Question

How to set up nodejs websocket server alongside "ubuntu wordpress" install

Posted on November 8, 2022
Node.js
Asked by HidingLapisClam

This will be the 3rd time I’ve typed this as DO just throws it in the garbage after I submit.

I have a droplet that was installed with the wordpress image. I have installed nodejs on the droplet and now I’m running an nodejs websocket server from /var/www/server/. I am hosting the client at /var/www/html/client/ but it will not connect to the websocket server.

After 10+ hours of searching, I think I’ve narrowed it down to something to do with the apache http-proxy but every configuration I’ve tried in the /sites-available/000-default.conf file have failed.

What am I doing wrong? Can somone point me in the correct direction? Thank you.

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KFSys

Site Moderator

• November 8, 2022

Accepted Answer

Hi @hidinglapisclam,

You’ll need to configure a Reverse Proxy for your NodeJS server as it listens on a specific port. Usually, when talking about Reverse Proxies, Nginx is the go to WebSerivce. There is even a tutorial on how to add NodeJS with Reverse Proxy to your Droplet here;

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-a-node-js-application-for-production-on-ubuntu-22-04

If you however whish to use Apache, then your apache config should look something like this:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName your-server-ip

    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    ProxyVia Full

    <Proxy *>
        Require all granted
    </Proxy>

    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:8000/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:8000/
</VirtualHost>

Where the ProxyPass would have your localhost IP address and the port you’ve selected your NodeJs instance to work. The above would code would be integrated with your website’s Apache config in the /etc/apache2/sites-available/ folder.