Using nginx for dev is much faster than grunt-contrib-connect (especially with a livereload workflow) but grunt-nginx doesn’t automatically shut down the server when exiting (e.g., on CTRL-C when watching, or if there is an exception). This little snippet will detect and shut down the server.

gistfile1.txt

# e.g. set up nginx task
module.exports = (grunt) ->
	grunt.initConfig
		nginx:
			options:
				config: '/usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf'

# …

# Make sure we shut down the nginx server in case it’s running.
exec = require('child_process').exec
cleanup = ->
	console.log('')
	console.log('=============================================')
	console.log('Exiting gracefully. Shutting down the server…')
	console.log('=============================================')
	exec 'nginx -s stop', (error, stdout, stderr) ->
		if error
			console.log 'Couldn’t stop server: ' + error
		console.log stdout
		console.log stderr
		process.exit()

process.on 'SIGINT', cleanup
process.on 'uncaughtException', cleanup