What are common nginx ports?

The most common NGINX ports are 80 for unencrypted HTTP traffic and 443 for encrypted HTTPS traffic. These are standard ports for web servers and are the default listening ports for the NGINX Ingress Controller.

Why Are These Ports Common?

Ports 80 and 443 are universally recognized by web browsers and clients as the standard communication channels for web content.

• Port 80 (HTTP): This port is used for Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) connections. When you type a website address like example.com into your browser without specifying a port, the browser automatically attempts to connect to port 80. NGINX, acting as a web server or reverse proxy, listens on this port to serve non-secure web content.
• Port 443 (HTTPS): This port is dedicated to Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), which is the encrypted version of HTTP. It uses SSL/TLS encryption to secure data transmission between the client and the server. Given the importance of security, most modern websites utilize HTTPS, making port 443 a critical and frequently used port for NGINX configurations, especially when terminating SSL certificates.

For instance, when NGINX is deployed as an Ingress Controller in a Kubernetes environment, it is configured by default to listen on ports 80 and 443 to manage external access to services within the cluster.

Can NGINX Use Other Ports?

While 80 and 443 are standard and default, NGINX is highly flexible and can be configured to listen on virtually any available port. This flexibility is useful for various scenarios:

• Custom Applications: Running multiple web applications on the same server, each listening on a unique, non-standard port.
• Internal Services: Exposing internal management interfaces or specific services that are not meant for public access, often on high-numbered or less common ports.
• Development and Testing: Using alternative ports to avoid conflicts during development or testing phases without affecting production services.

Changing these default listen ports, particularly for NGINX Ingress resources, typically involves modifying configuration files, such as .tmpl files, to reflect the new port assignments.

Summary of Common NGINX Ports

These ports represent the foundational entry points for NGINX when handling typical web traffic.