Which server fallback config correctly serves Vue Router history mode routes in production?

Goal

Deploy a Vue 3 single‑page application that uses createWebHistory so that URLs such as /users/42 are clean and SEO friendly. The Vite dev server rewrites unknown paths to index.html, but a plain static host (nginx, Apache, CDN edge) returns a 404 on a hard‑refresh or deep link.

Constraints & Uncertainty

• The server must return index.html for all SPA routes while still serving real assets and API endpoints correctly.
• A catch‑all Vue route (e.g., /:pathMatch(.*)*) should render a custom NotFound component instead of a blank screen.
• Different hosts (nginx, Netlify, Vercel, S3/CloudFront) have distinct fallback syntax, and the choice of where to handle 404s (CDN vs. application) is not settled.

Specific Questions

1. Which server‑side fallback directive should I use for nginx to correctly serve index.html for unknown SPA routes?
2. How can I exclude asset paths (e.g., /assets/*) from the fallback rule so that missing assets still return true 404s?
3. Does the Vue Router catch‑all route reliably render a NotFound component when the server returns index.html for a non‑existent path, or is additional client‑side logic required?