How to Build Nginx from source on Debian 9

Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: Debian 12

Debian 9 and 10 are no longer supported, so this guide now uses Debian 12 (Ubuntu 24.04 works the same way).

Building Nginx from source lets you add modules that are not in the distribution's package. For most servers, the packaged Nginx (or nginx.org's official repository) is easier to keep secure.

Build

apt install build-essential libpcre2-dev zlib1g-dev libssl-dev
cd /usr/local/src
curl -O https://nginx.org/download/nginx-1.28.0.tar.gz   # use the current stable version from nginx.org
tar xzf nginx-1.28.0.tar.gz && cd nginx-1.28.0
./configure --prefix=/etc/nginx --sbin-path=/usr/sbin/nginx --conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf \
  --with-http_ssl_module --with-http_v2_module --with-http_realip_module --with-http_stub_status_module
make && make install

Run it with systemd

Create /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service (the nginx.org packages include a good example), then systemctl daemon-reload && systemctl enable --now nginx.

Note: A self-built Nginx is not updated by apt. Watch nginx.org security announcements and rebuild when needed.