Nginx try_files directive doesn't serve the specified files

I know there is lots of similar posts out there but still couldn't find the one fits my case.

I have very simple location block which serves static html file but it serve 404 not the file i specified.

location / {
    if ($request_uri != /abcd) {
        return 500;
    }

    root /usr/share/nginx/html;
    #try_files $uri.html =404;
    #try_files index2.html =404;
    try_files $uri $uri/  =404;
}

And this is output of ls in root directory

50x.html  abcd.html  index.html  index2.html

As you can see there is abcd.html and index2.html but when i set the file name it can't be reached and shows 404 page.

Only $uri.html can be resolved and shows the right page. What should i do if i want to serve the static file for the location?

For example i want to server abcd.html for the request /abcd and return 500 for the other requests.

All Nginx URIs contain a leading /.

The file parameter of the try_files directive requires a leading / to match the specified path. See try_files manual page.

The $uri variable already contains a leading /.

So:

• try_files $uri.html =404; matches a file because $uri.html == /abcd.html
• try_files index2.html =404; does not match a file as it's missing a leading /
• try_files $uri $uri/ =404; does not match a file as there is no file called abcd

For example:

root /usr/share/nginx/html;

location / {
    return 500;
}
location = /abcd {
    try_files /index2.html =404;
}

Assuming that index2.html always exists, the =404 is never reached.