Default nginx client_max_body_size

The default value for client_max_body_size directive is 1 MiB.

It can be set in http, server and location context — as in the most cases, this directive in a nested block takes precedence over the same directive in the ancestors blocks.

Excerpt from the ngx_http_core_module documentation:

Syntax:   client_max_body_size size;
Default:  client_max_body_size 1m;
Context:  http, server, location

Sets the maximum allowed size of the client request body, specified in the “Content-Length” request header field. If the size in a request exceeds the configured value, the 413 (Request Entity Too Large) error is returned to the client. Please be aware that browsers cannot correctly display this error. Setting size to 0 disables checking of client request body size.

Don't forget to reload configuration by nginx -s reload or service nginx reload commands prepending with sudo (if any).

Pooja Mane's answer worked for me, but I had to put the client_max_body_size variable inside of http section.

You can increase body size in nginx configuration file as

sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

client_max_body_size 100M;

Restart nginx to apply the changes.

sudo service nginx restart

Nginx default value for client_max_body_size is 1MB

You can update this value by three different way

1. Set in http block which affects all server blocks (virtual hosts).

http {
    ...
    client_max_body_size 100M;
}

2. Set in server block, which affects a particular site/app.

server {
    ...
    client_max_body_size 100M;
}

3. Set in location block, which affects a particular directory (uploads) under a site/app.

location /uploads {
    ...
    client_max_body_size 100M;
}

For more info click here