Configuring a NGINX web server

This post covers my experience and the steps to configure and deploy an NGINX web server on a cloud service. The steps taken to achieve this were pretty straightforward and achieved with a developer's best friend, Google!

STAGE ONE

Carrying out this process was considerably new to me, so I consulted articles and documentation online. Firstly, to install NGINX on my Windows operating system, these are the steps I followed:

1. I navigated to the Nginx website and clicked the link to download the mainline release version for Windows.
2. Once it was installed, I extracted the document and placed it in easily accessible location.
3. Next, I ran the command prompt as an administrator, changed the directory into the nginx file and ran the server

1. To view the nginx webpage, I entered the localhost URL address, "https://localhost" into my browser URL to display its welcome page.

STAGE TWO

The next stage was to create a custom HTML document

1. I located the source HTML file under the config folder in the download nginx file.
2. Once I opened the file, I edited the already available text to fit my customized needs.
3. Once saved, I refreshed my localhost website to show my customized message appeared in place of the former default text.

STAGE THREE

The final stage was to deploy my customized HTML page to a cloud platform or server so that it could be accessible to the public. I followed the following process using the Azure platform.

1. Using my Azure standard-tier website, I set up a storage account.
2. In that storage account, a container was created to host my web page.
3. Next, I uploaded my HTML web page into this container and made my account accessible to the public. By following these steps, I was able to deploy my simple HTML webpage to a cloud platform in simple steps. Check it out here!: https://devopsstage0.blob.core.windows.net/$web/index.html

My Reflection on this Project

Challenges

1. I carried out new tasks that required me to conduct necessary research. As research goes, I consulted various sources until I found one that was relevant and assisted me in achieving my tasks.
2. While deploying my web page on Azure was pretty straightforward, I struggled a bit with navigating the portal, but nothing relevant online documentation did not help with.

Contribution of this Task to my Learning and professional goals
I am eager to build a career in cloud computing and DevOps because it is an in-demand that combines my interest and career goals in digital transformation. This path allows me to collaborate with diverse technical professionals to create and release exceptional digital innovation to the world.
This task gives me valuable insight into the tasks of a DevOps engineer, starting from a basic level. I enjoyed researching to understand the concepts that were new and I believe that is part of being a tech professional. I look forward to building on this knowledge and becoming a valuable contributor in this field.

I hope you enjoyed following my process of configuring an Nginx web server!

References:

1. HNG Cloud engineering
2. HNG DevOps Engineering