Implement http_brotli_static module

[bayden@…]

Today, nginx supports the http_gzip_static module (​http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_gzip_static_module.html) for doing ahead-of-time gzip compression of assets; this is very useful because it allows using high-ratio/low-performance compressors like Zopfli.

Web Browsers (Chrome and Firefox, to start) are about to start supporting a new Content-Encoding, named Brotli, which offers MUCH improved compression ratios but with slow performance. ​http://textslashplain.com/2015/09/10/brotli/ As such, we need nginx to support a similar module (e.g. http_brotli_static) for this new content-encoding.

[bayden@…]

It appears that Google has made this issue rather moot by releasing a module that handles both static and on-the-fly Brotli compression: ​https://github.com/google/ngx_brotli

[Steffen Weber]

Firefox 44 (scheduled for release in January 2016) will support Brotli: ​https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=366559

It would be nice to have Brotli support available in nginx out-of-the-box. For me personally, the "brotli_static" feature mentioned in this bug report would be fine, I don't (yet) need on-the-fly Brotli compression.

Maybe this can be considered for the 1.9 branch?

Thank you for nginx!

[lewisgoddard@…]

Just to add a few more relevant links:

• Brotli Draft ​http://www.ietf.org/id/draft-alakuijala-brotli-08.txt
• Google have written a Brotli module for Nginx ​https://github.com/google/ngx_brotli
• CloudFlare have written a Brotli module for Nginx ​https://github.com/cloudflare/ngx_brotli_module
• Broitli in Chrome is available as a flag ​http://www.omgchrome.com/brotli-http-compression-coming-to-chrome/
• Brotli will be supported out-of-the-box in Firefox 44 ​https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=36655
• This issue has a $100 bounty on Bountysource ​https://www.bountysource.com/issues/27351574-implement-http_brotli_static-module

[cmoeke@…]

The Google Brotli module should be added now to nginx.

Most modern browsers support Brotli (​http://caniuse.com/#feat=brotli):

• Edge 15 (Current version 14)
• Firefox 44 (Current version 50)
• Chrome 50 (Current version 55)
• Opera 38 (Current version 42)

There is also a fallback to gzip for older Browsers.

[eustas@…]

An alternative could be to extend http_gzip_static module, because share 99% of logic.

​http://mailman.nginx.org/pipermail/nginx-devel/2017-February/009536.html

[marbacz@…]

What needs to be done to get the attached patch merged? The ​https://github.com/google/ngx_brotli module is apparently abandoned with the latest commit a year ago.

[ai@…]

Right now all major browsers support Brotli including Safari.

​​https://github.com/google/ngx_brotli is live again, but this third-party module is not a good solution since the official nginx Docker image accepts only official modules (see ​https://github.com/nginxinc/docker-nginx/issues/371).

Can we do something to add Brotli to the list of official modules to have a good Docker image with nginx and Brotli, since it is pretty important for web performance?

[Maxim Dounin]

See also #1961.