# Nginx apt-get vs. from source **URL:** \ **Category:** Deployment\ **Created:** [August 11, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816 "2007-08-11T14:34:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/1 "2007-08-11T14:34:35Z")
hi! I need to install nginx on Ubuntu 6.06. I don’t know what’s better… to build it from source as described on nginx site or with apt-get. I’m asking because when I installed Ruby with apt-get I got version 1.84 and then had to remove it and build from source… What would you recommend for nginx? My biggest concerns are: - will I get the latest version - will “apt-get upgrade” work with it - will everything work without problems (I mean is installing from source better in any other way?) thank you! david ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/2 "2007-08-11T16:29:55Z")
In general, you should always go with the package unless you need a more recent version for some reason. Using the version that’s packaged for your distribution means that it will upgrade automatically (including security updates), you’ll be sure it’s using the right version of shared libraries, and it’s much easier to install and remove. The version of nginx in ubuntu feisty is 0.4.13 ( [Ubuntu – Error](http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/web/nginx) ) and the most recent version of nginx is 0.5.30. If 0.4.13 is good enough for you then I’d use that. Check the changelog ( [http://nginx.net/CHANGES-0.5](http://nginx.net/CHANGES-0.5) ) BTW, I’d recommend using aptitude instead of apt-get, it handles dependencies better. Paul ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/3 "2007-08-11T20:30:21Z")
Hi, There is no nginx package for 6.06, afaik (at least not in main, universe, or multiverse). I have just set up a fresh 6.06 system, and I downloaded the 0.5.30 (latest) nginx source, and built with the standard ‘./configure && make’ - then ‘sudo make install’. No problems, and works fine for me. You will need ‘sudo aptitude install build-essential’ first, though, to get gcc and related build utilities. Tony ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/4 "2007-08-11T21:02:25Z")
yes, that’s what I was going to do (and probably will). I want to understand Ubuntu’s package manager philosophy though. So say that there was a possibility to install nginx to 6.06 via aptitude, how would they decide when the new version is ready so that users can reach it via upgrade. And especially why is there a lag between version in a package and the newest one. thank you, david ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/5 "2007-08-11T18:12:35Z")
Paul, thank you very much 0.5.30 seems pretty old in comparison to 0.4.13 (not that I know a lot about the differences, only judging from the version number)… but if I do decide to go with aptitude / apt-get, will 0.4.13 then get upgraded by aptitude to the next version? what’s the philosophy there… is there always a few months lag between latest and supported version? and because this is not the latest version of ubuntu, does that matter? 6.06 is LTS (long-term support) however… thank you in advance! PS: I also didn’t know it’s better to use aptitude versus apt-get … thank you for that tip as well. David Paul D. wrote: > In general, you should always go with the package unless you need a more > recent version for some reason. Using the version that’s packaged for > your > distribution means that it will upgrade automatically (including > security > updates), you’ll be sure it’s using the right version of shared > libraries, > and it’s much easier to install and remove. > > The version of nginx in ubuntu feisty is 0.4.13 ( > [Ubuntu – Error](http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/web/nginx) ) and the most recent > version of > nginx is 0.5.30. If 0.4.13 is good enough for you then I’d use that. > Check > the changelog ( [http://nginx.net/CHANGES-0.5](http://nginx.net/CHANGES-0.5) ) > > BTW, I’d recommend using aptitude instead of apt-get, it handles > dependencies better. > > Paul ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/6 "2007-08-11T21:22:30Z")
ok - my general philosophy is to stick with the distro packages wherever possible - in that way you are sure that the interlocking mesh of dependencies is (hopefully!) handled correctly, and where there are major bugs or security issues, then the package is updated throught the ‘sudo aptitude update’ mechanism. For your source compiled stuff, you are responsible for keeping it up to date and secure - which can be a major headache if you have several programs built from source to maintain. The downside to using the distro packages is that you may not have that ‘latest, greatest’ feature you _must_ have. Distro packages for a particular distro version (eg. 6.06) will not usually be ‘upgraded’ to a later version - for that, you usually need to upgrade the whole distro to the newer version. I you are looking for stability and security, stick with 6.06 - or if you want to be on the edge, then upgrade to the latest (7.04 ‘feisty’) I use 6.06 for servers, and have 7.04 on the desktop. The lag between versions is due to when the distro package list for a new distro version is locked down prior to release. Any upstream releases after that date would then only make it into the next distro version. hth, Tony On 11/08/07, D. Krmpotic [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > ## thank you, david > > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). > > > – Tony White Speechnet Technologies Ltd ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/7 "2007-08-11T21:22:30Z")
