10 Best Nginx Courses and Certifications Online

In today’s digital age, web servers play a critical role in ensuring the smooth functioning of websites and applications. Among the popular web servers available in the market, Nginx has emerged as a preferred choice for many developers due to its robustness, scalability, and high performance. To effectively leverage the power of Nginx, developers need to acquire the relevant knowledge and skills through proper training. In this regard, online courses have gained significant popularity, offering learners the flexibility to learn at their own pace and convenience. In this article, we will explore some of the best Nginx courses available online that can help learners acquire the necessary expertise to optimize their web server infrastructure.

Here’s a look at the Best Nginx Courses and Certifications Online and what they have to offer for you!

10 Best Nginx Courses and Certifications Online

1. NGINX, Apache, SSL Encryption – Certification Course by YouAccel Training (Udemy) (Our Best Pick)

The NGINX, Apache, SSL Encryption – Certification Course, offered by YouAccel Training, aims to provide learners with the necessary knowledge and skills to install, configure, and secure NGINX or Apache on an Ubuntu web server. The course offers a comprehensive understanding of SSL certificates and how they play a vital role in web traffic encryption.

The Apache section of the course begins with an overview of the widely-used web server technology. Students will learn how to deploy a virtual server on Digital Ocean, work with dynamic, static, and floating IPs, use Terminal for remote authentication, install and configure LAMP Stack on Ubuntu 18.04, and host multiple domains on one Apache virtual server. The section also covers configuring virtual host files and directives, and DNS zone file configuration.

The NGINX section of the course helps learners understand the differences between Apache and NGINX, and how to install the latter on a Digital Ocean Droplet or any virtual server of their choice. It covers modifying the NGINX block configuration file for hosting websites, installing essential components on NGINX such as MySQL, PHP, and PhpMyAdmin, securing PhpMyAdmin using symbolic links and NGINX’s built-in authentication gateway, securing hosted websites with free SSL using Certbot & Let’s Encrypt, and installing and configuring WordPress on the NGINX server.

The SSL Certificates section of the course offers a detailed look into the role of SSL certificates in server security and web traffic encryption. It explores different types of certificates and how they work, and provides learners with the opportunity to configure their free SSL certificate using Let’s Encrypt Certificate Authority. The section combines theoretical and practical training to help students grasp the concept of free SSL certificates.

The course is divided into three sections, namely Apache Web Server Configuration, NGINX Web Server Configuration, and Bonus: SSL Certificates Explored + Practice Project.

2. Install NGINX, PHP, MySQL, SSL & WordPress on Ubuntu by YouAccel Training (Udemy)

This course, titled “Install NGINX, PHP, MySQL, SSL & WordPress on Ubuntu,” is being offered by YouAccel Training. It is designed to teach participants how to install and configure NGINX on Ubuntu 18.04, including MySQL, PHP, PhpMyAdmin, WordPress, and SSL integration.

The course begins with an introduction to NGINX, a powerful web server technology that has grown in popularity exponentially since its release. The age-old debate between Apache and NGINX is briefly discussed, and the course offers a great introduction to NGINX for both experienced developers and newcomers.

The course covers several important topics, such as understanding the difference between Apache and NGINX, installing NGINX on a virtual server of the participant’s choice, modifying the NGINX block configuration file for hosting websites, installing essential components on NGINX such as MySQL, PHP and PhpMyAdmin, securing PhpMyAdmin using symbolic links and NGINX’s built-in authentication gateway, securing hosted websites with free SSL using Certbot & Let’s Encrypt, and installing and configuring WordPress on the NGINX server.

Participants will be using Digital Ocean droplets for the course, but can create a virtual server with any cloud hosting provider of their choice. The configuration steps will be the same regardless of who they choose to host with. The course will use the latest LTS version of Ubuntu (18.04).

The course is divided into six sections: Introduction, Virtual Server Basics, Install & Configure LEMP Stack (Linux, NGINX, MySQL, PHP), Domain Names & SSL, PhpMyAdmin on NGINX, and WordPress on NGINX. If participants are ready to learn new concepts, they can sign up for the course.

3. NGINX Fundamentals: High Performance Servers from Scratch by Ray Viljoen (Udemy)

The NGINX Fundamentals: High Performance Servers from Scratch is a practical course that teaches how to install, configure, and optimize NGINX to create secure, high performance web servers from scratch. The course is suitable for beginners and experienced professionals alike, and aims to provide a solid foundation in NGINX.

The course covers various topics such as customizing the NGINX installation, configuring it as a web server, installing and configuring a server-side programming language as an NGINX backend, tweaking it for optimal performance, and securing it with security best practices.

The course is designed to be concise and practical, with 39 lectures that cater to individuals with a basic understanding of networking and the Linux command line interface. It starts by comparing NGINX with Apache and then moves on to installing and customizing NGINX as a service. The course also covers topics such as updating NGINX without downtime, adding or removing modules, and configuring some of NGINX’s best features such as Gzipping and GeoIP.

