IT Web Stories

Serving a tiny static site with nginx

October 28, 2026

Every few years I rebuild my personal site with a new framework, and every few years the framework is abandoned before the site is. This time the site is a folder of HTML files and one stylesheet.

The whole nginx configuration fits on a screen: a redirect from HTTP to HTTPS, a certificate from Let's Encrypt and a root directory.

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name example.com;
    root /var/www/example.com;
}

Renewal is handled by certbot's timer. Deployment is rsync -av site/ server:/var/www/example.com/. Nothing to update, nothing to patch except the OS.