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Accepted
yegor256
Asked: 2015-07-30 01:04:21 +0800 CST

How to configure nginx for multi-site reverse proxy?

  • 772

I'm trying to configure nginx as a reverse proxy for two websites on the same server. This is what I'm doing:

upstream alpha {     
  server localhost:49212;
}
server {     
  listen 80;
  server_name alpha.example.com;
  location / {
    proxy_pass http://alpha;     
  }   
}
upstream beta {     
  server localhost:49213;
}
server {     
  listen 80;
  server_name beta.example.com;
  location / {
    proxy_pass http://beta;     
  }   
}
server {
  listen 80;
  server_name "";
  return 444;
}

It starts and doesn't complain about anything. Then, when I open alpha.example.com or beta.example.com - I always end up at http://localhost:49212. Moreover, no matter what URL I open on port 80, http://localhost:49212 is rendered.

This is not what I'd expect. I want only http://alpha.example.com to be redirected/proxied to http://localhost:49212 and nothing else. Looks like nginx doesn't pay attention to the Host HTTP header and just redirects everything to the first upstream.

What is wrong?

nginx

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    OK, here is the answer. The server with an empty server_name has to be declared as a "default" one. More details here: http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html#server_name

    Nginx, when Host HTTP header doesn't match any servers, goes into the default one, which is the first, if not specified otherwise. Here is the config that works:

    upstream alpha {     
  server localhost:49212;
}
server {     
  listen 80;
  server_name alpha.example.com;
  location / {
    proxy_pass http://alpha;     
  }   
}
upstream beta {     
  server localhost:49213;
}
server {     
  listen 80;
  server_name beta.example.com;
  location / {
    proxy_pass http://beta;     
  }   
}
server {
  listen 80 default_server; # pay attention!
  server_name "";
  return 444;
}
    • 1