# NGINX Unit
## Universal Web App Server
NGINX Unit is a lightweight and versatile open-source server that has
three core capabilities:
- acts as an HTTP reverse proxy,
- serves static media assets,
- runs application code in seven languages.
Unit compresses several layers of the modern application stack into a potent,
coherent solution with a focus on performance, low latency, and scalability. It
is intended as a universal building block for any web architecture regardless
of its complexity, from enterprise-scale deployments to your pet's homepage.
Its native RESTful JSON API enables dynamic updates with zero interruptions
and flexible configuration, while its out-of-the-box productivity reliably
scales to production-grade workloads. We achieve that with a complex,
asynchronous, multithreading architecture comprising multiple processes to
ensure security and robustness while getting the most out of today's computing
platforms.
## Quick Installation
### macOS
``` console
$ brew install nginx/unit/unit
```
For details and available language packages, see the
[docs](https://unit.nginx.org/installation/#homebrew).
### Docker
``` console
$ docker pull docker.io/nginx/unit
```
For a description of image tags, see the
[docs](https://unit.nginx.org/installation/#docker-images).
### Amazon Linux, Fedora, RedHat
``` console
$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nginx/unit/master/tools/setup-unit && chmod +x setup-unit
# ./setup-unit repo-config && yum install unit
# ./setup-unit welcome
```
For details and available language packages, see the
[docs](https://unit.nginx.org/installation/#official-packages).
### Debian, Ubuntu
``` console
$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nginx/unit/master/tools/setup-unit && chmod +x setup-unit
# ./setup-unit repo-config && apt install unit
# ./setup-unit welcome
```
For details and available language packages, see the
[docs](https://unit.nginx.org/installation/#official-packages).
## Running a Hello World App
Suppose you saved a PHP script as `/www/helloworld/index.php`:
``` php
<?php echo "Hello, PHP on Unit!"; ?>
```
To run it on Unit with the `unit-php` module installed, first set up an
application object. Let's store our first config snippet in a file called
`config.json`:
``` json
{
"helloworld": {
"type": "php",
"root": "/www/helloworld/"
}
}
```
Saving it as a file isn't necessary, but can come in handy with larger objects.
Now, `PUT` it into the `/config/applications` section of Unit's control API,
usually available by default via a Unix domain socket:
``` console
# curl -X PUT --data-binary @config.json --unix-socket \
/path/to/control.unit.sock http://localhost/config/applications
```
``` json
{
"success": "Reconfiguration done."
}
```
Next, reference the app from a listener object in the `/config/listeners`
section of the API. This time, we pass the config snippet straight from the
command line:
``` console
# curl -X PUT -d '{"127.0.0.1:8000": {"pass": "applications/helloworld"}}' \
--unix-socket /path/to/control.unit.sock http://localhost/config/listeners
```
``` json
{
"success": "Reconfiguration done."
}
```
Now Unit accepts requests at the specified IP and port, passing them to the
application process. Your app works!
``` console
$ curl 127.0.0.1:8080
Hello, PHP on Unit!
```
Finally, query the entire `/config` section of the control API:
``` console
# curl --unix-socket /path/to/control.unit.sock http://localhost/config/
```
Unit's output should contain both snippets, neatly organized:
``` json
{
"listeners": {
"127.0.0.1:8080": {
"pass": "applications/helloworld"
}
},
"applications": {
"helloworld": {
"type": "php",
"root": "/www/helloworld/"
}
}
}
```
For full details of configuration management, see the
[docs](https://unit.nginx.org/configuration/#configuration-management).
## Community
- The go-to place to start asking questions and share your thoughts is
our [Slack channel](https://community.nginx.org/joinslack).
- Our [GitHub issues page](https://github.com/nginx/unit/issues) offers
space for a more technical discussion at your own pace.
- The [project map](https://github.com/orgs/nginx/projects/1) on
GitHub sheds some light on our current work and plans for the future.
- Our [official website](https://unit.nginx.org/) may provide answers
not easily found otherwise.
- Get involved with the project by contributing! See the
[contributing guide](CONTRIBUTING.md) for details.
- To reach the team directly, subscribe to the
[mailing list](https://mailman.nginx.org/mailman/listinfo/unit).
- For security issues, [email us](security-alert@nginx.org), mentioning
NGINX Unit in the subject and following the [CVSS
v3.1](https://www.first.org/cvss/v3.1/specification-document) spec.