On 8/11/07, D. Krmpotic [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I want to understand Ubuntu’s package manager philosophy though. LTS in 6.0.6 LTS stands for Long Term Support. Ubuntu committed to support this version until year 2011 (which isn’t really long at all, considering how many computer systems built in 1970s are still in production). The release policy for versions like that is “stability tramps coolness”. So, the distro maintainers will generally provide bugfixes and security patches, but won’t upgrade to anything that creates a risk of incompatibility with apps people are already running. Which is why RedHat EL 4 is still on Ruby 1.8.1, and Ubuntu 6 on 1.8.4. – Alex Verkhovsky ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/8 "2007-08-11T21:41:23Z")
ok, now the only problem is that 6.06 doesn’t have NGINX at all… I guess the only option here is to build from source, right? I also would like to know if there will be nginx installable via aptitude for 6.06 at all? thank you Alexey V. wrote: > On 8/11/07, D. Krmpotic [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > I want to understand Ubuntu’s package manager philosophy though. > > LTS in 6.0.6 LTS stands for Long Term Support. Ubuntu committed to > support this version until year 2011 (which isn’t really long at all, > considering how many computer systems built in 1970s are still in > production). > > The release policy for versions like that is “stability tramps > coolness”. So, the distro maintainers will generally provide bugfixes > and security patches, but won’t upgrade to anything that creates a > risk of incompatibility with apps people are already running. > > Which is why RedHat EL 4 is still on Ruby 1.8.1, and Ubuntu 6 on 1.8.4. > > – > Alex Verkhovsky ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/9 "2007-08-11T22:11:41Z")
ok, I’ll just compile it myself… problem solved. thank you david Alexey V. wrote: > On 8/11/07, D. Krmpotic [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > I also would like to know if there will be nginx installable via > > aptitude for 6.06 at all? > > From official distro packages - probably not. > > There is a possibility of adding Nginx packages to RubyWorks stack > (which is an APT and RPM repository). At least, we are thinking about > it. > > – > Alex Verkhovsky ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/10 "2007-08-12T00:55:51Z")
So I did install it… everything seemed to go through fine, but I decided to check for file /etc/init.d/nginx (a few sites mention it)… and I found out that this file doesn’t exist. Is this something to worry about or it’s normal somehow? I want to be sure about that before trying to go further. Thank you!david ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/11 "2007-08-12T01:13:22Z")
ok, I guess this is the answer: wget [http://notrocketsurgery.com/files/nginx](http://notrocketsurgery.com/files/nginx) -O /etc/init.d/nginx sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/nginx sudo update-rc.d nginx defaults (or you can get it from [http://www.romej.com/downloads/nginx.txt](http://www.romej.com/downloads/nginx.txt) – not sure if there is any significant difference) David D. Krmpotic wrote: > So I did install it… everything seemed to go through fine, but I > decided to check for file /etc/init.d/nginx (a few sites mention it)… > and I found out that this file doesn’t exist. Is this something to worry > about or it’s normal somehow? I want to be sure about that before trying > to go further. Thank you!david ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/12 "2007-08-12T03:01:52Z")
I package nginx for Fedora and have written an init script for it. The most recent version can always be found in fedora CVS. Anyone is welcome to it. [http://cvs.fedora.redhat.com/viewcvs/rpms/nginx/devel/nginx.init](http://cvs.fedora.redhat.com/viewcvs/rpms/nginx/devel/nginx.init) enjoy, -jeremy ---
**Author:** ![dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dxk3355](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dxk3355)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/nginx-apt-get-vs-from-source/111816/13 "2007-08-11T21:57:32Z")
On 8/11/07, D. Krmpotic [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I also would like to know if there will be nginx installable via > aptitude for 6.06 at all? From official distro packages - probably not. There is a possibility of adding Nginx packages to RubyWorks stack (which is an APT and RPM repository). At least, we are thinking about it. – Alex Verkhovsky