Test your knowledge: Nginx Static Content

root versus alias, try_files fallbacks, MIME types, sendfile, and custom error pages.

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Question 1 of 6

`location /img/ { alias /data/pictures/; }` — a request for `/img/cat.png` reads which file?

alias replaces the whole location prefix; root appends to it.

Answer options A /data/pictures/img/cat.png B /data/pictures/cat.png C /img/cat.png under the server root D /data/pictures/img.png

alias strips /img/ from the request path and maps the remainder directly. With root /data/pictures instead, the same request would read /data/pictures/img/cat.png — the classic confusion.

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Question 2 of 6

`try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;` — what does the final parameter do?

Only the last parameter can be a URI or a status code.

Answer options A It is used only when the file is empty B It is the fallback: an internal redirect (or a code like =404) when nothing earlier matched C It sets the default Content-Type for misses D It appends index.html to every requested URI

try_files walks the list with existence checks; the last entry is special — it is not checked but served via internal redirect (the SPA fallback pattern) or returned as a status like =404.

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Question 3 of 6

What does `sendfile on;` actually enable?

The name is the syscall.

Answer options A Compressing static files before sending them B The kernel copies file bytes directly to the socket, skipping a user-space copy in the worker C Multipart range requests for large files D A thread pool dedicated to file reads

sendfile(2) lets the kernel move data from the file's page cache straight to the socket — the worker never bounces the bytes through its own buffers. Fewer copies, fewer context switches.

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Question 4 of 6

A file extension has no entry in the `types` block. What does NGINX send as Content-Type?

There is one directive that owns this exact case.

Answer options A application/octet-stream always B Whatever default_type declares C No Content-Type header at all D text/plain with a warning in the error log

default_type covers unknown extensions — commonly application/octet-stream for downloads, or text/plain when you want browsers to render. The types block itself maps extensions to MIME pairs.

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Question 5 of 6

`error_page 404 /404.html;` intercepts a missing file. What makes the custom page actually reach the client?

Two classic gotchas: the error page must resolve, and backend statuses need interception enabled.

Answer options A Nothing — the directive alone is enough B The fallback location serving /404.html must not itself fail, and proxy_intercept_errors matters when a backend produced the status C The page must be listed in the types block D You must also set recursive_error_pages on

error_page rewrites the response body source for that status. With proxied responses you also need proxy_intercept_errors on — otherwise the backend's own body passes through untouched.

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Question 6 of 6

`autoindex on;` in a location — what does a request for a directory without an index file produce?

It is in the directive's name.

Answer options A A generated HTML listing of the directory B A 403, same as default C A redirect to the parent directory D An XML feed of the files

autoindex generates a directory listing when no index file exists. Off by default — a 403 — because listing files is an information leak you should opt into deliberately.

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Test your knowledge: Nginx Static Content