Can't implement grunt-connect-proxy

Question

For the '/' (http://127.0.0.1:9000/) route i get

Cannot GET /

and for the /v1 route i get

Not Found

The requested URL /v1 was not found on this server.

Here's my Gruntfile.js:

// Generated on 2013-10-08 using generator-webapp 0.4.3
'use strict';

// # Globbing
// for performance reasons we're only matching one level down:
// 'test/spec/{,*/}*.js'
// use this if you want to recursively match all subfolders:
// 'test/spec/**/*.js'


/*============================================
=            Expose Prxy Function            =
============================================*/

var proxySnippet = require('grunt-connect-proxy/lib/utils').proxyRequest;

/*-----  End of Expose Prxy Function  ------*/



module.exports = function (grunt) {
    // show elapsed time at the end
    require('time-grunt')(grunt);
    // load all grunt tasks
    require('load-grunt-tasks')(grunt);



    /*======================================
    =            load the proxy            =
    ======================================*/

    grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-connect-proxy');

    /*-----  End of load the proxy  ------*/




    grunt.initConfig({
        // configurable paths
        yeoman: {
            app: 'app',
            dist: 'dist'
        },
        watch: {
            compass: {
                files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.{scss,sass}'],
                tasks: ['compass:server', 'autoprefixer']
            },
            styles: {
                files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.css'],
                tasks: ['copy:styles', 'autoprefixer']
            },
            livereload: {
                options: {
                    livereload: '<%= connect.options.livereload %>'
                },
                files: [
                    '<%= yeoman.app %>/*.html',
                    '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css',
                    '{.tmp,<%= yeoman.app %>}/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
                    '<%= yeoman.app %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp,svg}'
                ]
            }
        },
        connect: {

            options: {
                port: 9000,
                livereload: 35729,
                // change this to '0.0.0.0' to access the server from outside
                hostname: 'localhost'
            },

            /*===============================
            =            Proxies            =
            ===============================*/

            proxies: [
                {
                    context: '/v1',
                    host: 'apples.dev',
                    port: 80,
                    https: false,
                    changeOrigin: true,
                    xforward: false
                }
            ],

            /*-----  End of Proxies  ------*/


            livereload: {
                options: {
                    middleware: function (connect, options) {
                        return [
                            proxySnippet,
                            connect.static('<%= yeoman.app %>'),
                            connect.static('.tmp'),
                        ];

                    },
                    open: true,
                    base: [
                        '.tmp',
                        '<%= yeoman.app %>'
                    ],
                }
            },

            // livereload: {
            //     options: {
            //         open: true,
            //         base: [
            //             '.tmp',
            //             '<%= yeoman.app %>'
            //         ]
            //     }
            // },


