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How to Configure NGINX, and Host Your Local Website on Ubuntu Installed on VMware


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by JICDev

Introduction

This guide walks through my full journey of:

  • Enabling copy-paste and VMware Tools
  • Installing and configuring NGINX
  • Hosting a local HTML website
  • Fixing common Linux/VMware errors

Every problem I faced is documented, including why it happened and how to fix it.

You can follow this tutorial even as a complete beginner.

1. Installing Ubuntu on VMware

After downloading the Ubuntu ISO and creating a new VMware virtual machine, the installation completed successfully.

However, I immediately noticed something was wrong:

  • Copy/paste did not work from Windows → Ubuntu neither from Ubuntu → Windows

This usually means VMware Tools is missing or not properly installed.

2. Installing and Verifying VMware Tools

Run

sudo apt update
sudo apt install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop -y

To first update your VM and then install the tools.

Then I rebooted the VM with

sudo reboot

To check if VMware Tools was installed, I ran:

vmware-toolbox-cmd -v

Correct output (after installation) 

12.5.0.51152 (build-24276846)

What happened initially

At first, copy/paste only worked in one direction. This confirmed that VMware Tools needed to be installed.

Fix

From VMware:

VM → Install VMware Tools

Ubuntu mounted the VMware Tools installer. After installation and a reboot, two-way copy/paste worked correctly.

Why VMware Tools matters

  • Enables clipboard sharing
  • Enables drag-and-drop
  • Improves display resolution
  • Improves VM performance

3. Installing NGINX

Before installation, I updated Ubuntu:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Then installed NGINX:

sudo apt install nginx -y

Check the installed version:

nginx -v

Start NGINX:

sudo systemctl start nginx

Enable at boot:

sudo systemctl enable nginx

At this point, visiting the VM IP address in a browser should show the default NGINX welcome page.

4. Hosting a Local Website with NGINX

I decided to host a simple website from this directory:

/var/www/myresume

Creating the directory 

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/myresume

Assigning permissions 

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/myresume

Creating the HTML File 

nano /var/www/myresume/index.html

You would notice in the image above I imputed it all together! Linux terminal allows you run multiple commands at a time.

Inside the file “nano /var/www/myresume/index.html”:

<h1>My Resume Website</h1>
<p>Hosted locally on Ubuntu using NGINX.</p>

You could use whatever website template you have available or prefer. This sould be imputed in the editor
Save and exit:

  • CTRL + O = save
  • ENTER = save name
  • CTRL + X = exit

Important Mistake I Made

At first, I accidentally typed:

/var/www/myreusme

Because of this typo, NGINX could not find the correct directory and displayed:

404 Not Found
nginx/1.24.0 (Ubuntu)

I confirmed the issue with:

ls -l /var/www/myresume
ls -l /var/www/myreusme

The second path did not exist, confirming the error.

Fixing the directory name resolved the issue.

5. Configuring NGINX to Serve the Website

Create a server block:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/myresume

Add:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name _;

    root /var/www/myresume;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Enable the site:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/myresume /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test configuration:

sudo nginx -t

Reload NGINX:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

6. Testing the Website

Get the VM IP address: 

ip a

Mine was:

192.168.107.13?

Test in browser: 

http://192.168.107.13?

It loaded correctly.

7. Real Errors I Encountered (And How I Fixed Them)

Error: 404 Not Found

Cause:
Incorrect directory name due to a typo (myreusme instead of myresume).

Fix:
Corrected the folder name and HTML file path.

Error: curl not found

When testing:

curl http://192.168.107.13?

I got:

Command 'curl' not found

Fix:

sudo apt install curl -y

Warning: NGINX config changed on disk 

Warning: The unit file or drop-ins changed on disk
Run 'systemctl daemon-reload'

Fix:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart nginx

8. Final Verification

Browser test: success
curl test: success
Nginx reload: success
VM tools: fully working

The website was now being served perfectly from NGINX.

Conclusion

In this project, I learned:

  • How to install Ubuntu on VMware
  • How to verify and install VMware Tools
  • How to install and manage NGINX
  • How to host a website locally
  • How to debug directory issues, missing tools, and configuration errors

By documenting all the mistakes I made, I hope this guide saves others time and frustration.


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by JICDev