Nginx install errors (location directive not allowed here)

supermanwave

Installing Flarum using the instructions located at the following, while running nginx fails. This is because the installation instructions are not correct. The installation instructions state the user should add the following line to the /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/flarum-site.conf: include /path/to/flarum/.nginx.conf; After this line is added but with the exact and correct path: include /home/user/sites/flarum-site/.nginx.conf;, it 100% results in the error in the nginx error log: "location" directive is not allowed here in...
Include statement added to /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/flarum-site.conf: include /home/user/sites/flarum-site/.nginx.conf;

https://flarum.org/docs/install.html#installing
Why publish incorrect installation instructions, Flarum?

tankerkiller125

The installation instructions are correct. In your site nginx config file (/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/flarum-site.conf for example) you would have something like:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name forum.example.com;
    root /var/www/forum.example.com/public;

    location ~* \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.0-fpm.sock;
        include         fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param   SCRIPT_FILENAME    $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_param   SCRIPT_NAME        $fastcgi_script_name;
    }
    
    include /var/www/forum.example.com/.nginx.conf;
}

supermanwave

Here, the Flarum installation folder is not in: /var/www/forum.example.com. It is in: /home/user/sites/flarum-site. The following error, which appears in the nginx error logs, happens 100% of the time.: "location" directive is not allowed here in... Thus, the Flarum installation instructions, located at the following are in fact broken and totally incorrect. https://flarum.org/docs/install.html#installing

In the Flarum installation instructions it clearly states:

include /path/to/flarum/.nginx.conf;

However, this is false, incorrect, and broken, because nginx gives the above error when the path, in this case, /home/user/sites/flarum-site is used:
Include statement added to /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/flarum-site.conf: include /home/user/sites/flarum-site/.nginx.conf;

luceos

supermanwave the path given in the docs are an example path, it's up to you to use the correct one. This, you pointed out as being "broken and totally incorrect" is in fact something you, yourself have to do during configuration.

supermanwave

The include statement containing the correct path: /home/user/sites/flarum-site has been added to: /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/flarum-site.conf, however, since the installation instruction are broken, the following error persists in the nginx error log: "location" directive is not allowed here in...

Include statement added to /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/flarum-site.conf: include /home/user/sites/flarum-site/.nginx.conf;

askvortsov

supermanwave Hi! Based on the error message you've provided, it seems like you've added the include statement (include /path/to/flarum/.nginx.conf;) in the wrong place in your nginx configuration file. It needs to be enclosed within a server block, you can't just randomly insert it into your nginx.conf. Please try adjusting your nginx.conf to follow the proper format, and let us know if that fixes your issue!

supermanwave

The include statement is in the proper place in the server block, thus the installation instructions are incorrect and broken:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name .flarum-site;
    root "/home/user/sites/flarum-site/public";


    index index.html index.htm index.php;

    charset utf-8;

    

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
        
    }

    

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location = /robots.txt  { access_log off; log_not_found off; }

    access_log off;
    error_log  /var/log/nginx/flarum.dev-error.log error;

    sendfile off;

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        

        fastcgi_intercept_errors off;
        fastcgi_buffer_size 16k;
        fastcgi_buffers 4 16k;
        fastcgi_connect_timeout 300;
        fastcgi_send_timeout 300;
        fastcgi_read_timeout 300;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }

    ssl_certificate     /etc/nginx/ssl/flarum-site.dev.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/flarum-site.dev.key;

   
    include /home/user/sites/flarum-site/.nginx.conf;
}

askvortsov

supermanwave Considering that quite a few sites have been successfully installed on nginx via these instructions, I can assure you that these instructions are NOT incorrect. Please share your full error message, not just the first few characters. Also, please share your full nginx config (via hastebin). If you don't feel comfortable posting that publically, let me know and I can set up a private discussion.

supermanwave

The following is proof that the installation instructions are incorrect. The following is the error that is produced into the nginx error log when the proper include statement is placed properly into /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/flarum-site.conf.

Include statement added to /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/flarum-site.conf: include /home/user/sites/flarum-site/.nginx.conf;

Error that appears when proper included statement and proper placement is used:
"location" directive is not allowed here in /home/user/sites/flarum-site/.nginx.conf:2

Moses

I have installed Flarum successfully using Nginx both on my local computer and web server.

supermanwave Remove from your block

location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string; }

Reload nginx and it should be fine.

supermanwave

Even after removing the following from the server block, the error persists:

location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string; }

Upon reloading the webserver, the following error occurs and is present in the nginx error log:
'"location" directive is not allowed here in /home/user/sites/flarum-site/.nginx.conf:2'

askvortsov

supermanwave Could you please create hastebins containing the full content of:

Yournginx.conf
Your /home/user/sites/flarum-site/.nginx.conf

and share them here?

katos

This is the same error that @[deleted] had the other night.
The main things that we confirmed with Lukas were:

Did the Nginx configuration have index.php defined - which yours seems to have.
Do the folders have the correct permissions?

Please confirm the following;

do you use Flarum in a sub domain?
are you using the public folder structure
please paste your output of ls -la (In your Flarum root)
ensure that you have restarted Nginx - this is a simple suggestion but you’d be surprised how often it is missed!

the above will help us to diagnose this one for you! :-)

supermanwave

location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string; } is already present in flarum-site/.nginx.conf, and so it was removed from the block as advised above to prevent a duplicate location "/" error . The installation now has worked.

katos

As this was an environment setup, I will change the title to ensure that there is no confusion

askvortsov

Better supermanwave ?

supermanwave

Sure