The htaccess to Nginx Converter translates exactly four RewriteRule flag combinations and three documented Apache directives into review-ready Nginx lines, returning a line-numbered warning for every condition, unknown flag or unsupported rule instead of guessing. Running this conversion on Android looks different from a desktop migration because most people do it inside Termux, where Nginx sits next to a small touch-screen editor, no real terminal multiplexer and a mobile browser that may or may not handle long pasted text well. The Android workflow is therefore a sequence of focused micro-edits rather than one big bulk paste: open the original .htaccess on the device, copy a narrow excerpt, run it through the converter in the browser, read each emitted Nginx line back into the correct context, then validate the assembled configuration before reloading the server. Treating the converter as an inventory assistant rather than a one-click translator protects the site from redirect loops, accidental URL exposure and silent cache poisoning that browsers and CDNs can lock in for months.
Why the conversion looks different on Android
Most published htaccess to Nginx guides assume a Linux laptop, ssh access and a comfortable screen. Android changes three things at once. First, the editor is usually Termux with either nano or vim and a touch keyboard, so copying and pasting a 200-line excerpt through pkg install termux-tools and the share menu is more error prone than on a desktop. Second, Android's browser sandbox is stricter: long pastes may truncate, autocomplete may rewrite quote characters and clipboard permissions differ between Chrome, Firefox and Bromite. Third, the typical Android-hosted site is small and personal, so there is rarely a staging server; the production Nginx config is also the test environment.
That combination makes a converter that emits review-ready lines, one warning per problem and zero guessed rewrites far safer than one that mass-produces plausible-looking rules. The supported subset is intentionally narrow, which keeps the result auditable on a phone screen. Anything outside that subset, including RewriteCond, authentication blocks, proxy passes and CMS front-controller rules, returns a warning with its original line number so the engineer can decide what to do manually.
Prepare the Termux workspace before you paste
Before opening the converter, set up the Android side so that you can copy text out of a real file rather than retyping it. Install Termux from F-Droid when possible, then run pkg update && pkg install nginx nano termux-tools so the editor and the target server share the same shell. Nginx inside Termux stores its main config at /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/etc/nginx/nginx.conf and site configs under the same prefix; find the active block with nginx -V for the prefix path. Your Apache project root might still live under /sdcard/, which Termux can read but not write to without termux-setup-storage.
Open the existing .htaccess in nano, mark the exact lines you intend to migrate (typically the rewrite block at the bottom plus any Options, ErrorDocument and Header directives above it), and copy that bounded excerpt to the clipboard. Bounded pasting matters: the converter parses one line at a time, but a 500-line paste with mixed conditions, comments and unfamiliar flags produces a wall of warnings that is hard to triage on a six-inch screen.
Convert htaccess to Nginx on Android
The full mobile workflow fits a single focused session when each step is small enough to read on a phone.
- Locate the source .htaccess file in Termux, for example ~/sites/example.com/.htaccess, and identify only the document-root directives you want to migrate. Authentication, proxy and location-specific blocks belong in manual engineering notes, not the converter input.
- Copy a focused excerpt to the clipboard. Include the RewriteRule lines, any Options -Indexes, the local ErrorDocument and any Header set X-Robots-Tag lines you want to preserve.
- Open the htaccess to Nginx Converter in your Android browser. Paste the excerpt into the input area and run the conversion.
- Read every emitted Nginx line in the output area, in order. Each one is a single directive and is meant for review, not blind copying.
- For each line-numbered warning, open the source line, decide whether to migrate it manually or leave it on Apache, and record the decision in a comment for the Nginx file.
- Merge the surviving lines into the right Nginx context. Most document-root rewrites go inside the relevant server { } or location / { } block; never paste them at the top level of nginx.conf.
- Back up the active configuration with cp nginx.conf nginx.conf.bak-$(date +%s) so you can roll back if the reload breaks the site.
