WebSockets and Apache proxy : how to configure mod

Question

I have :

1. Apache (v2.4) on port 80 of my server for www.domain1.com, with mod_proxy and mod_proxy_wstunnel enabled

2. node.js + socket.io on port 3001 of the same server.

Accessing www.domain2.com (with port 80) redirects to 2. thanks to the method described here. I have set this in the Apache configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName www.domain2.com
    ProxyPass / http://localhost:3001/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:3001/
    ProxyPass / ws://localhost:3001/
    ProxyPassReverse / ws://localhost:3001/
</VirtualHost>

It works for everything, except the websocket part : ws://... are not transmitted like it should by the proxy.

When I access the page on www.domain2.com, I have:

Impossible to connect ws://www.domain2.com/socket.io/?EIO=3&transport=websocket&sid=n30rqg9AEqZIk5c9AABN.

Question: How to make Apache proxy the WebSockets as well?

Answer 1

For me it works after adding only one line in httpd.conf as below (bold line).

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName: xxxxx

    #ProxyPassReverse is not needed
    ProxyPass /log4j ws://localhost:4711/logs
<VirtualHost *:80>

Apache version is 2.4.6 on CentOS.

Answer 2

For "polling" transport.

Apache side:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName mysite.com
    DocumentRoot /my/path


    ProxyRequests Off

    <Proxy *>
        Order deny,allow
        Allow from all
    </Proxy>

    ProxyPass /my-connect-3001 http://127.0.0.1:3001/socket.io
    ProxyPassReverse /my-connect-3001 http://127.0.0.1:3001/socket.io   
</VirtualHost>

Client side:

var my_socket = new io.Manager(null, {
    host: 'mysite.com',
    path: '/my-connect-3001'
    transports: ['polling'],
}).socket('/');

Answer 3

May be will be useful. Just all queries send via ws to node

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName www.domain2.com

  <Location "/">
    ProxyPass "ws://localhost:3001/"
  </Location>
</VirtualHost>

Answer 4

My setup:

Apache 2.4.10 (running off Debian) NodeJS (version 4.1.1) App running on port 3000 that accepts WebSockets at path /api/ws

As mentioned above by @Basj, make sure a2enmod proxy and ws_tunnel are enabled.

This is a screengrab of the Apache conf file that solved my problem:

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

Instead of filtering by URL, you can also filter by HTTP header. This configuration will work for any web applications that use websockets, also if they are not using socket.io:

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName www.domain2.com

  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} =websocket [NC]
  RewriteRule /(.*)           ws://localhost:3001/$1 [P,L]
  RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} !=websocket [NC]
  RewriteRule /(.*)           http://localhost:3001/$1 [P,L]

  ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:3001/
</VirtualHost>

Answer 6

User this link for perfact solution for ws https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_proxy_wstunnel.html

You have to just do below step..

Got to /etc/apache2/mods-available

Step...1

Enable mode proxy_wstunnel.load by using below command

$a2enmod proxy_wstunnel.load

Step...2

Goto /etc/apache2/sites-available

and add below line in your .conf file inside virtual host

ProxyPass "/ws2/" "ws://localhost:8080/"

ProxyPass "/wss2/" "wss://localhost:8080/"

Note : 8080 mean your that your tomcat running port because we want to connect "ws" where our War file putted in tomcat and tomcat serve apache for "ws". thank you

My Configuration

ws://localhost/ws2/ALLCAD-Unifiedcommunication-1.0/chatserver?userid=4 =Connected