Securing your web applications is crucial, and one effective way to enhance security is by restricting access to your application based on geographical locations. Nginx can help you achieve this by blocking countries from accessing your application. In this article, we’ll guide you through the process with practical command examples.

Step 1: Install Nginx

If you haven’t already installed Nginx, you can do so using the package manager relevant to your operating system. For example, on Ubuntu, you can use:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Step 2: Obtain GeoIP Database

To block countries, you need GeoIP databases. MaxMind provides a free version, GeoLite2, which you can download using the following commands. copy and paste these commands one by one:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/nginx/geoip
sudo wget -O /etc/nginx/geoip/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb.gz http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb.gz
sudo gzip -d /etc/nginx/geoip/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb.gz

Step 3: Configure Nginx

Now, configure Nginx to use the GeoIP database. Open your Nginx configuration file (commonly located at /etc/nginx/nginx.conf or /etc/nginx/sites-available/default) and add the following lines:

http {
    geoip_country /etc/nginx/geoip/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb;

    map $geoip_country_code $allowed_country {
        default yes;
        XX no; # Replace XX with the country code you want to block
    }
}

Step 4: Update Server Block

Within your server block, use the allow and deny directives to control access based on the country:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    if ($allowed_country = no) {
        return 403;
    }

    # Rest of your server block configuration...
}

Step 5: Test and Restart Nginx

After saving your changes, test the configuration:

sudo nginx -t

If the test is successful, restart Nginx to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Conclusion

Following the above steps can help you configure Nginx to block access from specific countries to your web application. This extra layer of security can help protect your application from potential threats originating from specific geographic locations.