category url rewrite doesn't work when magento running on nginx

Question

I set up my magento store running on LEMP server. Every thing works fine except the url rewrite of category does not work. If I use the url http://mystore.com/catalog/category/view/id/3, then I can see the category view page. But if I click the category on the top menu and its url is rewritten to http://mystore.com/website-sale.html. Then the category page is missing. I got the '404' error message.

Answer 1

Magento explains how to configure nginx

I thought about shortening the config, but I think this is a bad idea. I don't have any idea about nginx but afaik .htaccess doesn't work, so you have to configure rewrite to index.php by yourself.

But still have a look on the link for the global config!

server {
listen 80;
server_name DOMAIN.com;
rewrite / $scheme://www.$host$request_uri permanent; ## Forcibly prepend a www
}

server {
listen 80 default;
## SSL directives might go here
server_name www.DOMAIN.com *.DOMAIN.com; ## Domain is here twice so server_name_in_redirect will favour the www
root /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.com;

location / {
index index.html index.php; ## Allow a static html file to be shown first
try_files $uri $uri/ @handler; ## If missing pass the URI to Magento's front handler
expires 30d; ## Assume all files are cachable
}

## These locations would be hidden by .htaccess normally
location ^~ /app/                { deny all; }
location ^~ /includes/           { deny all; }
location ^~ /lib/                { deny all; }
location ^~ /media/downloadable/ { deny all; }
location ^~ /pkginfo/            { deny all; }
location ^~ /report/config.xml   { deny all; }
location ^~ /var/                { deny all; }

location /var/export/ { ## Allow admins only to view export folder
auth_basic           "Restricted"; ## Message shown in login window
auth_basic_user_file htpasswd; ## See /etc/nginx/htpassword
autoindex            on;
}

location  /. { ## Disable .htaccess and other hidden files
return 404;
}

location @handler { ## Magento uses a common front handler
rewrite / /index.php;
}

location ~ .php/ { ## Forward paths like /js/index.php/x.js to relevant handler
rewrite ^(.*.php)/ $1 last;
}

location ~ .php$ { ## Execute PHP scripts
if (!-e $request_filename) { rewrite / /index.php last; } ## Catch 404s that try_files miss

expires        off; ## Do not cache dynamic content
fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:9000;
fastcgi_param  HTTPS $fastcgi_https;
fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
fastcgi_param  MAGE_RUN_CODE default; ## Store code is defined in administration > Configuration > Manage Stores
fastcgi_param  MAGE_RUN_TYPE store;
include        fastcgi_params; ## See /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params
}
}

Answer 2

Try system-->configuration and then in your Catalog menu, select catalog and set the "Use Categories Path for Product URLs" to no. This will remove category and catalog in your URLs without having to mess with rewrites.

Answer 3

With nginx, Try this:

System > Configuration -> General > Web > Search Engines Optimization
Switch Use Web Server Rewrites to No