I want to confirm the operation process. First, connect to my server and complete the corresponding steps according to the discourse prompt. Then, if you cannot access the website, you need to download nginx or apache (download any one). I installed nginx according to this operation but an error occurred. What should I do next?
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-nginx-on-ubuntu-20-04
root@discourse:~# sudo ufw allow ‘Nginx HTTP’
Rule added
Rule added (v6)
root@discourse:~# sudo ufw allow ‘Nginx HTTPS’
Rule added
Rule added (v6)
root@discourse:~# sudo ufw status
Status: active
To Action From
22/tcp LIMIT Anywhere
80/tcp ALLOW Anywhere
443 ALLOW Anywhere
Nginx HTTP ALLOW Anywhere
Nginx HTTPS ALLOW Anywhere
22/tcp (v6) LIMIT Anywhere (v6)
80/tcp (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6)
443 (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6)
Nginx HTTP (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6)
Nginx HTTPS (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6)
root@discourse:~# systemctl status nginx
× nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset:>
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2025-09-24 19:41:30 UTC; 2min>
Docs: man:nginx(8)
CPU: 13ms
lines 1-5/5 (END)
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Hey,
Looking at your output, nginx is failing to start. This is a common issue when Discourse is already using ports 80 and 443, which nginx also needs. Here’s how to diagnose and fix this:
Step 1: Check what’s using the ports
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep ':80\|:443'
or
sudo ss -tlnp | grep ':80\|:443'
Step 2: Check nginx error logs
sudo journalctl -u nginx.service -l --no-pager
or
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
Step 3: Check if Discourse is running
sudo docker ps
Most likely solutions:
If Discourse is already running and using ports 80/443: You don’t actually need nginx! Discourse’s built-in reverse proxy handles this. Try accessing your site directly with your domain/IP.
If you still want to use nginx as a reverse proxy:
- Stop Discourse temporarily:
cd /var/discourse
sudo ./launcher stop app
- Start nginx:
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl status nginx
- Configure nginx to proxy to Discourse (running on a different port), then restart Discourse.
Quick test - try accessing your site: Before making changes, try visiting your domain in a browser. If Discourse installed correctly, it might already be working without nginx.
What do you see when you run the diagnostic commands above? This will help determine the exact issue.
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