-connection-window-size and the window size
grows up to <SIZE> bytes.
Default: 8M
--frontend-http3-max-concurrent-streams=<N>
Set the maximum number of the concurrent streams in one
frontend HTTP/3 connection.
Default: 100
Misc
--conf=<PATH>
Load configuration from <PATH>. Please note that nghttpx
always tries to read the default configuration file if --conf
is not given.
Default: /etc/nghttpx/nghttpx.conf
--include=<PATH>
Load additional configurations from <PATH>. File <PATH> is
read when configuration parser encountered this option.
This option can be used multiple times, or even recursively.
-v, --version
Print version and exit.
-h, --help
Print this help and exit.
The <SIZE> argument is an integer and an optional unit (e.g., 10K is 10
* 1024). Units are K, M and G (powers of 1024).
The <DURATION> argument is an integer and an optional unit (e.g., 1s is
1 second and 500ms is 500 milliseconds). Units are h, m, s or ms
(hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds, respectively). If a unit is
omitted, a second is used as unit.
FILES
/etc/nghttpx/nghttpx.conf
The default configuration file path nghttpx searches at startup.
The configuration file path can be changed using --conf option.
Those lines which are staring # are treated as comment.
The option name in the configuration file is the long
command-line option name with leading -- stripped (e.g.,
frontend). Put = between option name and value. Don't put
extra leading or trailing spaces.
When specifying arguments including characters which have
special meaning to a shell, we usually use quotes so that shell
does not interpret them. When writing this configuration file,
quotes for this purpose must not be used. For example, specify
additional request header field, do this:
add-request-header=foo: bar
instead of:
add-request-header="foo: bar"
The options which do not take argument in the command-line take
argument in the configuration file. Specify yes as an argument
(e.g., http2-proxy=yes). If other string is given, it is
ignored.
To specify private key and certificate file which are given as
positional arguments in command-line, use private-key-file and
certificate-file.
--conf option cannot be used in the configuration file and will
be ignored if specified.
Error log
Error log is written to stderr by default. It can be configured
using --errorlog-file. The format of log message is as follows:
<datetime> <main-pid> <current-pid> <thread-id> <level>
(<filename>:<line>) <msg>
<datetime>
It is a combination of date and time when the log is
written. It is in ISO 8601 format.
<main-pid>
It is a main process ID.
<current-pid>
It is a process ID which writes this log.
<thread-id>
It is a thread ID which writes this log. It would be
unique within <current-pid>.
<filename> and <line>
They are source file name, and line number which produce
this log.
<msg> It is a log message body.
SIGNALS
SIGQUIT
Shutdown gracefully. First accept pending connections and stop
accepting connection. After all connections are handled,
nghttpx exits.
SIGHUP Reload configuration file given in --conf.
SIGUSR1
Reopen log files.
SIGUSR2
Fork and execute nghttpx. It will execute the binary in the same
path with same command-line arguments and environment variables. As
of nghttpx version 1.20.0, the new main process sends SIGQUIT to the
original main process when it is ready to serve requests. For the
earlier versions of nghttpx, user has to send SIGQUIT to the
original main process.
The difference between SIGUSR2 (+ SIGQUIT) and SIGHUP is that former
is usually used to execute new binary, and the main process is newly
spawned. On the other hand, the latter just reloads configuration
file, and the same main process continues to exist.
NOTE:
nghttpx consists of multiple processes: one process for processing
these signals, and another one for processing requests. The former
spawns the latter. The former is called main process, and the
latter is called worker process. If neverbleed is enabled, the
worker process spawns neverbleed daemon process which does RSA key
processing. The above signal must be sent to the main process. If
the other processes received one of them, it is ignored. This
behaviour of these processes may change in the future release. In
other words, in the future release, the processes other than main
process may terminate upon the reception of these signals.
Therefore these signals should not be sent to the processes other
than main process.
SERVER PUSH
nghttpx supports HTTP/2 server push in default mode with Link header
field. nghttpx looks for Link header field (RFC 5988) in response
headers from backend server and extracts URI-reference with parameter
rel=preload (see preload) and pushes those URIs to the frontend client.
Here is a sample Link header field to initiate server push:
Link: </fonts/font.woff>; rel=preload
Link: </css/theme.css>; rel=preload
Currently, the following restriction is applied for server push:
1. The associated stream must have method "GET" or "POST". The
associated stream's status code must be 200.
This limitation may be loosened in the future release.
nghttpx also supports server push if both frontend and backend are
HTTP/2 in default mode. In this case, in addition to server push via
Link header field, server push from backend is forwarded to frontend
HTTP/2 session.
HTTP/2 server push will be disabled if --http2-proxy is used.
