Nginx / PHP - how to restrict access to static files (pictures, media) from PHP?

Question

PHP

Is it possible to configure nginx to only serve static if the user has permission to do so? Permissions are defined in the business logic inside PHP scripts.
I understand that this can easily be done in such a way that all static files are served through PHP, but in this case there will be a greater load on server resources.
Is there an alternative?

Answer 1

Most likely the X-Accel-Redirect header will help you: https://www.nginx.com/resources/wiki/start/topics/... .

Answer 2

auth_request