Running drupal in a subdir.

gistfile1.nginxconf

# -*- mode: nginx; mode: flyspell-prog;  ispell-local-dictionary: "american" -*-
### Nginx configuration for Drupal. This configuration makes use of
### drush (http:///drupal.org/project/drush) for site maintenance
### and like tasks:
###
### 1. Run the cronjobs.
### 2. Run the DB and code updates: drush up or drush upc followed by
###    drush updb to run any DB updates required by the code upgrades
###    that were performed.
### 3. Disabling of xmlrpc.xml, install.php (needed only for
###    installing the site) and update.php: all updates are now
###    handled through drush.

## The 'default' location.
location $drupal_dir/ {

    ## Drupal 404 from can impact performance. If using a module like
    ## search404 then 404's *have *to be handled by Drupal. Uncomment to
    ## relay the handling of 404's to Drupal.
    ## error_page 404 /index.php;

    ## Using a nested location is the 'correct' way to use regexes.

    ## Regular private file serving (i.e. handled by Drupal).
    location ^~ $drupal_dir/system/files/ {
        ## Include the specific FastCGI configuration. This is for a
        ## FCGI backend like php-cgi or php-fpm.
        include apps/drupal/fastcgi_drupal.conf;
        fastcgi_pass phpcgi;

        ## If proxying to apache comment the two lines above and
        ## uncomment the two lines below.
        #proxy_pass http://phpapache/index.php?q=$uri;
        #proxy_set_header Connection '';

        ## For not signaling a 404 in the error log whenever the
        ## system/files directory is accessed add the line below.
        ## Note that the 404 is the intended behavior.
        log_not_found off;
    }

    ## Trying to access private files directly returns a 404.
    location ^~ $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/private/ {
        internal;
    }

    ## Support for the file_force module
    ## http://drupal.org/project/file_force.
    location ^~ $drupal_dir/system/files_force/ {
        ## Include the specific FastCGI configuration. This is for a
        ## FCGI backend like php-cgi or php-fpm.
        include apps/drupal/fastcgi_drupal.conf;
        fastcgi_pass phpcgi;

        ## If proxying to apache comment the two lines above and
        ## uncomment the two lines below.
        #proxy_pass http://phpapache/index.php?q=$uri;
        #proxy_set_header Connection '';

        ## For not signaling a 404 in the error log whenever the
        ## system/files directory is accessed add the line below.
        ## Note that the 404 is the intended behavior.
        log_not_found off;
    }

    ## If accessing an image generated by Drupal 6 imagecache, serve it
    ## directly if available, if not relay the request to Drupal to (re)generate
    ## the image.
    location ~* $drupal_dir/imagecache/ {
        ## Image hotlinking protection. If you want hotlinking
        ## protection for your images uncomment the following line.
        #include apps/drupal/hotlinking_protection.conf;

        access_log off;
        expires 30d;
        try_files $uri @drupal;
    }

    ## Drupal 7 generated image handling, i.e., imagecache in core. See:
    ## http://drupal.org/node/371374.
    location ~* $drupal_dir/files/styles/ {
        ## Image hotlinking protection. If you want hotlinking
        ## protection for your images uncomment the following line.
        #include apps/drupal/hotlinking_protection.conf;

        access_log off;
        expires 30d;
        try_files $uri @drupal;
    }

    ## Advanced Aggregation module CSS
    ## support. http://drupal.org/project/advagg.
    location ^~ $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/advagg_css/ {
        expires max;
        add_header ETag '';
        add_header Last-Modified 'Wed, 20 Jan 1988 04:20:42 GMT';
        add_header Accept-Ranges '';

        location ~* $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/advagg_css/css[_[:alnum:]]+\.css$ {
            access_log off;
            try_files $uri @drupal;
        }
    }

    ## Advanced Aggregation module JS
    ## support. http://drupal.org/project/advagg.
    location ^~ $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/advagg_js/ {
        expires max;
        add_header ETag '';
        add_header Last-Modified 'Wed, 20 Jan 1988 04:20:42 GMT';
        add_header Accept-Ranges '';

        location ~* $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/advagg_js/js[_[:alnum:]]+\.js$ {
            access_log off;
            try_files $uri @drupal;
        }
    }

    ## All static files will be served directly.
    location ~* ^.+\.(?:css|cur|js|jpe?g|gif|htc|ico|png|html|xml|otf|ttf|eot|woff|svg)$ {

        access_log off;
        expires 30d;
        ## No need to bleed constant updates. Send the all shebang in one
        ## fell swoop.
        tcp_nodelay off;
        ## Set the OS file cache.
        open_file_cache max=3000 inactive=120s;
        open_file_cache_valid 45s;
        open_file_cache_min_uses 2;
        open_file_cache_errors off;
    }

