Hi,
I want to create the first educational Wordpress MU community in my country, and let people create blogs for free, but i'm beginner with web servers, i know only how to setup Apache + PHP + MySQL.

I have now a Centos OS 5 dedicated server + Plesk + PHP + MySQL.

Server information : http://order.1and1.com/xml/order/ServerPremiumDualCoreXL
I will install a fresh Wordpress MU installation in the main domain name, and this web site plugins : http://premium.wpmudev.org/wpmu-plugins/

But i want to know how to install configure and use Nginx in my dedicated Server, should i re-install Centos OS and follow other instructions ?, or link with Apache, can i have the differents steps i have to follow, i will use the Domain Mapping plugin.

Best Regards.

Using nginx on a Plesk server is going to be more problems than it's worth. If you're really serious about using ningx you need to reinstall the operating system and go without Plesk. You will use nginx to serve static files. For PHP you have several choices. I use fastcgi. Others use an Apache backend only for PHP listening on the loopback or elsewhere in their internal network. For fastcgi there are a couple of options. I have used php-fpm and used a process manager such as supervisord. Either way works and each has its "believers".

But the first thing you need to do is learn to manage your server without Plesk. You can use something like Webmin, which is free, to configure BIND and Sendmail if you need, but nginx and its PHP backend will have to be configured by hand.

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Jim Ohlstein

Thanks a lot Jim for your helpful answer, Get it.
I already worked with Webmin in a Centos 5 server, and i like it, it's very simple and easy, can this configuration work for me :
- Apache + Nginx.
- Webmin.
- PHP 5.
- MySQL.

without installing any other softs, please can you give me an exemple for the Nginx config that support the domain name mapping in WP MU.

or can i install only :
- Nginx.
- PHP 5.
- MySQL.

Then install the Webmin CP, after that configure mod_rewrite and FastCGI ?

You can't configure mod_rewrite with fastcgi. That's an Apache module. There is a separate nginx module for rewrites and the syntax is similar but not exactly the same.

There are several threads on WordPress MU and super cache/rewrites here and and elsewhere. Use the search here first and if you don't find it you can search wider.

Recently I posted on this site a config for using supervisord to manage fastcgi processes. It's fairly straightforward. Alternatively you can use php-fpm which is simple to install but requires going outside of what's generally available on CentOS's standard repos.

--
Jim Ohlstein

If your dedicated server has a control panel (plesk) you will not need it. The control panel just take your memory and it is not needed at all.
I suggest to reload it and install a fresh CentOS minimal .
I have installed wordpress mu with subdomain support on nginx.
I can do it for you if you want.
yahoo id : misi123m
mail : nginx@gigfa.com

I'm on 1and1 too, with a dedicated centos 5 server with plesk.

I'd LOVE to test nginx before to reinstall the system from scratch, eventually without plesk.

what would be the way?
installing nginx besides to apache seems ok for me
but what about php? could I reinstall one with fastcgi interface to nginx?

for mysql, it is ok ; it is "only" the backend ...


any oideas would be appreciated :)