I have a web application running in a Linux Ubuntu 20.04 (through docker) and I'm wondering if is valid use an alias for the users access this application.
Today they access using the server's IP (ex. 192.168.1.1) but the user are non-techs and I want mitigate the chances of error. By using a domain name (an alias), I think the chances of error are going to decrease.
I've no idea if is possible and if is a valid question xD.
Any thoughts will be really helpful.
It is preferable to use domain name for user applications.
Usually, instead of exposing a docker application directly to port 80/443, you'd setup a reverse proxy (gateway) in front of a docker application. Something like Apache or Nginx. You probably already have either of them on your current setup.
You just need to setup proper virtual host configurations.
For example, if you're using Apache:
<VirtualHost *:80>
DocumentRoot "/var/www/your/path"
# Assuming your domain name is internal.foobar.com
ServerName internal.foobar.com
# Assuming your docker application is binded to port 8080
ProxyPass "/" "http://127.0.0.1:8000/"
ProxyPassReverse "/" "http://127.0.0.1:8000/"
</VirtualHost>
If you're using Nginx:
server {
listen 80;
server_name internal.foobar.com;
root /var/www/your/path;
location / {
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000/;
}
}
Related
I am learning nginx and I have this doubt. Do I need to setup a dns in linux (/etc/resolv.conf) or can I just stay with what nginx uses inside its directive server_name?
You can set nginx to listen to ANY domain pointed to that web server with:
listen 80 default_server;
or you can be specific via server_name. Check Nginx docs
Setting DNS on the webserver itself does not help much..
Adding the entry in your visitor's PC hosts file can override a domain name's A record pointer to the one specified by you.
I've recently installed a nodejs app (keystone) app in my home/myusername/myappname directory.
When I visit www.mydomain.com, nothing displays - even after turning on my nodejs app.
Where should these files be?
I am running ubuntu 16.04.
In the past I have worked with a var/www folder, but I am not using apache - do I need to manually create this folder?
Thanks!
For your app to be visible it has to be running (obviously) and accessible on port 80 (if you want it to be available without adding a port number to the URL).
It doesn't matter where it is on the disk as long as it's running.
You don't need Apache or nginx or any other server. Your Node app may listen on port 80. But alternatively it can listen on some other port and your other server (Apache, nginx, etc.) can proxy the requests to that port.
But if your app is listening on, e.g. port 3000 then you should be able to access it as http://www.example.com:3000/.
Also, make sure that your domain is configured correctly. It's A record for IPv4 (or AAAA for IPv6) of the www subdomain should be equal to the publicly accessible IP address of your server.
And make sure that the port you use is not blocked by the firewall.
Update
To see how you can set the port with Keystone, see:
http://keystonejs.com/docs/configuration/#options-server
It can be either changed in the config or you can run your app with:
PORT=80 node yourApp.js
instead of:
node yourApp.js
but keep in mind that to use the port number below 1024 you will usually need the program to run as root (or add a special privilege which is more complicated).
It will also mean that this will be the only application that you can run on this server, even if you have more domain names.
If you don't want to run as root or you want to host more application, it is easiest to install nginx and proxy the requests. Such a configuration is called a "reverse proxy" - it's good to search for info and tutorials using that phrase.
The simplest nginx config would be something like this:
server {
listen 80;
server_name www.example.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
}
}
You can set it in:
/etc/nginx/sites-available/default
or in a different file as e.g.:
/etc/nginx/sites-available/example
and then symlinked as /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/example
You need to restart nginx after changing the config.
You can find more options on configuring reverse proxies here:
https://www.nginx.com/resources/admin-guide/reverse-proxy/
You need to make a proxy between Apache and your Node.js application because Node.js has a built-in server. Supose your Node.js app is served on 9000 port. Then you need to make a proxy to redirect all trafic in 80 port to 9000 port where the Node.js app is running.
1. Enable mod_proxy
You can do this through a2enmond.
sudo a2enmod proxy
sudo a2enmod proxy_http
2. Set the proxy
Edit the /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf file and add the following lines:
ProxyRequests Off
Order deny, allow from All
ProxyPass / http://0.0.0.0:9000 ProxyPassReverse / http://0.0.0.0:9000
This basically say: "Redirect all traffic from root / to http://0.0.0.0:9000. The host 0.0.0.0:9000 is where your app is running.
Finally restart apache to enable changes.
I've tried to deploy two nodeJS apps on Digitalocean using a dokku droplet. I am using the "virtualhost naming" scheme but there is a problem.
My DNS configuration looks like this:
I have the main app and the admin app. I would expect to view the admin app when i visit app.example.com (I actually have a proper domain name) but I can see the same app when hitting example.com and app.example.com.