    ## PDFs and powerpoint files handling.
    location ~* ^.+\.(?:pdf|pptx?)$ {
        expires 30d;
        ## No need to bleed constant updates. Send the all shebang in one
        ## fell swoop.
        tcp_nodelay off;
    }

    ## MP3 and Ogg/Vorbis files are served using AIO when supported. Your OS must support it.
    location ^~ $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/audio/mp3 {
        location ~* ^$drupal_dir/sites/default/files/audio/mp3/.*\.mp3$ {
            directio 4k; # for XFS
            ## If you're using ext3 or similar uncomment the line below and comment the above.
            #directio 512; # for ext3 or similar (block alignments)
            tcp_nopush off;
            aio on;
            output_buffers 1 2M;
        }
    }

    location ^~ $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/audio/ogg {
        location ~* ^$drupal_dir/sites/default/files/audio/ogg/.*\.ogg$ {
            directio 4k; # for XFS
            ## If you're using ext3 or similar uncomment the line below and comment the above.
            #directio 512; # for ext3 or similar (block alignments)
            tcp_nopush off;
            aio on;
            output_buffers 1 2M;
        }
    }

    ## Pseudo streaming of FLV files:
    ## http://wiki.nginx.org/HttpFlvStreamModule.
    ## If pseudo streaming isn't working, try to comment
    ## out in nginx.conf line with:
    ## add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN;
    location ^~ $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/video/flv {
        location ~* ^/sites/default/files/video/flv/.*\.flv$ {
            flv;
        }
    }

    ## Pseudo streaming of H264/AAC files. This requires an Nginx
    ## version greater or equal to 1.0.7 for the stable branch and
    ## greater or equal to 1.1.3 for the development branch.
    ## Cf. http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_mp4_module.html.
    location ^~ $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/video/mp4 { # videos
        location ~* ^/sites/default/files/video/mp4/.*\.(?:mp4|mov)$ {
            mp4;
            mp4_buffer_size 1M;
            mp4_max_buffer_size 5M;
        }
    }

    location ^~ $drupal_dir/sites/default/files/audio/m4a { # audios
        location ~* ^/sites/default/files/audio/m4a/.*\.m4a$ {
            mp4;
            mp4_buffer_size 1M;
            mp4_max_buffer_size 5M;
        }
    }

    ## Advanced Help module makes each module provided README available.
    location ^~ $drupal_dir/help/ {
        location ~* ^/help/[^/]*/README\.txt$ {
            ## Include the specific FastCGI configuration. This is for a
            ## FCGI backend like php-cgi or php-fpm.
            include apps/drupal/fastcgi_drupal.conf;
            fastcgi_pass phpcgi;

            ## If proxying to apache comment the two lines above and
            ## uncomment the two lines below.
            #proxy_pass http://phpapache/index.php?q=$uri;
            #proxy_set_header Connection '';
        }
    }

    ## Replicate the Apache <FilesMatch> directive of Drupal standard
    ## .htaccess. Disable access to any code files. Return a 404 to curtail
    ## information disclosure. Hide also the text files.
    location ~* ^(?:.+\.(?:htaccess|make|txt|engine|inc|info|install|module|profile|po|pot|sh|.*sql|test|theme|tpl(?:\.php)?|xtmpl)|code-style\.pl|/Entries.*|/Repository|/Root|/Tag|/Template)$ {
        return 404;
    }

    ## First we try the URI and relay to the /index.php?q=$uri&$args if not found.
    try_files $uri @drupal;
}

########### Security measures ##########

## Uncomment the line below if you want to enable basic auth for
## access to all /admin URIs. Note that this provides much better
## protection if use HTTPS. Since it can easily be eavesdropped if you
## use HTTP.
#include apps/drupal/admin_basic_auth.conf;

## Restrict access to the strictly necessary PHP files. Reducing the
## scope for exploits. Handling of PHP code and the Drupal event loop.
location @drupal {
    ## Include the FastCGI config.
    include apps/drupal/fastcgi_drupal.conf;
    fastcgi_pass phpcgi;

    ## FastCGI microcache.
    include apps/drupal/microcache_fcgi.conf;
    ## FCGI microcache for authenticated users also.
    #include apps/drupal/microcache_fcgi_auth.conf;

    ## If proxying to apache comment the two lines above and
    ## uncomment the two lines below.
    #proxy_pass http://phpapache/index.php?q=$uri;
    #proxy_set_header Connection '';

    ## Proxy microcache.
    #include apps/drupal/microcache_proxy.conf;
    ## Proxy microcache for authenticated users also.
    #include apps/drupal/microcache_proxy_auth.conf;

    ## Filefield Upload progress
    ## http://drupal.org/project/filefield_nginx_progress support
    ## through the NginxUploadProgress modules.
    track_uploads uploads 60s;
}

location @drupal-no-args {
    ## Include the specific FastCGI configuration. This is for a
    ## FCGI backend like php-cgi or php-fpm.
    include apps/drupal/fastcgi_no_args_drupal.conf;
    fastcgi_pass phpcgi;

