nginx: Send Custom HTTP Headers

How do I send or set arbitrary HTTP headers using nginx web server?

You need to use add_header directive. It sends arbitrary HTTP header when the response code is equal to 200, 204, 301, 302 or 304. You must compile nginx with NginxHttpHeadersModule. Once compiled edit nginx.conf:
# vi nginx.conf
Add the headers as follows in http, server, or location section:

add_header name value

In this example, set X-Whom to www-node01:

add_header X-Whom www-node01

Save and close the file. Reload nginx:
# /usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx -s reload

How Do I Test It?

Simply use curl as follows:
$ curl -I example.com
Sample outputs:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: nginx
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:40:58 GMT
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Connection: keep-alive
X-Whom: www-node01

But, Why Send Custom Headers?

You can use custom headers for the debugging purpose. You can use NGINX as a Reverse Proxy/Load Balancer for several Apache / Lighttpd nodes. Each pair of NGINX LBs can be identified using custom headers as well as internal nodes. Another usage is to monitor your servers with custom headers.

You should follow me on twitter here or grab rss feed to keep track of new changes.

nginx: Send Custom HTTP Headers

How Do I Test It?

But, Why Send Custom Headers?

Featured Articles:

Related Faqs