UNIX DOMAIN SOCKET
nghttpx supports UNIX domain socket with a filename for both frontend
and backend connections.
Please note that current nghttpx implementation does not delete a
socket with a filename. And on start up, if nghttpx detects that the
specified socket already exists in the file system, nghttpx first
deletes it. However, if SIGUSR2 is used to execute new binary and both
old and new configurations use same filename, new binary does not
delete the socket and continues to use it.
TLS SESSION RESUMPTION
nghttpx supports TLS session resumption through both session ID and
session ticket.
SESSION ID RESUMPTION
By default, session ID is shared by all worker threads.
TLS SESSION TICKET RESUMPTION
By default, session ticket is shared by all worker threads. The
automatic key rotation is also enabled by default. Every an hour, new
encryption key is generated, and previous encryption key becomes
decryption only key. We set session timeout to 12 hours, and thus we
keep at most 12 keys.
If --tls-ticket-key-memcached is given, encryption keys are retrieved
from memcached. nghttpx just reads keys from memcached; one has to
deploy key generator program to update keys frequently (e.g., every 1
hour). The example key generator tlsticketupdate.go is available under
contrib directory in nghttp2 archive. The memcached entry key is
nghttpx:tls-ticket-key. The data format stored in memcached is the
binary format described below:
+--------------+-------+----------------+
| VERSION (4) |LEN (2)|KEY(48 or 80) ...
+--------------+-------+----------------+
^ |
| |
+------------------------+
(LEN, KEY) pair can be repeated
All numbers in the above figure is bytes. All integer fields are
network byte order.
First 4 bytes integer VERSION field, which must be 1. The 2 bytes
integer LEN field gives the length of following KEY field, which
contains key. If --tls-ticket-key-cipher=aes-128-cbc is used, LEN must
be 48. If --tls-ticket-key-cipher=aes-256-cbc is used, LEN must be 80.
LEN and KEY pair can be repeated multiple times to store multiple keys.
The key appeared first is used as encryption key. All the remaining
keys are used as decryption only.
By default, connections to memcached server are not encrypted. To
enable encryption, use tls keyword in --tls-ticket-key-memcached
option.
If --tls-ticket-key-file is given, encryption key is read from the
given file. In this case, nghttpx does not rotate key automatically.
To rotate key, one has to restart nghttpx (see SIGNALS).
CERTIFICATE TRANSPARENCY
nghttpx supports TLS signed_certificate_timestamp extension (RFC 6962).
The relevant options are --tls-sct-dir and sct-dir parameter in
--subcert. They takes a directory, and nghttpx reads all files whose
extension is .sct under the directory. The *.sct files are encoded as
SignedCertificateTimestamp struct described in section 3.2 of RFC
69662. This format is the same one used by nginx-ct and mod_ssl_ct.
ct-submit can be used to submit certificates to log servers, and obtain
the SignedCertificateTimestamp struct which can be used with nghttpx.
MRUBY SCRIPTING
WARNING:
The current mruby extension API is experimental and not frozen. The
API is subject to change in the future release.
WARNING:
Almost all string value returned from method, or attribute is a
fresh new mruby string, which involves memory allocation, and
copies. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to store a return
value in a local variable, and use it, instead of calling method or
accessing attribute repeatedly.
nghttpx allows users to extend its capability using mruby scripts.
nghttpx has 2 hook points to execute mruby script: request phase and
response phase. The request phase hook is invoked after all request
header fields are received from client. The response phase hook is
invoked after all response header fields are received from backend
server. These hooks allows users to modify header fields, or common
HTTP variables, like authority or request path, and even return custom
response without forwarding request to backend servers.
There are 2 levels of mruby script invocations: global and per-pattern.
The global mruby script is set by --mruby-file option and is called for
all requests. The per-pattern mruby script is set by "mruby" parameter
in -b option. It is invoked for a request which matches the particular
pattern. The order of hook invocation is: global request phase hook,
per-pattern request phase hook, per-pattern response phase hook, and
finally global response phase hook. If a hook returns a response, any
later hooks are not invoked. The global request hook is invoked before
the pattern matching is made and changing request path may affect the
pattern matching.
Please note that request and response hooks of per-pattern mruby script
for a single request might not come from the same script. This might
happen after a request hook is executed, backend failed for some
reason, and at the same time, backend configuration is replaced by API
request, and then the request uses new configuration on retry. The
response hook from new configuration, if it is specified, will be
invoked.
The all mruby script will be evaluated once per thread on startup, and
it must instantiate object and evaluate it as the return value (e.g.,
App.new). This object is called app object. If app object defines
on_req method, it is called with Nghttpx::Env object on request hook.
