How to setup Pagespeed module in Nginx using rpm or yum on CentOS 7

Adding Pagespeed module in Apache is very easy with package manager:

sudo yum install at # if you do not already have 'at' installed
sudo rpm -U mod-pagespeed-*.rpm

... but if we want to add Pagespeed module in Nginx, first thing we think of is compiling its source along with the Pagespeed module. What if Nginx is installed in our server from yum or rpm? The process we need is to repackage RPM and that is what this tutorial will show.

Prepare tools

The following procedures are tested on my Linode server running Centos 7 64-bit Linux distribution.

1. First we need to install the necessary tools to repackage RPM:

   
   sudo yum install gcc-c++ pcre-devel zlib-devel make unzip wget openssl-devel libxml2-devel libxslt-devel gd-devel perl-ExtUtils-Embed GeoIP-devel gperftools-devel rpm-build redhat-lsb-core libuuid-devel
   
   

2. It is recommended to not to use root user in building RPM, so we will create a new user:

   
   useradd -m builder
   
   

   * The -m is to create home directory

3. Select the latest version of Nginx RPM source here and download (as of this writing the latest is nginx-1.10.3-1.el7.ngx.src.rpm):

   
   rpm -Uvh http://nginx.org/packages/centos/7/SRPMS/nginx-1.14.2-1.el7_4.ngx.src.rpm
   
   

4. Move the Nginx RPM source to the new user created "builder" home directory:

   
   mv /root/rpmbuild /home/builder/ && chown -R builder. /home/builder/rpmbuild
   
   

Pagespeed source

1. Login as "builder" and go to RPM source directory:

   
   su builder
   cd ~/rpmbuild/SOURCES/
   
   

2. Download and extract the latest version of Pagespeed (you can verify the latest version here):

   
   NPS_VERSION=1.13.35.2-stable
   wget https://github.com/pagespeed/ngx_pagespeed/archive/v${NPS_VERSION}.zip
   unzip v${NPS_VERSION}.zip
   rm v${NPS_VERSION}.zip
   
   

3. Inside the extracted Pagespeed source directory, download and extract its required PSOL library:

   
   nps_dir=$(find . -name "*pagespeed-ngx-${NPS_VERSION}" -type d)
   cd "$nps_dir"
   NPS_RELEASE_NUMBER=${NPS_VERSION/beta/}
   NPS_RELEASE_NUMBER=${NPS_VERSION/stable/}
   psol_url=https://dl.google.com/dl/page-speed/psol/${NPS_RELEASE_NUMBER}.tar.gz
   [ -e scripts/format_binary_url.sh ] && psol_url=$(scripts/format_binary_url.sh PSOL_BINARY_URL)
   wget ${psol_url}
   tar -xzvf $(basename ${psol_url})
   rm $(basename ${psol_url})
   
   

4. Archive both Pagespeed and PSOL as one:

   
   cd ..
   tar -zcvf incubator-pagespeed-ngx-1.13.35.2-stable.tar.gz incubator-pagespeed-ngx-1.13.35.2-stable/
   rm -r incubator-pagespeed-ngx-1.13.35.2-stable/
   cd ~
   
   

Enable Pagespeed in Nginx spec

1. Open and edit "nginx.spec" file:

   
   vi ~/rpmbuild/SPECS/nginx.spec
   
   

2. Search for %define main_release 1%{?dist}.ngx and add the following line below it:

   
   %define pagespeed_version 1.13.35.2-stable
   
   

   Note: '1.13.35.2-stable" is the version of Pagespeed.

   Its section should look something like this:

     
   %define main_version 1.14.2
   %define main_release 1%{?dist}.ngx
   %define pagespeed_version 1.13.35.2-stable
     
   

3. Scroll down and search --with-stream_ssl_preread_module and add the following line beside it:

   
   --add-module=%{_builddir}/%{name}-%{main_version}/incubator-pagespeed-ngx-%{pagespeed_version}
   
   

   Its section should look something like this:

   
   %define BASE_CONFIGURE_ARGS $(echo "--prefix=%{_sysconfdir}/nginx --sbin-path=%{_sbindir}/nginx --modules-path=%{_libdir}/nginx/modules --conf-path=%{_sysconfdir}/nginx/nginx.conf --error-log-path=%{_localstatedir}/log/nginx/error.log --http-log-path=%{_localstatedir}/log/nginx/access.log --pid-path=%{_localstatedir}/run/nginx.pid --lock-path=%{_localstatedir}/run/nginx.lock --http-client-body-temp-path=%{_localstatedir}/cache/nginx/client_temp --http-proxy-temp-path=%{_localstatedir}/cache/nginx/proxy_temp --http-fastcgi-temp-path=%{_localstatedir}/cache/nginx/fastcgi_temp --http-uwsgi-temp-path=%{_localstatedir}/cache/nginx/uwsgi_temp --http-scgi-temp-path=%{_localstatedir}/cache/nginx/scgi_temp --user=%{nginx_user} --group=%{nginx_group} --with-compat --with-file-aio --with-threads --with-http_addition_module --with-http_auth_request_module --with-http_dav_module --with-http_flv_module --with-http_gunzip_module --with-http_gzip_static_module --with-http_mp4_module --with-http_random_index_module --with-http_realip_module --with-http_secure_link_module --with-http_slice_module --with-http_ssl_module --with-http_stub_status_module --with-http_sub_module --with-http_v2_module --with-mail --with-mail_ssl_module --with-stream --with-stream_realip_module --with-stream_ssl_module --with-stream_ssl_preread_module --add-module=%{_builddir}/%{name}-%{main_version}/incubator-pagespeed-ngx-%{pagespeed_version}")
   
   

