Set Up a Simple File Server on Linux with Nginx

Setup and Configuration

Install Nginx

Ensure the Nginx web server package is installed on your Linux distribution.

Debian/Ubuntu-based systems

1 2	sudo apt update sudo apt install nginx

RHEL/CentOS/Fedora-based systems

Early systems

1	sudo yum install nginx

Latest systems

1	sudo dnf install nginx

Create the Shared Directory

Define the directory you intend to share via Nginx. Using a path outside of the default web root (/var/www/html) is often cleaner.

This is an example to create a folder at /srv/file_share.

1	sudo mkdir -p /srv/file_share

Configure Nginx

We will create a specific configuration file in the /etc/nginx/conf.d/ directory. This is often the simplest method, as modern Nginx installations are pre-configured to automatically include files from this location.

Create the file and name it appropriately (e.g., file_server.conf):

1	sudo vim /etc/nginx/conf.d/file_server.conf

Paste the following server block configuration. We will use port 10000 to avoid conflicts. Remember to replace your_server_ip_or_domain with your own setting.

server {
    listen 10000; # Listen on the custom port
    server_name your_server_ip_or_domain;

    location / {
        # Set the root directory for the files
        root /srv/file_server; 

        # 1. ESSENTIAL: Enables directory browsing (file listings)
        autoindex on; 

        # 2. Optional: Show sizes in KB, MB, GB format
        autoindex_exact_size off; 
        
        # 3. Optional: Sort listing by modification time
        autoindex_localtime on; 

        # 4. Optional: If no index.html is found, autoindex will take over
        index index.html index.htm; 
    }
}

Test and Restart

Test the configuration syntax

1	sudo nginx -t

Ensure the output confirms: syntax is ok and test is successful.

Restart the Nginx service

1	sudo systemctl restart nginx

Troubleshooting

If you cannot access your file server at http://your_server_ip:10000/, it is almost certainly due to one of the following reasons.

Firewall Configuration

If the web server is running but the page times out or refuses connection, your firewall is likely blocking port 10000.

Option A: Open the Specific Port (Recommended)

1 2	sudo ufw allow 10000/tcp sudo ufw status

Option B: Disable the Firewall (For Testing Only)

To quickly confirm that the firewall is the issue, you can temporarily disable UFW. Do not leave the firewall disabled on production servers.

1 2	sudo ufw disable sudo ufw status

Nginx Main Configuration Check

While placing files in conf.d/ is generally correct, it only works if the main Nginx configuration file is set to include them.

Check the main config file
1
sudo vim /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Verify the include directive

Inside the main http { ... } block, ensure one of the following lines exists:

http{
	# ...other settings...

    include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
    include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
}

Linux File Permissions Fix (The 403 Solution)

If the Nginx configuration is correct, a 403 Forbidden is almost always a Linux file permission issue.

Check the Nginx Error Log (The Crucial First Step) 🔍 This log will definitively tell you why Nginx is blocking the request. Look for Permission denied (a file system issue) or directory index is forbidden (a missing autoindex on; directive).
1
sudo tail /var/log/nginx/error.log
Identify the Nginx User: Confirm the user Nginx is running as.
1
grep "user" /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
If it returns user www-data; or user nginx;, it means Nginx doesn't have enough permission to access the file_share folder.
Fix Ownership and Permissions: If the log showed (13: Permission denied), Nginx cannot read your files. Replace /srv/file_share with your actual path, and replace www-data with your Nginx user if necessary.

Option 1: Change ownership to the Nginx user
1
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /srv/fileserver/
Option 2: Set Directory Permissions (755): Read/Execute for all
1
sudo find /srv/file_share/ -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
Option 3: Set File Permissions (644): Read-only for Nginx
1
sudo find /srv/file_share/ -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
Fix Home Directory Path Permissions (If Applicable): If your files are in a home folder (e.g., /home/ubuntu/file_share), you must allow the Nginx user to traverse the parent directory. Replace ubuntu with your username.
1
sudo chmod o+x /home/ubuntu/

Complete All Steps and Restart

After making any changes to permissions, configurations, or the firewall, always test the configuration and restart the service one final time.

1 2	sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl restart nginx

Your file server should now be fully accessible!