Traditional Server Deployment

Deploy your Nixi application on traditional servers using reverse proxies. This guide covers Ubuntu/Debian, CentOS, and macOS.

Prerequisites

• Lua 5.2+ or LuaJIT
• LuaSocket
• LuaFileSystem
• Static files directory (optional)

Installation on Different OS

Ubuntu/Debian

# Update package lists
sudo apt-get update

# Install Lua and dependencies
sudo apt-get install -y lua5.4 liblua5.4-dev luarocks

# Install required Lua packages
sudo luarocks install luasocket
sudo luarocks install luafilesystem

# Verify installation
lua -v

CentOS/RHEL/Fedora

# CentOS/RHEL 8+
sudo dnf install -y lua lua-devel luarocks

# CentOS 7
sudo yum install -y lua lua-devel luarocks

# Install required Lua packages
sudo luarocks install luasocket
sudo luarocks install luafilesystem

# Verify installation
lua -v

macOS

# Using Homebrew (recommended)
brew install lua luarocks

# Install required Lua packages
luarocks install luasocket
luarocks install luafilesystem

# Verify installation
lua -v

Running Your Application

Start your Nixi application:

# Navigate to your project directory
cd /path/to/your-nixi-app

# Run the server
lua server.lua

# Or if using the CLI
nixi dev

The server will start on the port configured in your app (default 3000).

Nginx Reverse Proxy Setup

Configure Nginx as a reverse proxy to forward requests to your Nixi application:

Basic Configuration

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/nixi-app
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
        
        proxy_connect_timeout 60s;
        proxy_send_timeout 60s;
        proxy_read_timeout 60s;
    }
}

SSL/TLS Configuration

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/nixi-app
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        
        proxy_buffering off;
        proxy_cache off;
    }

    location /static/ {
        alias /opt/my-nixi-app/public/;
        expires 30d;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
    }
}

Enabling Nginx Configuration

# Create symbolic link to enable site
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/nixi-app /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Test configuration
sudo nginx -t

# Reload nginx
sudo nginx -s reload

Firewall Configuration

UFW (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Allow SSH (important before enabling firewall!)
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp

# Allow HTTP and HTTPS
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

# Enable firewall
sudo ufw enable

# Check status
sudo ufw status

firewalld (CentOS/RHEL)

# Allow HTTP and HTTPS
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https

# Reload firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Check status
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

Static Site Deployment

Deploy your Nixi app as a static site to Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, GitHub Pages, or any static hosting.

Build the Static Site

# Build to ./build/ directory
nixi build

# Or build to a custom directory
nixi build dist/

Configuration

Create nixi.config.json for dynamic routes:

{
  "build": {
    "output": "build",
    "dynamicValues": {
      "/users/:id": [
        { "id": "1" },
        { "id": "2" }
      ]
    },
    "skipRoutes": ["/api/*"]
  }
}

Vercel

# vercel.json
{
  "buildCommand": "nixi build",
  "outputDirectory": "build",
  "rewrites": [
    { "source": "/(.*)", "destination": "/index.html" }
  ]
}

Cloudflare Pages

Set build command: nixi build

Build output directory: build

Netlify

# netlify.toml
[build]
  command = "nixi build"
  publish = "build"

[[redirects]]
  from = "/*"
  to = "/index.html"
  status = 200

Output Structure

build/
├── index.html           # Homepage
├── about/
│   └── index.html     # /about page
├── css/
│   └── style.css     # Compiled CSS
├── 404.html           # Error page
└── public/            # Static assets

Production Checklist