Minimal nginx configuration for listing & serving static files from a predetermined directory

nginx-directory-listing.conf

events {
}

http {
    # default set of files and their content types
    include      mime.types;
    # prompt user for download for any undeclared file format
    default_type application/octet-stream;
    # optimization when serving static files
    sendfile     on;
    
    server {
        # no need for root privileges
        listen      8080;
        server_name localhost
        
        location / {
            # insert desired path here
            root      /Users/jemmanuel/share
            # this directive enables directory listing
            autoindex on;
        }
    }
}

nginx-static-file-server.conf

events {
}

http {
    # default set of files and their content types
    include      mime.types;
    # prompt user for download for any undeclared file format
    default_type application/octet-stream;
    # optimization when serving static files
    sendfile     on;
    
    server {
        # no need for root privileges
        listen      8080;
        server_name localhost
        
        location / {
            # insert desired path here
            root /Users/jemmanuel/share
        }
    }
}

server_name localhost misses a ; too
Both files