path: root/README.md

# NGINX Unit

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## Universal Web App Server

![NGINX Unit Logo](docs/unitlogo.svg)

NGINX Unit is a lightweight and versatile open-source server that has
two primary capabilities:

- 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](#openapi-specification) 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 unit
$ mkdir /tmp/unit-control # customize as needed.
$ docker run -d \
      --mount type=bind,src=/tmp/unit-control,dst=/var/run \
      --mount type=bind,src=.,dst=/www \
      --network host \
      unit
```

For a description of image tags, see the
[docs](https://unit.nginx.org/installation/#docker-images).


Your current working directory will now be mounted to the Unit image at `/www`.
You can reach its socket at `/tmp/unit-control/control.unit.sock` assuming no 
further customizations have been made.

### Amazon Linux, Fedora, Red Hat

``` 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).

## Configuration

NGINX Unit provides a RESTful API for dynamic configuration.
See the [control API documentation](https://unit.nginx.org/controlapi/)
for more information on what endpoints are available and how to use them.


For full details of configuration management, see the
[docs](https://unit.nginx.org/configuration/#configuration-management).

## Running a Hello World App

Unit runs apps in a
[variety of languages](https://unit.nginx.org/howto/samples/).
Let's consider a basic example,
choosing PHP for no particular reason.

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 '{"127.0.0.1:8080": {"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/"
        }
    }
}
```

## WebAssembly
Unit supports running WebAssembly Components (WASI 0.2).
For more information see the
[Unit Configuration Docs](https://unit.nginx.org/configuration/#configuration-wasm).

## OpenAPI Specification

Our [OpenAPI specification](docs/unit-openapi.yaml) aims to simplify
configuring and integrating NGINX Unit deployments and provide an authoritative
source of knowledge about the control API.

Although the specification is still in the early beta stage, it is a promising
step forward for the NGINX Unit community. While working on it, we kindly ask
you to experiment and provide feedback to help improve its functionality and
usability.

## Community

- The go-to place to start asking questions and share your thoughts is
 [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/nginx/unit/discussions).

- 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](mailto: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.