The final section of the course focuses on securing the server and the user via SSL and other security best practices. Upon completion of the course, students will have the practical skills to start building secure, high-performance web servers or improve and better understand existing hosting solutions.

The course is to the point with practical demonstrations and does not focus on theory. It is divided into six sections: Overview, Installation, Configuration, Performance, Security, and Outro. Additionally, there is an archive for future reference. NGINX is the fastest growing and most popular web server for a reason, and this course provides a practical and concise approach to learning NGINX. It’s an invaluable skill for any developer or techie in the web industry, particularly network admins and web developers.

4. NGINX Web Server from Scratch by Juravlea Nicolae (Udemy)

The NGINX Web Server from Scratch course, instructed by Juravlea Nicolae, is designed to teach learners how to quickly and easily master NGINX, which is currently considered the most powerful, efficient, and secure web server used to host web applications of all sizes and complexity. NGINX is known for its rich feature set, high stability, easy configuration, low resource consumption, and performance. In fact, it assists over 40% of the world’s busiest websites in delivering content faster to their users.

This course takes a practical and easy approach to learning NGINX, providing learners with a strong knowledge to start creating secure, high-performance web servers. The course is designed to focus on practical skills rather than theory, allowing learners to master new skills in the shortest amount of time possible.

The course covers a range of topics, including how to install NGINX on Ubuntu, set up a basic website with NGINX, host multiple sites, configure NGINX as a load balancer, work with PHP, limit HTTP bandwidth, create a database in MySQL, install and manage WordPress using WP-CLI, configure HTTPS with an SSL certificate, password protect a directory, expose a local web server to the internet using Ngrok, set up a custom error page and log formats, use ApacheBench for server performance testing, protect against brute force logins with Fail2Ban, and move a WordPress localhost site to a live server.

By the end of the course, learners will be able to implement the most common use cases for NGINX in a secure, scalable way. The course is structured into six sections: Introduction, WP-CLI, Security, Tweaks, Customize, and Performance.

5. Learn Nginx By Example by Daniel Platt (Udemy)

The “Learn Nginx By Example” course aims to teach students how to utilize Nginx for functions beyond that of a static web server. The course is instructed by Daniel Platt and offers a range of examples, starting from more common ones and progressing to more complex ones, such as holding pages, CDN, load balancers, and more. Students will learn to set up Ubuntu, PHP, and SSL certificates to secure their websites.

The course content is divided into five sections. The first section is “Getting Started,” which introduces students to the course and provides an overview of what to expect. The second section is “Virtual Box,” which guides students on how to install and set up the virtual box needed for the course. The third section is “Setup,” which covers the setup process for Nginx, PHP, and Composer.

The fourth section is “Snippets,” which provides examples of Nginx configurations that students can use as building blocks for their own projects. The fifth and final section is “Examples,” which offers various practical examples, including holding pages, using PHP, CDN, and load balancers. The course concludes with a summary and conclusion of what students have learned.

Enrollment is currently open for those interested in learning more about Nginx and its various applications. The course guarantees to equip students with the knowledge and skills to set up Nginx for more than just a static web server.

6. Introduction to NGINX by Hussein Nasser (Udemy)

The Introduction to NGINX course aims to provide an overview of the open-source web server NGINX, including its use cases, load balancing capabilities, and security features. Students will learn how to spin up their own instance of NGINX, configure it to work as a reverse proxy, and secure it with a legitimate certificate.

The course covers several topics, such as layer 4 and layer 7 proxying, timeouts, installing NGINX on a Mac, using NGINX as a web server for static content, regular expressions, and proxy_pass. Additionally, students will learn how to use NGINX as a layer 7 proxy for load balancing, splitting the load to multiple backends, blocking certain requests, and creating DNS records.

The course also includes instructions on enabling HTTPS, HTTP/2, and TLS 1.3 on NGINX, as well as scaling WebSockets with NGINX.

NGINX is known for its scalable and event-driven (asynchronous) architecture, which uses small and predictable amounts of memory under load. This makes it a high-performance option for handling requests, even for smaller VPSs. In this course, students will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of NGINX and how to efficiently configure it for their needs.

The course is divided into several sections, including understanding NGINX timeouts, working with NGINX, and bonus content. By the end of the course, students should be proficient in deploying layer 4/layer 7 load balancing, securing their instances with HTTPS, HTTP/2, and TLS 1.3, and scaling WebSockets with NGINX.

7. Nginx 2022- Beginner to Advanced by Zeal Vora, Harsh Selani (Udemy)

The Nginx 2022- Beginner to Advanced course is designed for beginners who want to master Nginx. Nginx is a widely used HTTP server that powers many popular websites, including Netflix, Dropbox, WordPress, and GitHub. This course starts by teaching the HTTP protocol, followed by a detailed explanation of Nginx and its architecture. In addition, the course covers various features of Nginx, such as load balancing, caching subsystems, access control, and cryptography modules.

The course provides beginner-friendly content, practical exercises, easy-to-understand videos, and support from the instructor. Upon completing the course, students will have a solid understanding of Nginx and its associated features. They will be equipped to deploy and manage Nginx in production environments.

