nginx rate limiting: unknown directive limit_req_zone

Question

I'm trying to set up a rate limit for bots using my website, but if I add

limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=one:10m rate=1r/s;

or anything of the sort to /etc/nginx/nginx.conf in the http block, before the includes I get

user@srv:~$ sudo service nginx restart
Restarting nginx: nginx: [emerg] unknown directive "limit_req_zone" in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:11

I can't figure out why this is or where else to look for issues...

Any help appreciated!

What version of nginx is this? – Michael Hampton Jul 10 '14 at 15:17 — Michael Hampton, Jul 10 '14 at 15:17

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered May 29 '19 at 04:41

3

Since you have the ubuntu tag in your question, please try to apt install nginx-full -- instead of nginx-light, which is built --without-http_limit_req_module.

answered May 29 '19 at 04:41

Arnie97

154
8

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 10 '14 at 15:35

2

Either you are using an ancient version of nginx (< 0.7.21) or ngx_http_limit_req_module module is not compiled into your nginx build (which is a bit odd). Run nginx -V 2>&1 | grep --colour=auto limit to check if maybe it's been disabled at build.

answered Jul 10 '14 at 15:35

Florin Asăvoaie

7,057
23
35

thanks. indeed, it was compiled without the module for some reason. – glasspill Jul 10 '14 at 19:48

nginx rate limiting: unknown directive limit_req_zone

2 Answers2