How to remove server header from nginx response in elastic beanstalk

In AWS Elastic Beanstalk, the server header is controlled by the underlying web server, which, in the case of a typical Node.js, Python, Ruby, or Go application, is usually Nginx. To remove the server header from Nginx responses in Elastic Beanstalk, you can use the .ebextensions configuration.

Here's how you can achieve it:

1. Create a new folder named .ebextensions in the root directory of your Elastic Beanstalk application if it doesn't already exist.

2. Inside the .ebextensions folder, create a new file (e.g., nginx.config) with the following content:

   yamlCopy code
   files:
     "/etc/nginx/conf.d/my_custom_config.conf":
       mode: "000644"
       owner: root
       group: root
       content: |
         server_tokens off;
   

   In the above configuration, we're creating a custom Nginx configuration file my_custom_config.conf in the /etc/nginx/conf.d/ directory with the server_tokens directive set to off. This directive will remove the server header from Nginx responses.

3. Deploy your application to Elastic Beanstalk with the new .ebextensions configuration.

After the deployment, Nginx will be configured with the server_tokens off; directive, and the server header will be removed from the responses.

Please note that modifying the Nginx configuration can affect the behavior of your web server, so ensure that you understand the implications of removing the server header in your specific use case.

Additionally, remember to apply security best practices when exposing your applications to the internet. Removing the server header is one measure to reduce the information exposed, but there are other security considerations that should be addressed to enhance the security of your application.