    ## FastCGI microcache.
    include apps/drupal/microcache_fcgi.conf;
    ## FCGI microcache for authenticated users also.
    #include apps/drupal/microcache_fcgi_auth.conf;

    ## If proxying to apache comment the two lines above and
    ## uncomment the two lines below.
    #proxy_pass http://phpapache/index.php?q=$uri;
    #proxy_set_header Connection '';

    ## Proxy microcache.
    #include apps/drupal/microcache_proxy.conf;
    ## Proxy microcache for authenticated users also.
    #include apps/drupal/microcache_proxy_auth.conf;
}

## Disallow access to .bzr, .git, .hg, .svn, .cvs directories: return
## 404 as not to disclose information.
location ^~ $drupal_dir/.bzr {
    return 404;
}

location ^~ $drupal_dir/.git {
    return 404;
}

location ^~ $drupal_dir/.hg {
    return 404;
}

location ^~ $drupal_dir/.svn {
    return 404;
}

location ^~ $drupal_dir/.cvs {
    return 404;
}

## Disallow access to patches directory.
location ^~ $drupal_dir/patches {
    return 404;
}

## Disallow access to drush backup directory.
location ^~ $drupal_dir/backup {
    return 404;
}

## Disable access logs for robots.txt.
location = $drupal_dir/robots.txt {
    access_log off;
    ## Add support for the robotstxt module
    ## http://drupal.org/project/robotstxt.
    try_files $uri @drupal-no-args;
}

## RSS feed support.
location = $drupal_dir/rss.xml {
    try_files $uri @drupal-no-args;
}

## XML Sitemap support.
location = $drupal_dir/sitemap.xml {
    try_files $uri @drupal-no-args;
}

## Support for favicon. Return an 1x1 transparent GIF if it doesn't
## exist.
location = $drupal_dir/favicon.ico {
    expires 30d;
    try_files /favicon.ico @empty;
}

## Return an in memory 1x1 transparent GIF.
location @empty {
    expires 30d;
    empty_gif;
}

## Any other attempt to access PHP files returns a 404.
location ~* ^.+\.php$ {
    return 404;
}

See https://gist.github.com/perusio/9033447 for the map directive that creates $drupal_dir. Replace the original drupal.conf with the above.

hi perusio I found this file through a drupal thread https://groups.drupal.org/node/315193 and have tried to apply this to my configuration following instructions you gave on that thread
nginx -t returns nginx.conf syntax is ok
but all I am getting is a bunch of 404's

so, I am thinking the problem is perhaps in the folder structure I am using

HTTP server.

Return (no rewrite) server block.

server {
## This is to avoid the spurious if for sub-domain name
## "rewriting".
listen 80; # IPv4
## Replace the IPv6 address by your own address. The address below
## was stolen from the wikipedia page on IPv6.
#listen [::]:80;
server_name www.demo.example.site;
return 301 $scheme://demo.example.site$request_uri;

} # server domain return.

HTTP server.

server {
listen 80; # IPv4
## Replace the IPv6 address by your own address. The address below
## was stolen from the wikipedia page on IPv6.
#listen [::]:80;

server_name demo.example.site;
limit_conn arbeit 32;

## Access and error logs.
access_log /var/log/nginx/demo.example.site_access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/demo.example.site_error.log;

## See the blacklist.conf file at the parent dir: /etc/nginx.
## Deny access based on the User-Agent header.
if ($bad_bot) {
    return 444;
}
## Deny access based on the Referer header.
if ($bad_referer) {
    return 444;
}

## Protection against illegal HTTP methods. Out of the box only HEAD,
## GET and POST are allowed.
if ($not_allowed_method) {
    return 405;
}

## Filesystem root of the site and index.
root /usr/share/nginx/html/demo.example.site/mysubfolder;
index index.php;

## Use keep alive connections to the upstream be it
## FastCGI or Apache.
fastcgi_keep_conn on; # keep alive to the FCGI upstream

################################################################
### Generic configuration: for most Drupal 7 sites.
################################################################
include apps/drupal/drupal.conf;

can you see any reason why

The 'default' location.

location $drupal_dir/ {

would not work?

Please help, I've been trying to get my demo site to resolve to demo.example.site/mysubfolder for days now and with default drupal.conf without $drupal_dir it resolves to demo.example.site without any problems but on demo.example.site/mysubfolder I get the drupal's "page not found" 404 and I really need it to resolve to demo.example.site/mysubfolder as I plan to use demo.example.site to showcase some projects so there would be demo.example.site/mysubfolder_2 and demo.example.site/mysubfolder_3 etc...

Please help! I know you're busy and really tried not to bother you with comments here but I've been trying for days, googling for a solution etc but I got nowhere so....