Nginx. Managing the module

This article covers managing the Nginx module as a whole: starting and stopping the service, reloading the configuration, updating, and uninstalling the module. Virtual hosts, locations, and SSL are covered in a separate article — Nginx. Working with virtual hosts.

Managing the service

The module page offers four actions on the Nginx service:

• "Start" — brings the service up if it is stopped.
• "Stop" — shuts the service down. All sites served by this Nginx stop responding, and visitors get a connection error.
• "Restart" — stops the service and immediately starts it again. Open connections are dropped. Useful after a manual config change when you need to bring the service up from a clean slate.
• "Reload configuration" — applies the new configuration without dropping active client connections. Use it after manual edits to virtual host configs.

⚠️ Stopping the service on live sites is risky

While the service is down, every site served by this Nginx is unavailable — visitors see a connection error. Plan stops and restarts for a maintenance window.

Updating the module

To update the module, open the module action menu and choose "Update Nginx". The BeAdmin panel checks for a newer version and, if one is available, installs it on top of the current one. Virtual hosts, locations, and issued SSL certificates are preserved. The service is restarted automatically after the update.

While the update is in progress, service actions and module management items are unavailable — wait for the process to finish.

Uninstalling the module

To uninstall the module, open the module action menu and choose "Uninstall Nginx". The BeAdmin panel will ask you to confirm the action in a dialog.

‼️ Uninstalling the module wipes the Nginx configuration

The action is irreversible: all virtual hosts, locations, and Nginx logs are removed together with the module. Issued Let's Encrypt SSL certificates and site files in the DocumentRoot directories stay on disk, but without the panel's vhost configs they are no longer served. After reinstalling the module, you will need to recreate the virtual hosts and reissue the SSL certificates.

See also

• Nginx. Quick start — installing the module and your first site.
• Nginx. Working with virtual hosts — adding and editing virtual hosts, locations, and SSL.
• Resolving ACME errors when issuing an SSL certificate — common ACME errors and how to work through them.