# Change your Nginx docroot

Some applications may require you to use a different document root (docroot) than the typical
directory of `~/public_html`. The docroot is the directory Nginx serves a site's files from. Other
times, your own application deploy flow may require you to change Nginx's docroot, for example to
point it to `~/current`. In this guide, we'll quickly go over some common
situations and ways to set this up.

> [!NOTE]
> This is mostly applicable for general applications. Many CMSes and frameworks have a custom docroot
> path, that we configure by default in Nginx if you set up your application with the correct
> application type. Be sure to check your current settings before making any changes!

## Using symlinks

The easiest way to make sure Nginx reads application files in the correct directory, is simply by
turning the default directory into a symlink, pointing to the desired directory. Consider the
following default directory setup:

```
sander@web1:~$ ls -l
<...>
drwxr-xr-x  2 sander sander  4096 Apr 13 00:00 logs
drwxr-xr-x  2 sander sander  4096 Jan 13 09:24 nginx
lrwxrwxrwx  1 sander sander  4096 Apr 14 11:53 public_html
<...>
```

Let's say your app typically deploys with a directory `releases/`, which contains the actual
different releases and a symlink `current`, linking to the most recent release. This is the default
Deployer setup. In that case, you can simply remove the existing, empty public_html directory and
replace it with a symlink:

```
sander@web1:~$ rmdir public_html
sander@web1:~$ ln -s current public_html
sander@web1:~$ ls -l
<...>
lrwxrwxrwx  1 sander sander    11 Apr 14 11:53 current -> releases/56
drwxr-xr-x  2 sander sander  4096 Jan 13 09:24 nginx
lrwxrwxrwx  1 sander sander     7 Apr 14 11:53 public_html -> current
<...>
```

## Using the Nginx docroot

Alternatively, you could change the actual path Nginx looks for. In your home directory you'll find
the `~/nginx` config directory, containing the `50main.conf` file. Here, you'll find your main
application Nginx config, including the docroot. Depending on your configured app type, the exact
contents of this file will change. However, you can edit this file as desired. An example of how the
docroot is defined in this file is below:

```
root /var/www/sander/public_html;
```

Here you could change the `public_html` part to any path as required by your application. After
editing, apply the change by reloading Nginx with the [TurboStack CLI](../../api/cli.md):

```bash
tscli nginx reload
```

> [!WARNING]
> Editing `50main.conf` needs Nginx knowledge - a mistake can take the site offline.
> `tscli nginx reload` validates the configuration and reports the error if there is one.

## Letting the platform manage it

The two methods above are yours to maintain. There is also a platform-native override that changes
the served folder and keeps the generated configuration in sync, so it survives platform updates
without you editing `50main.conf` by hand. That is the cleanest option when a framework serves from
a fixed subfolder such as `public` or `web`, and it is the one to ask
[Support](../../platform/support.md) for if the symlink does not suit your deployment.

## Related

- [Configure Nginx](configure.md)
- [What is Nginx?](what-is.md)
- [TurboStack CLI](../../api/cli.md) - reload Nginx with `tscli nginx reload`