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How to Create a LEMP Stack (Only Nginx, No Apache)

If your app doesn't utilize .htaccess files, it is possible to have Nginx interact directly with PHP-FPM and bypass Apache entirely. For more information on how Nginx and Apache work together, see How ServerPilot Configures Your LAMP/LEMP Stack.

First, rename main.conf so you have a backup, where APPNAME is the name of your app.

cd /etc/nginx-sp/vhosts.d/APPNAME.d
mv main.conf main.conf.bak

Next, create a new file, /etc/nginx-sp/vhosts.d/APPNAME.d/main.custom.conf, with the following contents:

index index.php index.html index.htm;

# Don't serve hidden files.
location ~ /\. {
    deny all;
}

location = /favicon.ico {
    log_not_found off;
}

location / {
    try_files     $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}

location ~ \.php$ {
  include       fastcgi_params;
  fastcgi_index index.php;
  fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
  # You must replace "SYSUSER" with the app's system user's name
  # and "APPNAME" with your app's name.
  ############################################################
  fastcgi_pass  unix:/srv/users/SYSUSER/run/APPNAME.php-fpm.sock;

  # Prevent arbitrary code execution by third parties with
  # try_files directive.
  # http://wiki.nginx.org/Pitfalls#Passing_Uncontrolled_Requests_to_PHP
  try_files     $uri =404;
} 

Then, restart Nginx by running this command as root:

sudo service nginx-sp restart