> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developer.harness.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developer.harness.io/web-application-and-api-protection-waap-protection-protection/data-collection/gateways-load-balancers/nginx.md).

# NGINX

Traceable provides an NGINX tracing agent that you can deploy to monitor and block user requests. Traceable supports both the NGINX enterprise and NGINX community editions. This topic describes how the NGINX tracing agent works and helps you choose the installation instructions for your NGINX deployment.

## How the NGINX tracing agent works

The NGINX tracing agent works with any type of NGINX deployment. For example, you can deploy NGINX as a reverse proxy or as a load balancer. The tracing agent connects to the [Traceable Platform Agent (TPA)](/web-application-and-api-protection-waap-protection-protection/installation/platform-agent.md), which sends the data to the Traceable platform for in-depth analysis.

The following diagram shows an example of an NGINX tracing agent deployment:

<figure><img src="https://1414883571-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fdr7UJpJrdGkkSGT6AFTu%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-55577d405a6acc22e4e42208b9594d934cc0fc58%2Ftraceable_nginx_architecture-p7oo9m.jpg?alt=media" alt="NGINX tracing agent deployment"><figcaption><p>NGINX Tracing Agent Deployment</p></figcaption></figure>

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## Before you begin

Make a note of the following before you install the NGINX tracing agent:

* Make sure that you have basic knowledge of NGINX and `nginx.conf`. For more information, see Creating NGINX Plus and NGINX Configuration Files.
* Make sure that the NGINX instance to which the tracing agent attaches is compiled with the `--with-compat` flag.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**

Traceable captures request bodies only up to the default `client_body_buffer_size` value. This NGINX configuration controls the memory allocated to hold the request body. If a request is larger than the default value, Traceable does not capture the excess. For more information, see [NGINX directives](http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html#client_body_buffer_size).
{% endhint %}

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## Choose your NGINX deployment

Traceable provides separate installation instructions for each NGINX edition. Select the topic for your edition:

* [NGINX Plus](/web-application-and-api-protection-waap-protection-protection/data-collection/gateways-load-balancers/nginx/nginx-plus.md)
* [NGINX community version](/web-application-and-api-protection-waap-protection-protection/data-collection/gateways-load-balancers/nginx/nginx-community-version.md)

{% @harness-feedback/feedback %}