Is it possible to run (and check) Nginx rewrite rules without running the whole web server?

Question

I want to get as close as I can to "unit testing" Nginx rewrite rules. How close can one get to doing this? Is there a way to run the request rewriting module without running the entire web server? Can I embed the Nginx server in a process running Ruby or Python or, if I have to, Java? What tricks can you think of?

Answer 1

1. Put your rewrite rules in an include file.

2. Create Nginx configuration just for testing that pulls in the rewrite include file.

3. Using the -c and possibly the -g flags, Run nginx as a user. Since you can run it on an alternate port, this won't conflict with a web server running on port 80.

4. Have your automated testing run tests against this "test server".

5. Shut down the nginx test server.