edits

Author: travisamartin

content/includes/use-cases/monitoring/enable-nginx-plus-api.md

@@ -8,37 +8,59 @@ files:
 To collect comprehensive metrics for NGINX Plus -- including bytes streamed, information about upstream systems and caches, and counts of all HTTP status codes -- add the following to your NGINX Plus configuration file (for example, `/etc/nginx/nginx.conf` or an included file):
 
 ```nginx
-# Server block for enabling the NGINX Plus API and dashboard
-#
-# This block requires NGINX Plus. It turns on the API in write mode
-# and serves the built-in dashboard for monitoring.
+# This block:
+# - Enables the read-write NGINX Plus API under /api/
+# - Serves the built-in dashboard at /dashboard.html
+# - Restricts write methods (POST, PATCH, DELETE) to authenticated users
+#   and a specified IP range
 # Change the listen port if 9000 conflicts; 8080 is the conventional API port.
-# For production, secure the API with TLS and limit access by IP or auth.
 server {
-    # Listen for API and dashboard traffic
-    listen 9000 default_server;
-    server_name localhost;
+    # Listen on port 9000 for API and dashboard traffic
+    listen       9000 default_server;
 
-    # Handle API calls under /api/ in read-write mode
+    # Respond to requests for this server name
+    server_name  localhost;
+
+    # Handle API calls under /api/
     location /api/ {
+        # Enable write operations (POST, PATCH, DELETE)
         api write=on;
+
+        # Allow GET requests from any IP
+        allow 0.0.0.0/0;
+        # Deny all other requests by default
+        deny all;
+
+        # For methods other than GET, require auth and restrict to a network
+        limit_except GET {
+            # Prompt for credentials with this realm
+            auth_basic           "NGINX Plus API";
+            # Path to the file with usernames and passwords
+            auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/conf.d/api.htpasswd;
+
+            # Allow only this example IP range (replace with your own)
+            allow                192.0.2.0/24;
+            # Deny all other IPs
+            deny                 all;
+        }
     }
 
     # Serve the dashboard page at /dashboard.html
     location = /dashboard.html {
+        # Files are located under this directory
         root /usr/share/nginx/html;
     }
 
-    # Redirect any request to the root path “/” to the dashboard
+    # Redirect any request for / to the dashboard
     location / {
         return 301 /dashboard.html;
     }
 }
 ```
 
-For more details, see the [NGINX Plus API module documentation](https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_api_module.html).
+For more details, see the [NGINX Plus API module documentation](https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_api_module.html) and [Configuring the NGINX Plus API]({{< ref “nginx/admin-guide/monitoring/live-activity-monitoring.md#configuring-the-api” >}}).
 
-After saving the changes, reload NGINX to apply the new configuration:
+After saving the changes, reload NGINX:
 
 ```shell
 nginx -s reload