            test: {
                options: {
                    base: [
                        '.tmp',
                        'test',
                        '<%= yeoman.app %>'
                    ]
                }
            },
            dist: {
                options: {
                    open: true,
                    base: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
                }
            }
        },
        clean: {
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    dot: true,
                    src: [
                        '.tmp',
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/*',
                        '!<%= yeoman.dist %>/.git*'
                    ]
                }]
            },
            server: '.tmp'
        },
        jshint: {
            options: {
                jshintrc: '.jshintrc'
            },
            all: [
                'Gruntfile.js',
                '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
                '!<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/vendor/*',
                'test/spec/{,*/}*.js'
            ]
        },
        mocha: {
            all: {
                options: {
                    run: true,
                    urls: ['http://<%= connect.test.options.hostname %>:<%= connect.test.options.port %>/index.html']
                }
            }
        },
        compass: {
            options: {
                sassDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
                cssDir: '.tmp/styles',
                generatedImagesDir: '.tmp/images/generated',
                imagesDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
                javascriptsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts',
                fontsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/fonts',
                importPath: '<%= yeoman.app %>/bower_components',
                httpImagesPath: '/images',
                httpGeneratedImagesPath: '/images/generated',
                httpFontsPath: '/styles/fonts',
                relativeAssets: false,
                assetCacheBuster: false
            },
            dist: {
                options: {
                    generatedImagesDir: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/generated'
                }
            },
            server: {
                options: {
                    debugInfo: true
                }
            }
        },
        autoprefixer: {
            options: {
                browsers: ['last 1 version']
            },
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    cwd: '.tmp/styles/',
                    src: '{,*/}*.css',
                    dest: '.tmp/styles/'
                }]
            }
        },
        // not used since Uglify task does concat,
        // but still available if needed
        /*concat: {
            dist: {}
        },*/
        rev: {
            dist: {
                files: {
                    src: [
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css',
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp}',
                        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/fonts/{,*/}*.*'
                    ]
                }
            }
        },
        useminPrepare: {
            options: {
                dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
            },
            html: '<%= yeoman.app %>/index.html'
        },
        usemin: {
            options: {
                dirs: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>']
            },
            html: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/{,*/}*.html'],
            css: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css']
        },
        imagemin: {
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
                    src: '{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg}',
                    dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
                }]
            }
        },
        svgmin: {
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
                    src: '{,*/}*.svg',
                    dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
                }]
            }
        },
        cssmin: {
            // This task is pre-configured if you do not wish to use Usemin
            // blocks for your CSS. By default, the Usemin block from your
            // `index.html` will take care of minification, e.g.
            //
            //     <!-- build:css({.tmp,app}) styles/main.css -->
            //
            // dist: {
            //     files: {
            //         '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/main.css': [
            //             '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css',
            //             '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.css'
            //         ]
            //     }
            // }
        },
        htmlmin: {
            dist: {
                options: {
                    /*removeCommentsFromCDATA: true,
                    // https://github.com/yeoman/grunt-usemin/issues/44
                    //collapseWhitespace: true,
                    collapseBooleanAttributes: true,
                    removeAttributeQuotes: true,
                    removeRedundantAttributes: true,
                    useShortDoctype: true,
                    removeEmptyAttributes: true,
                    removeOptionalTags: true*/
                },
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
                    src: '*.html',
                    dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
                }]
            }
        },
        // Put files not handled in other tasks here
        copy: {
            dist: {
                files: [{
                    expand: true,
                    dot: true,
                    cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
                    dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
                    src: [
                        '*.{ico,png,txt}',
                        '.htaccess',
                        'images/{,*/}*.{webp,gif}',
                        'styles/fonts/{,*/}*.*',
                        'bower_components/sass-bootstrap/fonts/*.*'
                    ]
                }]
            },
            styles: {
                expand: true,
                dot: true,
                cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
                dest: '.tmp/styles/',
                src: '{,*/}*.css'
            }
        },
        modernizr: {
            devFile: '<%= yeoman.app %>/bower_components/modernizr/modernizr.js',
            outputFile: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/bower_components/modernizr/modernizr.js',
            files: [
                '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
                '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css',
                '!<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/vendor/*'
            ],
            uglify: true
        },
        concurrent: {
            server: [
                'compass',
                'copy:styles'
            ],
            test: [
                'copy:styles'
            ],
            dist: [
                'compass',
                'copy:styles',
                'imagemin',
                'svgmin',
                'htmlmin'
            ]
        },
        bower: {
            options: {
                exclude: ['modernizr']
            },
            all: {
                rjsConfig: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/main.js'
            }
        }
    });

    grunt.registerTask('server', function (target) {
        if (target === 'dist') {
            return grunt.task.run(['build', 'connect:dist:keepalive']);
        }

        grunt.task.run([
            'clean:server',
            'concurrent:server',
            'autoprefixer',
            'configureProxies',
            'connect:livereload',
            'watch'
        ]);
    });

    grunt.registerTask('test', [
        'clean:server',
        'concurrent:test',
        'autoprefixer',
        'connect:test',
        'mocha'
    ]);

    grunt.registerTask('build', [
        'clean:dist',
        'useminPrepare',
        'concurrent:dist',
        'autoprefixer',
        'concat',
        'cssmin',
        'uglify',
        'modernizr',
        'copy:dist',
        'rev',
        'usemin'
    ]);

    grunt.registerTask('default', [
        'jshint',
        'test',
        'build'
    ]);
};

Just to clarify: the apples.dev:80 is a local virtual host on which the '/v1' contains all the rest resources.

Answer 1

The difference is the usage of <%= yeoman.app %> inside the middleware javascript function.

Remember that as you are inside function() means that you have move from Grunt world to Javascript world. The <%= %> is a Grunt placeholder and can't be interpolated inside Javascript function.

To get it working on the first example, you will need:

            middleware: function (connect, options) {
                return [
                    proxySnippet,
                    connect.static('app'),
                    connect.static('.tmp')
                ];

            },

Or you can always use the full function with parsing logic.

Answer 2

Considering the /v1 route, it turned out that it was an Apache virtual-host misconfiguration.

As for the '/' (http://127.0.0.1:9000/) route, instead of this:

                middleware: function (connect, options) {
                    return [
                        proxySnippet,
                        connect.static('<%= yeoman.app %>'),
                        connect.static('.tmp')
                    ];

                },

I made it work with this:

             middleware: function (connect, options) {
                var middlewares = [];
                options.base.forEach(function(base) {
                    // Serve static files.
                    middlewares.push(connect.static(base));
                });
                middlewares.push(proxySnippet);
                return middlewares;                        
             };

Now.. if anyone could tell me.. what is the figgin difference?!