Similarly, if app object defines on_resp method, it is called with
Nghttpx::Env object on response hook. For each method invocation, user
can can access Nghttpx::Request and Nghttpx::Response objects via
Nghttpx::Env#req and Nghttpx::Env#resp respectively.
Nghttpx::REQUEST_PHASE
Constant to represent request phase.
Nghttpx::RESPONSE_PHASE
Constant to represent response phase.
class Nghttpx::Env
Object to represent current request specific context.
attribute [R] req
Return Request object.
attribute [R] resp
Return Response object.
attribute [R] ctx
Return Ruby hash object. It persists until request
finishes. So values set in request phase hook can be
retrieved in response phase hook.
attribute [R] phase
Return the current phase.
attribute [R] remote_addr
Return IP address of a remote client. If connection is
made via UNIX domain socket, this returns the string
"localhost".
attribute [R] server_addr
Return address of server that accepted the connection.
This is a string which specified in --frontend option,
excluding port number, and not a resolved IP address.
For UNIX domain socket, this is a path to UNIX domain
socket.
attribute [R] server_port
Return port number of the server frontend which accepted
the connection from client.
attribute [R] tls_used
Return true if TLS is used on the connection.
attribute [R] tls_sni
Return the TLS SNI value which client sent in this
connection.
attribute [R] tls_client_fingerprint_sha256
Return the SHA-256 fingerprint of a client certificate.
attribute [R] tls_client_fingerprint_sha1
Return the SHA-1 fingerprint of a client certificate.
attribute [R] tls_client_issuer_name
Return the issuer name of a client certificate.
attribute [R] tls_client_subject_name
Return the subject name of a client certificate.
attribute [R] tls_client_serial
Return the serial number of a client certificate.
attribute [R] tls_client_not_before
Return the start date of a client certificate in seconds
since the epoch.
attribute [R] tls_client_not_after
Return the end date of a client certificate in seconds
since the epoch.
attribute [R] tls_cipher
Return a TLS cipher negotiated in this connection.
attribute [R] tls_protocol
Return a TLS protocol version negotiated in this
connection.
attribute [R] tls_session_id
Return a session ID for this connection in hex string.
attribute [R] tls_session_reused
Return true if, and only if a SSL/TLS session is reused.
attribute [R] alpn
Return ALPN identifier negotiated in this connection.
attribute [R] tls_handshake_finished
Return true if SSL/TLS handshake has finished. If it
returns false in the request phase hook, the request is
received in TLSv1.3 early data (0-RTT) and might be
vulnerable to the replay attack. nghttpx will send
Early-Data header field to backend servers to indicate
this.
class Nghttpx::Request
Object to represent request from client. The modification to
Request object is allowed only in request phase hook.
attribute [R] http_version_major
Return HTTP major version.
attribute [R] http_version_minor
Return HTTP minor version.
attribute [R/W] method
HTTP method. On assignment, copy of given value is
assigned. We don't accept arbitrary method name. We
will document them later, but well known methods, like
GET, PUT and POST, are all supported.
attribute [R/W] authority
Authority (i.e., example.org), including optional port
component . On assignment, copy of given value is
assigned.
attribute [R/W] scheme
Scheme (i.e., http, https). On assignment, copy of given
value is assigned.
attribute [R/W] path
Request path, including query component (i.e.,
/index.html). On assignment, copy of given value is
assigned. The path does not include authority component
of URI. This may include query component. nghttpx makes
certain normalization for path. It decodes
percent-encoding for unreserved characters (see
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986#section-2.3), and
resolves ".." and ".". But it may leave characters which
should be percent-encoded as is. So be careful when
comparing path against desired string.
attribute [R] headers
Return Ruby hash containing copy of request header
fields. Changing values in returned hash does not change
request header fields actually used in request
processing. Use Nghttpx::Request#add_header or
Nghttpx::Request#set_header to change request header
fields.
add_header(key, value)
Add header entry associated with key. The value can be
single string or array of string. It does not replace
any existing values associated with key.
set_header(key, value)
Set header entry associated with key. The value can be
single string or array of string. It replaces any
existing values associated with key.
clear_headers()
Clear all existing request header fields.
push(uri)
Initiate to push resource identified by uri. Only HTTP/2
protocol supports this feature. For the other protocols,
this method is noop. uri can be absolute URI, absolute
path or relative path to the current request. For
absolute or relative path, scheme and authority are
inherited from the current request. Currently, method is
always GET. nghttpx will issue request to backend
servers to fulfill this request. The request and
response phase hooks will be called for pushed resource
as well.
class Nghttpx::Response
Object to represent response from backend server.
attribute [R] http_version_major
Return HTTP major version.
attribute [R] http_version_minor
Return HTTP minor version.
attribute [R/W] status
HTTP status code. It must be in the range [200, 999],
inclusive. The non-final status code is not supported in
mruby scripting at the moment.
