getpwnam("www") failed in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Question

I copied the nginx.conf sample onto my ubuntu 12.04 box (I don't know where to put the other conf files. I'm an nginx noob). When I try to start nginx I get the following error:

abe-lens-laptop@abe:/etc$ sudo service nginx start
Starting nginx: nginx: [emerg] getpwnam("www") failed in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:1
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test failed

What does this error mean? How can I fix it? I found this post but my user is already set to www www (if you see in the linked file) How do I change the NGINX user?

Solution 1

The user you specified in your configuration, www, doesn't exist. Either create the user, or choose a user that does exist.

Solution 2

Your other option (if you don't want to create a new user) is to replace the user field in nginx.conf with:

user nobody;

Solution 3

Create the www user. On Ubuntu this should be done using the following command and flags:

sudo adduser --system --no-create-home --shell /bin/false --group --disabled-login www

Solution 4

nginx version: nginx/1.13.9 built by gcc 5.4.0 20160609 (Ubuntu 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.9) built with OpenSSL 1.1.0g 2 Nov 2017

just use

user  nobody nogroup;

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Comments

[Josh Noe]

Link to nginx.config is broken

[Jorge Luis Guacarán]

Of course, but we're talking about the first time confguration/compilation...

[Xavier Lucas]

Where did you read that exactly? First configuration has nothing to do with compilation btw.

[Jonesome Reinstate Monica]

the syntax is: useradd www

[Myster-Mayur]

I had same problem, after changing php-fpm user and group i had changed nginx user to my user but i was referring to old guide and this answer helped to fix this issue. Thanks

[Enderson Menezes]

work's for me on centos 7, thx!