Nginx changing path - python-3.x

Question

I have been searching thoruhg nginx documentation and posts online but I can't find the answer to this.
I am running a python application and I want one of the paths altered slightly. I can't do this in python for various reasons.
I want the input url:
/public/web/apidocs***
(where * could be anything - including nothing)
to be passed to the python app as
/apidocs*
This is my configuration:
server {
listen 80;
server_name localhost; ##ignored if there is only one server block
charset utf-8;
client_max_body_size 75M;
location = /frontend/webfrontendConnectionData {
try_files $uri #yourapplication;
}
location /public/web/frontend {
alias /frontend/;
autoindex off;
}
location /public/web/adminfrontend {
alias /adminfrontend/;
autoindex off;
}
location ^(/public/web)(/apidocs.*)$ {
try_files $2 #yourapplication;
}
location / {
try_files $uri #yourapplication;
}
location #yourapplication {
include uwsgi_params;
uwsgi_pass unix:/app/uwsgi.sock;
}
}
Update based on answer so far:
Thank you for pointing out the mistake or missing out the ~ in the config.
The config has changed as follows:
location ~ ^(/public/web)(/apidocs.*)$ {
try_files $2 #yourapplication;
}
location / {
try_files $uri #yourapplication;
}
location #yourapplication {
include uwsgi_params;
uwsgi_pass unix:/app/uwsgi.sock;
}
Unfortunately it still doesn't work as expected:
wget 127.0.0.1:80/apidocs -> Goes to python App and works as expected
wget 127.0.0.1:80/apidocs/ -> Goes to python App and works as expected
wget 127.0.0.1:80/apidocs/swagger.json -> Goes to python App and works as expected
wget 127.0.0.1:80/public/web/apidocs -> FAILS I want this to give the same response as wget 127.0.0.1:80/apidocs
wget 127.0.0.1:80/public/web/apidocs/ -> FAILS I want this to give the same response as wget 127.0.0.1:80/apidocs/
wget 127.0.0.1:80/public/web/apidocs/swagger.json -> FAILS I want this to give the same response as wget 127.0.0.1:80/apidocs/swagger.json
All the failed responses give me:
robert#ansiblerunner:~/t$ wget 127.0.0.1:80/public/web/apidocs/swagger.json
--2019-04-08 09:50:39-- http://127.0.0.1/public/web/apidocs/swagger.json
Connecting to 127.0.0.1:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 404 NOT FOUND
2019-04-08 09:50:39 ERROR 404: NOT FOUND.
Can anyone suggest the correct syntax for the rule I want.
Update #2
After reading more nginx documentation I found out that it doesn't take the location rules in order and use the first one it hits, rather it has a complex longest match algorithm. I was worried the "location /" block was then overriding all the paths so I have altered the config so it is like the following:
location /api/public {
try_files $uri #yourapplication;
}
location /api/authed {
try_files $uri #yourapplication;
}
location ~* ^(/public/web)(/apidocs.*)$ {
try_files $2 #yourapplication;
}
#location / {
# try_files $uri #yourapplication;
#}
location #yourapplication {
include uwsgi_params;
uwsgi_pass unix:/app/uwsgi.sock;
}
/api/public and /api/authed both work as normal.
it's the /public/web/apidocs that doesn't. The difference is that I need nginx to change the path provided to the python app in this case. This is why I have a regexp with two parts and it passing $2 rather than $uri. I don't think it's doing what I expect which is to pass /apidoc to the app.

Answer 1

I don't see a regex, there, as it lacks a tilde.
You probably want a clause that starts with:
location ~ ^(/public/web)(/apidocs.*)$ {
You didn't mention which docs you were reading.
Consulting a tutorial,
Understanding Nginx Server and Location Block Selection Algorithms,
we see the syntax is:
location optional_modifier location_match {
and we optionally can specify:
~: If a tilde modifier is present, this location will be interpreted as a case-sensitive regular expression match.
I cannot explain your reported 404 symptom,
as the location / prefix clause should have absorbed the GET request
and at least given #yourapplication an opportunity to log the raw URL.

Answer 2

I have an answer
I was completely off base with my understanding of what try_files did not work as I expected. I found an article saying if I use it with an underscore it won't try files and will just use it's fallback.
I also found out that I needed to use rewrite to change the path.
Getting rid of the root location may have not been needed but I prefer not to have it in any case.
My final config is as follows:
server {
listen 80;
server_name localhost; ##ignored if there is only one server block
charset utf-8;
client_max_body_size 75M;
#location = /frontend/webfrontendConnectionData {
# try_files $uri #yourapplication;
#}
location /public/web/frontend {
alias /frontend/;
autoindex off;
}
location /public/web/adminfrontend {
alias /adminfrontend/;
autoindex off;
}
# try_files _ #xxx means don't look at any file go to xxx block
location /api/public {
try_files _ #yourapplication;
}
location /api/authed {
try_files _ #yourapplication;
}
location /public/web/apidocs {
rewrite ^/public/web(/apidocs.*)$ /$1? break;
try_files _ #yourapplication;
}
#location / {
# try_files _ #yourapplication;
#}
location #yourapplication {
include uwsgi_params;
uwsgi_pass unix:/app/uwsgi.sock;
}
}
Thanks to J_H for comments and answers.