Automatic nginx virtual subdomains with sub-folders or sub-directories

example.nginx

# Automatic nginx virtual subdomains with sub-folders or sub-directories
#
# Since the original source where I found this code is now offline, I have decided to mirror it here.
# All credit goes to: http://web.archive.org/web/20150307193208/http://www.messaliberty.com/2010/10/automatic-nginx-virtual-subdomains-with-sub-folders-or-sub-directories
#
# Description: In my web root directory I wanted create a folder called photos, and another called
# music using a sftp program. Without manually going back to the config file or to the shell I like to
# be able to access them at photos.nginxdomain.com and music.nginxdomain.com. That is what this config does.

# Redirect visitors from http://nginxdomain.com/ to http://www.nginxdomain.com/
 server {
	listen 80;
	server_name nginxdomain.com; 
	rewrite ^/(.*) http://www.nginxdomain.com/$1 permanent;
}

# Serve http://www.nginxdomain.com/
server {
	listen	80;
	server_name www.nginxdomain.com;
	root /home/domains/nginxdomain.com/public;
}	

# Automatically create subdomains based on directory existence.
server {
	listen 80; 
	server_name   ~^(.*)\.nginxdomain\.com$; 
	
	# If a directory doesn't exist...
	if (!-d /home/domains/nginxdomain.com/public/$1) {
	
		# If a client requests a subdomain but the server does not have a folder to serve, redirect back to the main site.
		rewrite . http://www.nginxdomain.com/ redirect;
		
	}
    
	# Sets the correct root
	root /home/domains/nginxdomain.com/public/$1;

}