Configuring Nginx for 1C-Bitrix

Nginx Configuration for 1C-Bitrix

Out of the box, Nginx has no knowledge of the Bitrix directory structure: try_files for clean URLs is not configured, service directories are not blocked, and static asset caching headers are not set. The typical result is a 404 on URLs without extensions, or open access to /bitrix/backup/.

Configuration Structure for Bitrix

Official Nginx + PHP-FPM configs are available in the Bitrix repository, but they are often used without being understood. The key blocks:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    root /var/www/bitrix;
    index index.php;

    charset utf-8;
    client_max_body_size 100m;

    # Bitrix clean URLs (SEF)
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /bitrix/urlrewrite.php$is_args$args;
    }

    # Direct urlrewrite call
    location = /bitrix/urlrewrite.php {
        fastcgi_pass php-fpm;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }

    # PHP via FPM
    location ~ \.php$ {
        try_files $uri =404;
        fastcgi_pass php-fpm;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_read_timeout 120;
    }
}

Blocking Service Directories

Mandatory security rules for Bitrix:

# Block access to service directories
location ~* ^/bitrix/(backup|modules|php_interface|tools)/ {
    deny all;
    return 403;
}

# Block .htaccess and hidden files
location ~ /\. {
    deny all;
    return 404;
}

# Prevent PHP execution in the upload directory
location ~* ^/upload/.*\.php$ {
    deny all;
    return 403;
}

The /upload directory must serve files but must not execute PHP — it is a common web shell upload vector.

Static Asset Caching

location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg|woff|woff2|ttf)$ {
    expires 30d;
    add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
    access_log off;
}

immutable tells the browser that the file will not change before expires. This works for Bitrix versioned files (/bitrix/cache/css/[hash].css).

gzip Compression

gzip on;
gzip_vary on;
gzip_min_length 1024;
gzip_proxied any;
gzip_comp_level 5;
gzip_types
    text/plain text/css application/json
    application/javascript text/xml application/xml
    image/svg+xml;

gzip_comp_level 5 — a balanced trade-off between CPU usage and compression ratio. Levels 7–9 yield minimal additional compression at a noticeable CPU cost.

Bitrix Composite (HTML Cache) and Nginx

Bitrix Composite stores HTML in /bitrix/html_pages/. Nginx can serve these files without invoking PHP:

location / {
    # Check whether a cached HTML page exists
    set $cache_path "/bitrix/html_pages${uri}";
    if (-f "${document_root}${cache_path}.html") {
        rewrite ^ ${cache_path}.html last;
    }
    try_files $uri $uri/ /bitrix/urlrewrite.php$is_args$args;
}

location ~* /bitrix/html_pages/ {
    internal;
    add_header X-Bitrix-Composite "HIT";
}

Static pages from the HTML cache are served by Nginx without starting PHP-FPM — a 10–50x speedup for unauthenticated visitors.

Case Study: Incorrect try_files

An online store after a server migration: all catalog pages returned 404, while the homepage worked. Cause: the config had try_files $uri $uri/ @bitrix; with a named location @bitrix that was defined incorrectly and did not forward $args. As a result, the URL /catalog/electronics/?SECTION_ID=5 lost its query parameters. Correcting it to the standard try_files $uri $uri/ /bitrix/urlrewrite.php$is_args$args resolved everything.

Estimated time to configure Nginx for Bitrix from scratch: 0.5–1 day.