How do you change the start config file for Nginx through Homebrew?

[DanielCoder834]

Output of brew config

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 4.4.14
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: f84082963da8af8c9ccd6dffbe932eba457e2b78
Last commit: 30 hours ago
Branch: stable
Core tap JSON: 31 Dec 18:22 UTC
Core cask tap JSON: 31 Dec 18:22 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /opt/homebrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 10
Homebrew Ruby: 3.3.6 => /opt/homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/3.3.6/bin/ruby
CPU: 10-core 64-bit arm_firestorm_icestorm
Clang: 16.0.0 build 1600
Git: 2.47.1 => /opt/homebrew/bin/git
Curl: 8.7.1 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 15.0-arm64
CLT: 16.0.0.0.1.1724870825
Xcode: 15.3
Rosetta 2: false

Output of brew doctor

Please note that these warnings are just used to help the Homebrew maintainers
with debugging if you file an issue. If everything you use Homebrew for is
working fine: please don't worry or file an issue; just ignore this. Thanks!

Description of issue

I have been trying to run: brew services start nginx --file forward.conf, but everytime I do, I get this error:

Try re-running the command as root for richer errors.
Error: Failure while executing; `/bin/launchctl bootstrap gui/501 /Users/danielkaplan/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.nginx.plist` exited with 5.

According to the brew services list nginx, this line says you can change the config file:
--file Use the service file from this location to start the service.
I am not sure what the issue is and how to resolve it.
I found this issue to be similar, but I don't have a /usr/local/var/log/nginx/ folder.
What is the command for selecting a different start-up config file for Nginx through Homebrew, and what does the error above mean?

[SMillerDev]

Why do you have a service plist file with .conf as an extension?

[DanielCoder834]

I don't to want to touch the default as I can use it as an example when I get stuck. Are you not supposed to use a .conf file for Nginx configuration?

I didn't create or modify that plist file. I think it was downloaded when I brew installed Nginx.

edit: What is the difference between the plist file and conf files?

[DanielCoder834]

This is the contents of the plist file:

http {
    server {
        listen 8080;

        location / {
            proxy_pass http://$http_host$request_uri;
            proxy_set_header Host $host;
            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        }
    }
}

[alebcay]

Perhaps the documentation/wording can be clarified here, but the --file argument expects a configuration file in plist format for macOS launchctl, not an application-specific configuration file (e.g. nginx conf file).

If you're more familiar with init systems on Linux, it's like the argument allows you to provide a custom systemd unit file or init rc script. The launch is failing because you are instead passing the nginx conf file, which launchctl does not recognize.

[DanielCoder834]

Thank you for the help