GeoIP-based ACL configuration in Nginx reverse proxy

With the continuous development and progress of the Internet, globalization has become the latest trend. For many companies and websites, providing multi-lingual and multi-regional services has become a must. Therefore, how to effectively manage and control users in different regions has become a very important issue. Nginx, as a powerful reverse proxy server, provides a GeoIP-based ACL configuration method to control access permissions in different areas.

This article mainly introduces the ACL configuration method based on GeoIP, and explains it with the example of Nginx reverse proxy. At the same time, we will also explore how to use this method in different scenarios.

First of all, let’s introduce what GeoIP is. GeoIP is a technology that can determine the user's geographical location through the user's IP address. Through GeoIP, we can roughly determine the country or region where the user is located, so as to handle it accordingly or provide different services. In Nginx, the GeoIP module provides a GeoIP-based ACL configuration method to control access permissions in different areas.

Next, we will introduce the ACL configuration method based on GeoIP in detail for the instance of Nginx reverse proxy.

Let’s take a company website as an example. Assume that the company has branches in the United States, China and India. We need to use Nginx reverse proxy to achieve the following functions:

1. Users in the United States, China and India can access the company website;
2. Users in other countries cannot access the company website, or Only designated pages of the company website can be accessed.

First, we need to install the GeoIP module and download the GeoIP database. The GeoIP database can be downloaded from MaxMind’s official website.

After installing the GeoIP module, you need to add the following content to the Nginx configuration file:

http {
    ...
    geoip_country /path/to/GeoIP.dat;
    ...
}

In the above code, "/path/to/GeoIP.dat" is the path to the GeoIP database.

Next, we need to configure the access control list based on GeoIP data. We can store all eligible IP addresses in a list called "allowed_country" and use this list for ACL configuration.

geoip_country /path/to/GeoIP.dat;
 
map $geoip_country_code $allowed_country {
  default no;
  US yes;
  CN yes;
  IN yes;
}
 
server {
  listen 80;
  ...
 
  location / {
    if ($allowed_country = no) {
      return 403;
    }
 
    proxy_pass http://backend_server;
  }
 
  location /test {
    if ($allowed_country != yes) {
      return 403;
    }
 
    proxy_pass http://backend_server;
  }
}

In the above code, "$geoip_country_code" is a variable provided by the GeoIP module, which is used to save the country code to which the client IP address belongs. We store all eligible IP addresses in a list called "allowed_country" and set the value of "default" to "no", which means that IP addresses other than the countries specified in this list are not allowed to access Company website.

At the same time, in Nginx, we can use the if directive in the location directive to use the "allowed_country" list for ACL configuration. In the above code, we correspond to the corresponding ACL configurations in the two pages "/" and "/test".

In Nginx, we can use the GeoIP database to implement ACL configuration in various ways. For example, we can store qualified IP addresses in a list named "allowed_country" and use it directly in the ACL configuration; or we can also use the functions provided by the GeoIP database to obtain the country code of the IP address, and then perform the corresponding processing. These methods can achieve effective ACL configuration.

Of course, GeoIP-based ACL configuration can be applied not only to company websites, but also to other scenarios. For example, when controlling access to international websites or responding to DDoS attacks, this can be achieved through GeoIP-based ACL configuration.

In short, the GeoIP-based ACL configuration method of Nginx reverse proxy provides an efficient choice for access management and control in different areas. By using this method appropriately, we can better protect the user's access experience and the security of the website.

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