A static web server in a strictly confined snap. Install it and nginx serves a page on port 8080 right away. Then choose how to serve your own site.

Serve a git repository (no build needed)

Point the snap at a public repository with your static files. It fetches the latest commit and serves it. It can also follow the branch as you push, and roll back with one command:

   sudo hello-nginx deploy https://github.com/me/my-site.git
   sudo hello-nginx deploy https://github.com/me/my-site.git --path public
   sudo hello-nginx auto-update 15m
   sudo hello-nginx rollback
   

Branches can serve as environments: staging servers follow one branch, production servers another.

Or ship your site as its own snap

hello-nginx is also a template. Build your website into a snap of your own, and the content is versioned with the server. Go to the project repository (open source, MIT license) and use it as a template for your own site. The benefits of a website inside a snap:

• Portability Can tun in many Ubuntu versions without dependency and version issues.
• Security It runs in full confinement!
• Updates are all-or-nothing. snap refresh swaps the site and nginx together, so nobody sees a half-copied site.
• Rollback is one command. snap revert my-site brings back the previous site.
• Channels become environments. For example, edge can be staging and stable production, with snapcraft release as the promotion step.
• cloud-init becomes trivial. It's just snap install my-site, with no setup steps after it.

Source, template and documentation: https://github.com/carlosbravoa/hello-nginx

Manage the server

   sudo hello-nginx port 80
   sudo hello-nginx restart
   hello-nginx status
   sudo hello-nginx logs -f

Settings also work with snap set, which suits automation and cloud-init:

   sudo snap set hello-nginx port=80 git.repo=https://github.com/me/my-site.git