4. Again scroll down and search Source13: nginx.check-reload.sh and add the following line under it:

   
   Source14: incubator-pagespeed-ngx-%{pagespeed_version}.tar.gz
   
   

   Its section should look something like this:

   
   Source0: http://nginx.org/download/%{name}-%{version}.tar.gz
   Source1: logrotate
   Source2: nginx.init.in
   Source3: nginx.sysconf
   Source4: nginx.conf
   Source5: nginx.vh.default.conf
   Source7: nginx-debug.sysconf
   Source8: nginx.service
   Source9: nginx.upgrade.sh
   Source10: nginx.suse.logrotate
   Source11: nginx-debug.service
   Source12: COPYRIGHT
   Source13: nginx.check-reload.sh
   Source14: incubator-pagespeed-ngx-%{pagespeed_version}.tar.gz
   
   

5. And scroll down and search %setup -q and add the following lines under it:

   
   tar zxvf %SOURCE14
   %setup -T -D -a 14
   
   

   Note: The 14 in %setup -T -D -a 14 above came from SOURCE14.

   Its section should look something like this:

   
   %prep
   %setup -q
   tar zxvf %SOURCE14
   %setup -T -D -a 14
   cp %{SOURCE2} .
   sed -e 's|%%DEFAULTSTART%%|2 3 4 5|g' -e 's|%%DEFAULTSTOP%%|0 1 6|g' \
       -e 's|%%PROVIDES%%|nginx|g'  nginx.init
   sed -e 's|%%DEFAULTSTART%%||g' -e 's|%%DEFAULTSTOP%%|0 1 2 3 4 5 6|g' \
       -e 's|%%PROVIDES%%|nginx-debug|g'  nginx-debug.init
   
   

6. (Optional) By default, the Nginx debugging log is enabled. If you want disabled it, scroll down and search --with-debug and remove --with-debug. Its section should look something like this after removing it:

   
   %build
   ./configure %{BASE_CONFIGURE_ARGS} \
       --with-cc-opt="%{WITH_CC_OPT}" \
       --with-ld-opt="%{WITH_LD_OPT}" 
   
   

7. And save the nginx.spec file.

Build and install the new Nginx with Pagespeed module

1. Build the Nginx RPM package:

     
   rpmbuild -ba ~/rpmbuild/SPECS/nginx.spec
     
   

   When I executed it, I got the following error:

     
   sh: lsb_release: command not found
   error: /home/builder/rpmbuild/SPECS/nginx.spec:28: bad %if condition
     
   

   To fix it, we need to find and install the package that provides lsb_release command as "root" user:

     
   yum provides */lsb_release
   yum install redhat-lsb-core
     
   

   Run again the command to build the Nginx RPM package:

     
   su builder
   rpmbuild -ba ~/rpmbuild/SPECS/nginx.spec
     
   

   If you got the following error after executing it:

     
   checking for psol ... not found
   ./configure: error: module ngx_pagespeed requires the pagespeed optimization library.
     
   

   ... install libuuid-devel as "root" user to fix it:

     
   yum install libuuid-devel
     
   

   If you did not remove the Nginx debugging log, you will be prompted by the following message. Just type "Y" and hit Enter.

   
   You have set --with-debug for building nginx, but precompiled Debug binaries for
   PSOL, which ngx_pagespeed depends on, aren't available.  If you're trying to
   debug PSOL you need to build it from source.  If you just want to run nginx with
   debug-level logging you can use the Release binaries.
   
   Use the available Release binaries? [Y/n] Y
   
   

   After the compilation completed you should see output message at the end look something like these:

   
   Wrote: /home/builder/rpmbuild/SRPMS/nginx-1.14.2-1.el7_4.ngx.src.rpm
   Wrote: /home/builder/rpmbuild/RPMS/x86_64/nginx-1.14.2-1.el7_4.ngx.x86_64.rpm
   Wrote: /home/builder/rpmbuild/RPMS/x86_64/nginx-debuginfo-1.14.2-1.el7_4.ngx.x86_64.rpm
   Executing(%clean): /bin/sh -e /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.MDf5hy
   + umask 022
   + cd /home/builder/rpmbuild/BUILD
   + cd nginx-1.14.2
   + /usr/bin/rm -rf /home/builder/rpmbuild/BUILDROOT/nginx-1.14.2-1.el7_4.ngx.x86_64
   + exit 0
   
   

   As we can see the Nginx RPM package bundled with Pagespeed is saved in ~/rpmbuild/RPMS/

2. Login as root in able to install the compiled Nginx RPM:

   
   su
   
   

   You can use yum or rpm to install it:

   
   yum update /home/builder/rpmbuild/RPMS/x86_64/nginx-1.14.2-1.el7_4.ngx.x86_64.rpm
   
   

   ... or:

   
   rpm -Uvh /home/builder/rpmbuild/RPMS/x86_64/nginx-1.14.2-1.el7_4.ngx.x86_64.rpm
   
   

   If the current nginx is higher version than we have compiled (like in my case I have nginx v1.14.6), execute the following to force install the Nginx RPM we have build:

   
   yum downgrade /home/builder/rpmbuild/RPMS/x86_64/nginx-1.14.2-1.el7_4.ngx.x86_64.rpm
   
   

   ... or:

   
   rpm -Uvh --oldpackage /home/builder/rpmbuild/RPMS/x86_64/nginx-1.14.2-1.el7_4.ngx.x86_64.rpm
   
   

3. Make sure it auto-start upon reboot:

   
   chkconfig nginx on
   
   

   To check if Pagespeed is included in Nginx:

   
   nginx -V
   
   

If you don't want to build the RPM in your production server, you may use other machine. In my case, I just build my RPM in a laptop using CentOS 7 64-bit Vagrant box. Just make sure they have both the same system type (OS and processor).

For PageSpeed Nginx configuration, please see this article.