attribute [R] headers
Return Ruby hash containing copy of response header
fields. Changing values in returned hash does not change
response header fields actually used in response
processing. Use Nghttpx::Response#add_header or
Nghttpx::Response#set_header to change response header
fields.
add_header(key, value)
Add header entry associated with key. The value can be
single string or array of string. It does not replace
any existing values associated with key.
set_header(key, value)
Set header entry associated with key. The value can be
single string or array of string. It replaces any
existing values associated with key.
clear_headers()
Clear all existing response header fields.
return(body)
Return custom response body to a client. When this
method is called in request phase hook, the request is
not forwarded to the backend, and response phase hook for
this request will not be invoked. When this method is
called in response phase hook, response from backend
server is canceled and discarded. The status code and
response header fields should be set before using this
method. To set status code, use
Nghttpx::Response#status. If status code is not set, 200
is used. To set response header fields,
Nghttpx::Response#add_header and
Nghttpx::Response#set_header. When this method is
invoked in response phase hook, the response headers are
filled with the ones received from backend server. To
send completely custom header fields, first call
Nghttpx::Response#clear_headers to erase all existing
header fields, and then add required header fields. It
is an error to call this method twice for a given
request.
send_info(status, headers)
Send non-final (informational) response to a client.
status must be in the range [100, 199], inclusive.
headers is a hash containing response header fields. Its
key must be a string, and the associated value must be
either string or array of strings. Since this is not a
final response, even if this method is invoked, request
is still forwarded to a backend unless
Nghttpx::Response#return is called. This method can be
called multiple times. It cannot be called after
Nghttpx::Response#return is called.
MRUBY EXAMPLES
Modify request path:
class App
def on_req(env)
env.req.path = "/apps#{env.req.path}"
end
end
App.new
Don't forget to instantiate and evaluate object at the last line.
Restrict permission of viewing a content to a specific client
addresses:
class App
def on_req(env)
allowed_clients = ["127.0.0.1", "::1"]
if env.req.path.start_with?("/log/") &&
!allowed_clients.include?(env.remote_addr) then
env.resp.status = 404
env.resp.return "permission denied"
end
end
end
App.new
API ENDPOINTS
nghttpx exposes API endpoints to manipulate it via HTTP based API. By
default, API endpoint is disabled. To enable it, add a dedicated
frontend for API using --frontend option with "api" parameter. All
requests which come from this frontend address, will be treated as API
request.
The response is normally JSON dictionary, and at least includes the
following keys:
status The status of the request processing. The following values are
defined:
Success
The request was successful.
Failure
The request was failed. No change has been made.
code HTTP status code
Additionally, depending on the API endpoint, data key may be present,
and its value contains the API endpoint specific data.
We wrote "normally", since nghttpx may return ordinal HTML response in
some cases where the error has occurred before reaching API endpoint
(e.g., header field is too large).
The following section describes available API endpoints.
POST /api/v1beta1/backendconfig
This API replaces the current backend server settings with the
requested ones. The request method should be POST, but PUT is also
acceptable. The request body must be nghttpx configuration file
format. For configuration file format, see FILES section. The line
separator inside the request body must be single LF (0x0A). Currently,
only backend option is parsed, the others are simply ignored. The
semantics of this API is replace the current backend with the backend
options in request body. Describe the desired set of backend severs,
and nghttpx makes it happen. If there is no backend option is found in
request body, the current set of backend is replaced with the backend
option's default value, which is 127.0.0.1,80.
The replacement is done instantly without breaking existing connections
or requests. It also avoids any process creation as is the case with
hot swapping with signals.
The one limitation is that only numeric IP address is allowed in
backend in request body unless "dns" parameter is used while non
numeric hostname is allowed in command-line or configuration file is
read using --conf.
GET /api/v1beta1/configrevision
This API returns configuration revision of the current nghttpx. The
configuration revision is opaque string, and it changes after each
reloading by SIGHUP. With this API, an external application knows that
whether nghttpx has finished reloading its configuration by comparing
the configuration revisions between before and after reloading. It is
recommended to disable persistent (keep-alive) connection for this
purpose in order to avoid to send a request using the reused connection
which may bound to an old process.
This API returns response including data key. Its value is JSON
object, and it contains at least the following key:
configRevision
The configuration revision of the current nghttpx
SEE ALSO
nghttp(1), nghttpd(1), h2load(1)
AUTHOR
Tatsuhiro Tsujikawa
COPYRIGHT
2012, 2015, 2016, Tatsuhiro Tsujikawa
1.68.0 October 25, 2025 nghttpx(1)
nghttp2 1.68.0 - Generated Sat Oct 25 07:14:42 CDT 2025