How do I DRY up this Nginx configuration?

Solution 1:

http {
  map $cookie_no_cache $cacheZone {
    default "";
    true    X;
  }

  server {
    root /srv/web/example.com;
    server_name example.com;

    error_page 405 = @backend;

    location / {
      try_files /cache$cacheZone/$uri.html /static$cacheZone/$uri
                /cache$cacheZone/$uri @backend;
    }

    location @backend {
      proxy_pass http://localhost:8060;
    }
  }
}

Explanation.

1. Regarding "no_cache" cookie check. We are replacing it with Nginx map. Variable $cacheZone depends on the value of $cookie_no_cache. By default it's empty, but if there is a "no_cache=true" cookie, we set $cacheZone to any value to modify static file search path in try_files -- I hope you have no /cacheX and /staticX folders under your server root (if yes, choose another value for $cacheZone)
2. Nginx cannot apply HTTP methods PUT or POST to static files (this is meaningless), so that it issues HTTP error 405 "Not Allowed" in this case. We intercept it by error_page and pass the request to @backend location.

Alternative approach

Otherwise, use proxy_cache:

http {
  proxy_cache_path example:1m;

  server {
    root  /srv/web/example.com;
    server_name example.com;

    location / {
      proxy_cache example;
      proxy_cache_bypass $cookie_no_cache;
      proxy_cache_valid 200 10s;
      proxy_pass http://localhost:8060;
    }
  }
}