Does this work on Nginx?

No — .htaccess is specific to Apache. Nginx uses a different configuration syntax entirely.

Do I need special modules enabled?

Yes — mod_rewrite, mod_deflate and mod_expires need to be enabled on your Apache server for the corresponding rules to take effect.

Where do I put the file?

In the root directory of your website (or a subdirectory, to scope the rules to that folder).

.htaccess Generator

Generate a .htaccess file for common Apache server rules — force HTTPS, www redirects, Gzip compression, browser caching and a custom 404 page.

Force HTTPSEnable Gzip compressionEnable browser cachingDisable directory listing

www redirect

Domain (for www redirect)

Custom 404 page path (optional)

Result

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain text/html text/xml text/css text/javascript
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml application/xhtml+xml application/javascript application/json
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_expires.c>
  ExpiresActive On
  ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 1 year"
  ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 year"
  ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 1 month"
  ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 1 month"
</IfModule>

Options -Indexes