The course content comprises several sections, including an introduction to the course, setting up labs, HTTP protocol, getting started with Nginx, reverse proxy, load balancers, caching subsystem, static assets, access control, logging subsystem, HTTP compression, modular architecture of Nginx, and cryptography module.

8. The Perfect Nginx Server – Ubuntu Edition by Andrew Eaton (Udemy)

This course, titled “The Perfect Nginx Server – Ubuntu Edition,” is aimed at absolute beginners who have no knowledge of configuring a Linux server or NGINX. The course is designed to help learners set up multiple fast WordPress sites using Nginx and Ubuntu 20.04. The instructor, Andrew Eaton, will guide learners step-by-step, starting with a blank slate and layering configurations to create the perfect nginx server.

The course covers every aspect of configuring an Ubuntu based NGINX server, from initial server configuration to installing NGINX, MariaDB, and php7.x. Once installed, learners will be taught how to configure, secure, and optimize nginx, MariaDB, and php7.x. The course also covers the installation, security, and optimization of WordPress sites.

Security is a critical aspect of any server, and this course does not overlook it. Every configuration step is geared towards security, with aspects such as SSH Keys, firewall, fail2ban, changing “dangerous” default settings, and NGINX “deny” directives being covered in detail. Optimizing the server for speed is also covered, with a varied approach to optimization, including command-line tools and nginx “caching” directives.

Upon completing the course, learners will be equipped with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to host multiple secure WordPress sites on an unmanaged Virtual Private Server using nginx. They will learn how to secure their server and sites in a way that installing a WordPress “security plugin” cannot achieve. The course also emphasizes the importance of performance and caching options for a fast WordPress site, including Redis Object Caching, FastCGI Caching, W3 Total Cache, and how to correctly enable Cloudflare on a VPS.

The course is designed to be completed on a commercially purchased VPS or dedicated server and not locally on a PC or Mac.

9. NGINX MasterClass : NGINX Server and Custom Load Balancer by LevelUp360° DevOps | Google Cloud | Terraform | Kubernetes | Ansible (Udemy)

The NGINX MasterClass is a beginner-friendly course that provides a comprehensive understanding of NGINX as an HTTP Server, reverse proxy, and load balancer. The course is structured in a practical manner, with a focus on hands-on learning through installation, configuration, and application of NGINX. The course is updated regularly to stay current with the latest NGINX version.

The course covers the following topics: NGINX installation, HTTP Protocol and Applications, NGINX Configuration & Applications, NGINX Reverse Proxy, NGINX Performance Management, Manage Security in NGINX, NGINX As Load Balancer, Cache System, and NGINX Access Control.

The course aims to build a strong foundation in NGINX, including configuring NGINX as a web server and installing server-side programming languages as an NGINX backend. Additionally, the course covers tweaking NGINX for optimal performance, securing NGINX with security best practices, and adding/removing modules.

The course is designed to be practical and straightforward, without focusing on theoretical concepts. The course caters to both beginners and those with previous Apache experience. The final section of the course goes over securing the server and the user via SSL and other security best practices.

Upon completion of the course, learners will have practical skills to immediately start building secure, high-performance web servers or improve existing hosting solutions. The course is to-the-point, and everything is demonstrated in simple, yet practical ways.

10. The Perfect NGINX Server – CentOS Edition by Andrew Eaton (Udemy)

The Perfect NGINX Server – CentOS Edition is a beginner’s course that teaches how to set up multiple WordPress sites using NGINX on CentOS 7 and Rocky Linux 8.x. The course assumes no prior knowledge of configuring a CentOS server or NGINX. NGINX is a high-performance web server that can deliver sites up to 70% faster than Apache. CentOS is a free enterprise-class server operating system known for its stability and rock-solid reliability.

The course covers everything from initial server configuration to installing NGINX, MariaDB, and php7.4. Security is a crucial aspect of any server, and the course covers security measures such as SSH Keys, the firewall, fail2ban, changing default settings, NGINX “deny” directives, and Security Enhanced Linux. The course also covers site optimization techniques and caching plugins, such as Redis Object Caching, FastCGI Caching, W3 Total Cache, and how to enable Cloudflare on your VPS.

By the end of the course, one will have the skills, knowledge, and confidence to host multiple secure and optimized WordPress sites on an unmanaged Virtual Private Server. The course includes a Linux Essential Skills Crash Course for those who have never used the command line before. The course emphasizes security and optimization and teaches how to install Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates and plugin-free backups.

The aim of the course is to instruct how to set up a secure/hardened hosting environment and then host multiple hardened WordPress sites on a commercially purchased VPS or dedicated server. This course is not a lab experiment with no real-world application. The course concludes with instructions on how to add new recurring revenue streams by charging for site hosting, site optimization, SSL certificate installation and renewal, backups, and monthly maintenance fees.

The course is divided into 16 sections and covers all aspects of configuring a CentOS-based NGINX server.