There is something wrong with nginx probably, but I don't know exactly what is going bad?
One thing I have noticed is that whichever app is installed first will be the one that example.com forwards to.
You are correct to attribute this behaviour to Nginx. I think it's due to it falling back to this config somehow when it doesn't detect a config for example.com
This dokku plugin (https://github.com/progrium/dokku/tree/master/plugins/nginx-vhosts) is responsible for rewriting the nginx.conf for each app every time it is deployed.
Nowadays it uses a template nginx.conf (https://github.com/progrium/dokku/blob/master/plugins/nginx-vhosts/templates/nginx.conf) although this is a fairly recent change so be sure your on a recent version.
You will end up with a Nginx config that looks like the following:
server {
listen [::]:80;
listen 80;
server_name app.example.com;
return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}
I'm not currently sure why the above snippet results in the described behaviour. A work around is to setup your own nginx conf in /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ with
server_name example.com;
but pointing to a holding page or whatever works for you.
I bought some domains at godaddy.com (i.e mydomain.com) for my droplet at digitalocean.com (i.e 199.216.110.210). I run a nodejs application on port 80 on the droplet. From godaddy.com, I forward with masking mydomain.com to 199.216.110.210 and I could see may app.
Now I want to run on 199.216.110.210 several node applications on different ports, using ngnix as reverse proxy. I followed the instructions here (www.digitalocean.com/community/articles/how-to-host-multiple-node-js-applications-on-a-single-vps-with-nginx-forever-and-crontab).
My nginx .conf file is
server {
listen 80;
server_name mydomain.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
# same as in the link above
}
}
(and I am sure it is read: when ngnix start if I put an error there, ngnix reports it).
I start the nodejs application on port 3000:
I try mydomain.com, but ngnix shows always the welcome page.
Also doing mydomain.com: 3000 does not work,
it works only with 199.216.110.210:3000.
From godaddy.com, if I forward with masking the mydomain.com to 199.216.110.210:3000 I can see may app.
But I do not like this solution. I would like domains pointing to my droplet, without specifing the port and admin them with nginx.
How can I get a domain name to use with ngnix as reverse proxy to select my apps, mapped on different domains on different ports? I suppose that forwarding from godaddy.com is somehow limited.
In your server go to /var/log/nginx and do a tail -F *log. Now in another shell restart nginx.
I suspect that your domain name is too long and nginx will complain about its hash_bucket_size is too small. If this is the case open /etc/nginx/nginx.conf and make sure that the line
server_names_hash_bucket_size 64;
exists, has a value of 64 and is uncommented. Then do sudo service nginx reload, and check if all works as expected.
I am going to detail step by step how I am able to do it in my aws ec2 instance;
I set up a DNS record to my instance, so i can set mydomain.com to 192.168.123.123 (my specific IP).
Inside my instance I have forever running my node.js app in port 3000 (I test it work by issuing curl localhost:3000 from the command line)
I then download this .sh file in order to properly intantiate nginx; curl -o nginxStarter.sh https://gist.githubusercontent.com/renatoargh/dda1fbc854f7957ec7b3/raw/c0bc1a1ec76e50cdb4336182c53a0b222edb6c0e/start.sh
I configure nginx with this configuration file. Put this file in; /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
Start nginx with this command; sudo sh nginxStarter.sh start
PS.: For multiple apps just replicate the lines that routes the requests to specific ports, very easy...! If not needed you can eliminate lines regarding out SSL.
I have to put sails.js in port 80, but apache is already using it. How can I put both (sails.js and apache) on the same port 80? I need it because in my company all the ports are blocked except for PORT 80. (This is a realtime application with nodejs and socket.io (websockets) and in the other side a php application). Thanks a lot
You have to run Sails on any free port (1337, for example) and use Apache with mod_proxy. Make sure it's loaded in Apache config, then your virtual host will be something like this:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName www.youserver.com
ProxyPass / http://localhost:1337/
ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:1337/
</VirtualHost>
See mod_proxy documentation for more details.
Put nginx in front of sailsjs, and dump apache, or make apache run on a different port.
DigitalOcean has a great tutorial on doing this with two nodejs apps.. You can find it here.
I also wrote a blog post about it here
I do this on my server so i can run ghost blog, and sailsjs on the same server. This is how i have it setup.
NGINX Proxies blog.gorelative.com -> localhost:2368
NGINX Proxies gorelative.com -> localhost:1337
Just adapt the tutorial to proxy one domain to localhost:1337 for sailsjs, and add in the other hosts to host them normally.. or proxy the others to apache2, which probably is a waste of resources and not ideal.
AFAIK: With a bit more work your hosts don't even need to be on the same server. nginx can proxy to another server, and also do load balancing tasks.