brew

Install nginx with Homebrew, apk, chocolatey, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, winget, zypper

HTTP(S) server and reverse proxy, and IMAP/POP3 proxy server. Version 1.31.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-17.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install nginx

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install nginx

MacPorts ports tree · www/nginx/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add nginx

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · nginx · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install libnginx-mod-http-geoip

Debian stable package indexes · libnginx-mod-http-geoip · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install nginx

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · nginx · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#nginx

nixpkgs package indexes · nginx · source: raw.githubusercontent.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S nginx

Arch Linux sync databases · nginx · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install nginx

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · nginx · source: download.opensuse.org

Windows

Chocolateyverified · 92%

choco install nginx

Chocolatey community package catalog · nginx · source: community.chocolatey.org

Scoopverified · 92%

scoop install main/nginx

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/nginx.json · source: api.github.com

Windows Package Managerverified · 92%

winget install --id freenginx.nginx -e

Windows Package Manager source index · freenginx.nginx · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com

overview

Package summary

HTTP(S) server and reverse proxy, and IMAP/POP3 proxy server

Project links

Commands and aliases

nginx

history

Project history and usage

nginx is an HTTP server, reverse proxy, content cache, load balancer, TCP/UDP proxy, and mail proxy. It became famous for event-driven, low-resource handling of large numbers of concurrent connections and then became a default building block in web serving, reverse proxying, Kubernetes ingress, and container deployments.

Project history

Igor Sysoev began developing nginx in spring 2002 to solve high-concurrency web traffic problems, especially the C10k-style problem of handling many simultaneous connections efficiently. The project was open sourced under a permissive license on October 4, 2004.

For years nginx grew with little marketing and limited documentation because it solved real operational pain. The official nginx retrospective says Sysoev was the sole developer for seven years and expanded it from a web server and reverse proxy into a broader web application delivery tool with load balancing, caching, security, and content acceleration features.

Adoption history

nginx adoption accelerated as high-traffic sites, startups, and infrastructure teams needed something lighter than Apache prefork-era deployments for static content, reverse proxying, and traffic fan-out. The official nginx site describes it as the world's most popular web server, one of the most popular Docker images, and the software powering multiple Kubernetes ingress controllers.

The commercial story followed the open-source adoption curve. NGINX, Inc. formed in 2011, NGINX Plus launched in 2013, F5 completed its acquisition of NGINX on May 9, 2019, and Igor Sysoev stepped back from NGINX and F5 on January 18, 2022.

How it is used

Operators use nginx as the front door for services: serve static files, terminate TLS, route to upstream application servers, cache responses, rate-limit abusive clients, proxy WebSockets, and expose TCP/UDP streams. On developer machines it is often installed to reproduce production routing or test local reverse-proxy behavior.

Package nerds care about nginx build flags and module layout. A distro or Homebrew nginx package is more than one binary: it encodes TLS library choices, HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 support, dynamic modules, config paths, default document roots, service integration, and whether the package follows the F5/nginx.org line or a distribution-maintained variant.

Why package nerds care

nginx is a canonical infrastructure package: boring once configured, but decisive in production behavior. Its package history is really a story about turning a specialized high-concurrency web server into a universal reverse-proxy and application-delivery primitive.

Timeline

2002: Igor Sysoev began developing nginx.
2004-10-04: nginx was released as open source.
2011: NGINX, Inc. was formed.
2013: NGINX Plus launched as the commercial product line.
2019-05-09: F5 completed its acquisition of NGINX.
2022-01-18: Igor Sysoev stepped back from NGINX and F5.

Related projects

Apache httpd
OpenResty
Tengine
Cloudflare infrastructure
Kubernetes Ingress Controllers
NGINX Unit
njs

Sources

security posture

Risk level: orange

formula declares a Homebrew service.

Risk classifier

orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure

Why

formula declares a Homebrew service

Signals

metadata:service

Install behavior

Homebrew declares a post-install hook for this formula.
Formula metadata declares a service or daemon block.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 2 runtime dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: /usr/local/nginx/conf/nginx.conf/etc/nginx/nginx.conf/usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`nginx`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version1.31.2

manager updated2026-06-17

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://nginx.org/

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://nginx.org/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:nginx
Version	1.31.2
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/nginx
Homepage	https://nginx.org/
Repository	https://github.com/nginx/nginx
Upstream docs	https://nginx.org/en/docs
License	BSD-2-Clause
Source archive	https://nginx.org/download/nginx-1.31.2.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-06-17T20:23:23Z
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	openssl@3, pcre2
Uses from macOS	libxcrypt
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	defined
Service	declared
Caveats	Docroot is: $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/var/www The default port has been set in $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/etc/nginx/nginx.conf to 8080 so that nginx can run without sudo. nginx will load all files in $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/etc/nginx/servers/.

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	nginx
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

libnginx-mod-http-geoip 1.26.3-3+deb13u4

GeoIP HTTP module for Nginx