📌 Context: While managing my web stack on aaPanel, I needed to enable the WAF Nginx Free plugin. However, I found it didn’t work properly with Nginx 1.27+ or when installed directly on newer versions.
🛠️ The Working Solution
After testing several approaches, here's the method that worked:
Switched to Nginx 1.21 via aaPanel:
Removed broken Nginx completely (/www/server/nginx)
Reinstalled Nginx version 1.21 using:
# Select version 1.21
Installed and activated WAF Nginx Free plugin from aaPanel App Store.
After confirming WAF was working on 1.21, I started upgrading version-by-version, step-by-step:
Upgraded to Nginx 1.23, then 1.24, 1.25, 1.26, and finally 1.27.
✅ At each step, I verified:
Nginx restarted successfully (nginx -t and service nginx restart)
The WAF plugin remained active and functional
No errors in logs or conflicts with virtual hosts
⚠️ Important Note
📛 Installing Nginx 1.27+ directly breaks WAF Nginx Free due to version/module incompatibility.
If WAF is important to you and you're using the free plugin, only upgrade gradually after installing it on 1.21.
✅ Final Version with WAF Working:
Nginx 1.27 + WAF Nginx Free plugin = ✅ Stable & Functional
