Where to put map in Nginx configs/templates?

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1

I want to block bad bots (any visitor with user agent below 14 symbols length). So I tried to modify default Nginx template for the site adding right at the top of .tpl and .stpl code before server line:

map $http_user_agent $blocked {
	~*^.{0,13}$ 1;
	default 0;
}

And inside server before the first location I put this:

	if ($blocked) {
		return 403;
	}

I made a copy of the template, added it to my domain via panel and rebuild the user. But it doesn’t work :(. I can see 200 OK for visitors without User Agent or with short ones in logs.

Is it OK to use map like this in .tpl or should I put it into nginx.conf directly?

2

If you define map directive outside server block, the directive will be global so there is no need to add it to .stpl, indeed I won’t use it in a template, I would define it on for example /etc/nginx/conf.d/maps.conf

Also, you should surround the regex with double quotes or it will fail:

map $http_user_agent $blocked {
	"~*^.{0,13}$" 1;
	default 0;
}

The if block should be added to both templates, .tpl and .stpl.

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3

Thanks, will try this way.

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4

Sorry to bump this, but can this query be used in .htaccess file or the robots.txt file as well, to block the bots?

5

In .htaccess you could try this (I didn’t test it, I don’t use Apache):

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.{0,13}$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [F,L]
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6

Thanks. Let me try that.
BTW, how would one run websites and servers without apache and nginx? I thought one cannot have public websites without these 2.

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7

You don’t have to run Apache AND nginx in HestiaCP. There is an nginx only option.

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8

no no. Let me rephrase. I meant, one needs to have either apache or nginx to run, right? Apologies, if this question sounds naive or stupid, but I have seen many write, I do not use nginx, or I do not use apache, etc. So, I am in general confused. Hence this question.

9

There Is also litehttp caddy and so on but you need a webserver for it (And these are not supported with Hestia)

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