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Web / NGINX Interview questions

What are the types of context blocks in NGINX configuration?

NGINX configuration is organized into nested context blocks, each controlling directives for a specific scope:

  • main - top-level context, outside any braces; sets global settings like worker processes and user.
  • events - configures connection handling, such as worker_connections.
  • http - wraps all HTTP-related configuration.
  • server - defines a virtual host inside http.
  • location - matches specific request URIs inside a server block.
  • upstream - defines a named group of backend servers for proxying.

Directives set in an outer context are inherited by inner ones unless explicitly overridden, which is why global settings like gzip on; are often placed in http rather than repeated in every server block.

Which context defines a named group of backend servers for proxying?
If gzip on; is set in the http context, what happens in nested server blocks?

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