- Run nginx -t to validate the assembled config, then test a representative request with curl -I http://127.0.0.1/old-path and confirm the Location header before reloading with nginx -s reload.
What the converter maps and what stays manual
The converter's contract is bounded on purpose. It only emits a directive when the Apache form is in the supported subset and the Nginx form is documented in the official modules. Everything else becomes a warning so you do not silently change traffic. A wider discussion of the same boundaries, with example pastes, lives in the htaccess to Nginx bulk conversion reference.
| Apache directive | Typical example | Nginx output |
|---|---|---|
| RewriteRule pattern target [L] | RewriteRule ^about$ about.html [L] | rewrite ^/about$ /about.html last; |
| RewriteRule pattern target [R=301] | RewriteRule ^old$ /new/ [R=301,L] | rewrite ^/old$ /new/ permanent; |
| RewriteRule pattern target [R=302] | RewriteRule ^temp$ /new/ [R=302,L] | rewrite ^/temp$ /new/ redirect; |
| RewriteRule pattern target [R] (status 302) | RewriteRule ^go$ /new/ [R,L] | rewrite ^/go$ /new/ redirect; |
| Options -Indexes | Options -Indexes | autoindex off; |
| ErrorDocument 404 /path | ErrorDocument 404 /404.html | error_page 404 /404.html; |
| Header set X-Robots-Tag "value" | Header set X-Robots-Tag "noindex" | add_header X-Robots-Tag "noindex"; |
Several common Apache constructs are explicitly out of scope and produce a warning with the original line number:
- RewriteCond lines. Conditions inspect HTTPS state, host names, files, directories, query strings, headers and captured groups. Their evaluation order and server architecture can change meaning, so the tool reports them instead of generating an unsafe unconditional rule.
- Unknown flags. QSA, F, G, B, NC, END and any flag outside the L, R, R=301, R=302 set stop conversion for that rule because the Nginx equivalent is not a one-to-one swap. The Apache mod_rewrite introduction is the place to read each flag's actual effect before deciding.
- The dash no-substitution target. A standalone "-" target often combines with flags that alter access or processing without changing the URI. A literal dash is not a safe Nginx replacement, so the rule is withheld with a warning.
- Other status codes, external error documents, conditional headers, environment variables and directive containers. These require manual migration into the appropriate Nginx context.
Reading the line-numbered warnings correctly
The warnings carry three pieces of information: the original line number from your paste, the Apache construct the parser saw, and the reason conversion was withheld. Treat the warning as a checklist item rather than a complaint. For each one, open the original line, decide whether the rule still belongs in the new site, and choose one of three resolutions: migrate it manually into the right Nginx context, drop it because Apache-specific behavior is no longer needed, or rebuild it as a real Nginx construct such as a map, an if inside a location block, or a dedicated return. The Nginx core error_page documentation is a good place to confirm that error_page 404 takes a relative URI and inherits the request method, which is not always what Apache did. A warning that says "RewriteCond not converted" does not block the rest of the output; you still get every supported line that surrounded it, and you can decide the condition manually.
Validate the Nginx config on Termux before reload
The converter does not run nginx -t, inspect installed modules or read your server. You have to do that part on the device. After merging the surviving lines into the right server or location block, copy the active config to a timestamped backup, run nginx -t to surface syntax errors, and reload only after the test passes. Then exercise the conversion with a few representative requests: an old URL that should now redirect, a capture backreference that must survive the rewrite, an internal "last" rule that should not change the address bar, the local 404 path, and any X-Robots-Tag response. Confirm the Location header in curl -I output rather than trusting the browser address bar, because permanent redirects can be cached by browsers and intermediaries for months. Start with temporary redirects during a reversible maintenance window, then switch to permanent only after the old paths, new paths, query strings, alternate hosts and HTTPS behavior all behave as expected. A failed reload on a public Android-hosted site is a real outage with limited recovery options, so the audit-before-reload pattern is not optional.
If you're weighing options, Free Nginx Config Generator Without Sign Up: How to Use covers this in detail.