FreeBSD: Start / Stop / Restart Nginx Web Server

Q. How do I start / stop / restart Nginx webserver under FreeBSD operating systems? How do I test Nginx web server config file syntax before restarting my server?

A. FreeBSD comes with Nginx startup script located at /usr/local/etc/rc.d directory.

Update /etc/rc.conf

All you have to do is add following line to your /etc/rc.conf file:

nginx_enable="YES"
Once added use the following command to control nginx web server. You must be root user to control nginx.

Start Nginx Web Server Command

# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nginx start

Stop Nginx Web Server Command

# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nginx stop

Restart Nginx Web Server Command

# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nginx restart

Test Nginx config file for errors

The -t option will just test the configuration file. nginx checks configuration for correct syntax and then try to open files referred in configuration.
# nginx -c /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf -t
Sample output:

?2008/10/09 19:24:26 [info] 52494#0: the configuration file /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
2008/10/09 19:24:26 [info] 52494#0: the configuration file /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf was tested successfully

Once statisfied, restart / start Nginx:
# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nginx start
The -c /path/to/config/file specifies which configuration file Nginx should use instead of the default.