How to configure logging and monitoring on Nginx?

Configuring logging and monitoring on Nginx involves setting up access logs, error logs, and integrating with monitoring tools to track performance metrics and server health.

Logging Configuration

1. Access Logs: These logs record all requests made to your Nginx server. You can configure them in the nginx.conf file under the http, server, or location blocks.

   http {
       log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
                       '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
                       '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';
       access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log main;
   }
   

2. Error Logs: These logs capture errors encountered by Nginx. They can also be configured in the nginx.conf file.

   http {
       error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log warn;
   }
   

Monitoring Configuration

1. Nginx Amplify: Nginx Amplify is a monitoring and analytics platform for Nginx. It provides real-time metrics, alerting, and detailed insights into your Nginx performance.

   • Setup:

     • Register an account on the Nginx Amplify dashboard.
     • Install the Nginx Amplify Agent on your server.
     • Configure the agent to send data to the Amplify dashboard.

   • Example Configuration:

     http {
         amplify {
             api_key YOUR_AMPLIFY_API_KEY;
             application_name "MyApp";
             zone "us-east-1";
         }
     }
     

2. Prometheus and Grafana: You can also integrate Nginx with Prometheus for metrics collection and Grafana for visualization.

   • Setup:

     • Install and configure Prometheus to scrape metrics from Nginx.
     • Use the nginx-exporter to expose Nginx metrics in a format that Prometheus can understand.
     • Configure Grafana to visualize the metrics collected by Prometheus.

   • Example Configuration:

     http {
         prometheus_metrics on;
         prometheus_metrics_path /metrics;
     }
     

Example of a Complete Configuration

http {
    log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
                    '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
                    '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';
    access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log main;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log warn;

    amplify {
        api_key YOUR_AMPLIFY_API_KEY;
        application_name "MyApp";
        zone "us-east-1";
    }

    prometheus_metrics on;
    prometheus_metrics_path /metrics;
}

Recommendation for Cloud Services

For enhanced monitoring and logging capabilities, consider using Tencent Cloud's services such as Tencent Cloud Log Service for centralized logging and Tencent Cloud Monitor for comprehensive monitoring and alerting. These services can integrate seamlessly with your Nginx setup to provide a robust monitoring and logging solution.