Question Using nginx to proxy a server other than Apache

[TurabG]

Hi.

I am using an application server on port 3065 and when I get to http://host:3065 it works. I would like to use nginx to proxy this server so it could serve that app.

The application suggests the following settings for nginx;

upstream backend {
   server 127.0.0.1:8065;
}

proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx levels=1:2 keys_zone=mattermost_cache:10m max_size=3g inactive=120m use_temp_path=off;

server {
   listen 80;
   server_name    example.com;

   location /api/v3/users/websocket {
      proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
      proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
      client_max_body_size 50M;
      proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
      proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
      proxy_set_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN;
      proxy_buffers 256 16k;
      proxy_buffer_size 16k;
      proxy_read_timeout 600s;
      proxy_pass http://backend;
   }

   location / {
      client_max_body_size 50M;
      proxy_set_header Connection "";
      proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
      proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
      proxy_set_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN;
      proxy_buffers 256 16k;
      proxy_buffer_size 16k;
      proxy_read_timeout 600s;
      proxy_cache mattermost_cache;
      proxy_cache_revalidate on;
      proxy_cache_min_uses 2;
      proxy_cache_use_stale timeout;
      proxy_cache_lock on;
      proxy_pass http://backend;
   }
}

As you would know, "server", "backend" and "location" directives are not allowed in Additional nginx Directives section. And you would also know that sites-enabled directory is not present in Plesk installations.

So how to configure these kind of settings per domain for nginx?

Note; "Proxy mode" is disabled as per its definition suggests; "Turn off to stop using Apache." So I turned it off to use only nginx on that domain.

 

[mr-wolf]

You only need to create files in /etc/nginx/conf.d/

I have several of them.
Name them zz090_*.conf so they will be executed after the other stuff. If you want it to to execute sooner then decrease it in alphabetic order.
A restart of nginx will include them.

I'm using it to secure services running on localhost with http and even on off-site webservers.

I'm also using it for autoprovisioning email clients.

Here an example where I use it to proxy rslsync.

# cat /etc/nginx/conf.d/zz090_rslsync.conf

server {
    listen 115.24.200.20:443 ssl;
    server_name rslsync.wolf.com;

    ssl_certificate             /root/.ssh/2017/2017.wildcard.wolf.com.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key         /root/.ssh/2017/2017.wildcard.wolf.com.key;

    ssl_stapling on;
    ssl_stapling_verify on;

    ssl_session_timeout         5m;

    ssl_protocols               TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2;
    ssl_ciphers                 HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers   on;
    ssl_dhparam                 /etc/nginx/ssl/dhparams.pem;

    client_max_body_size 128m;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:57889;        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
}

 

[TurabG]

Placing "server" directive in any configuration file always fired a compilation error saying that server directive is not allowed to be used there; because it was used elsewhere once.

I tried this in vhost conf files before. I will give it a try putting it in conf.d but I don't understand how would it be any different.

 

[mr-wolf]

You can't use that server entry anywhere else, but rslsync.wolf.com is NOT configured within Plesk.
I've been doing this for several years....
The config file I gave you is from a live server (a bit patched to obscure its origin)

 

[TurabG]

So you say if I want to proxy any other servers that are not present in Plesk; I wouldn't create a subdomain in Plesk; rather I would place it's configuration file in conf.d?

 

[mr-wolf]

Yes...
Why would you place that server/service in Plesk anyhow?
It already has its own webserver.

rslsync.wolf.com is not known to the Plesk server on which it is running.

 

[TurabG]

Yes it has it's own server running on a different port; but the server itself recommended to be proxied by nginx for security. It also needed to have port 80 be forwarded so I could browse it without having to type the port number.

Plus; I also run some PHP software that needs these directives set to get it work on nginx/PHP-FPM. I mean not for proxy; for directly running the application on nginx neglecting Apache.

 

[mr-wolf]

But did you try my example with this instead??
It is AFAIK exactly what you need.

   location / {
       proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8065;
       proxy_set_header Host $host;
       proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
       proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
   }