Adding HTTP Strict-Transport-Security to the nginx web server

The HTTP Strict-Transport-Security standard (HSTS) is a HTTP server header sent by SSL/TLS enabled websites to prevent communication over HTTP in order to protect content and authentication cookies from interception or alteration.

To enable this header on the nginx web server, modify the nginx.conf file. Within the server block, find and edit the location block and set the "add_header" directive with a value of e.g. Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000"; (for 365 days).

E.g:

server {
 location / {
  add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000";
​ }
​}