How to set up nginx to log real client IP address when the Plesk server is behind an external proxy server

Log in to Plesk.

Go to Domains > example.com > Hosting & DNS > Apache & nginx Settings.

Add the following lines to the additional directives for HTTP/HTTPS fields:

RemoteIPHeader X-Forwarded-For
RemoteIPexternalProxy 192.0.2.2/8;

• where 192.0.2.2/8 is an IP address of the external proxy server.

Apply the changes.

Connect to the server via SSH.

Create the file with additional nginx configuration:

# touch /etc/nginx/conf.d/ext_proxy_server.conf

Open the file in a text editor. In this example, we are using vi editor:

# vi /etc/nginx/conf.d/ext_proxy_server.conf

Add the following lines to the additional nginx directives:

set_real_ip_from 192.0.2.2/8;
real_ip_header X-Forwarded-For;
real_ip_recursive on;

• where 192.0.2.2/8 is an IP address of the external proxy server.

Save the changes and close the file.

Restart nginx service:

# service nginx restart