How do I host multiple Node.js sites on the same IP/server with different domains?

Question

I have a linux server with a single IP bound to it. I want to host multiple Node.js sites on this server on this IP, each (obviously) with a unique domain or subdomain. I wa

Answer 1

Diet.js has very nice and simple way to host multiple domains with the same server instance. You can simply call a new server() for each of your domains.

A Simple Example

// Require diet
var server = require('diet');

// Main domain
var app = server()
app.listen('http://example.com/')
app.get('/', function($){
    $.end('hello world ')
})

// Sub domain
var sub = server()
sub.listen('http://subdomain.example.com/')
sub.get('/', function($){
    $.end('hello world at sub domain!')
})

// Other domain
var other = server()
other.listen('http://other.com/')
other.get('/', function($){
    $.end('hello world at other domain')
})

Separating Your Apps

If you would like to have different folders for your apps then you could have a folder structure like this:

/server
   /yourApp
       /node_modules
       index.js
   /yourOtherApp
       /node_modules
       index.js
   /node_modules
   index.js

In /server/index.js you would require each app by it's folder:

require('./yourApp')
require('./yourOtherApp')

In /server/yourApp/index.js you would setup your first domain such as:

// Require diet
var server = require('diet')

// Create app
var app = server()
app.listen('http://example.com/')
app.get('/', function($){
    $.end('hello world ')
})

And in /server/yourOtherApp/index.js you would setup your second domain such as:

// Require diet
var server = require('diet')

// Create app
var app = server()
app.listen('http://other.com/')
app.get('/', function($){
    $.end('hello world at other.com ')
});

Read More:

• Read more about Diet.js
• Read more about Virtual Hosts in Diet.js Read more about Server in Diet.js

Answer 2

Use nginx as a reverse proxy.

http://www.nginxtips.com/how-to-setup-nginx-as-proxy-for-nodejs/

Nginx brings a whole host of benefits to your applications in the form of caching, static file handling, ssl and load balancing.

Answer 3

Here's how to do it using vanilla Node.js:

const http = require('http')
const url = require('url')
const port = 5555
const sites = {
  exampleSite1: 544,
  exampleSite2: 543
}

const proxy = http.createServer( (req, res) => {
  const { pathname:path } = url.parse(req.url)
  const { method, headers } = req
  const hostname = headers.host.split(':')[0].replace('www.', '')
  if (!sites.hasOwnProperty(hostname)) throw new Error(`invalid hostname ${hostname}`)

  const proxiedRequest = http.request({
    hostname,
    path,
    port: sites[hostname],
    method,
    headers 
  })

  proxiedRequest.on('response', remoteRes => {
    res.writeHead(remoteRes.statusCode, remoteRes.headers)  
    remoteRes.pipe(res)
  })
  proxiedRequest.on('error', () => {
    res.writeHead(500)
    res.end()
  })

  req.pipe(proxiedRequest)
})

proxy.listen(port, () => {
  console.log(`reverse proxy listening on port ${port}`)
})

Pretty simple, huh?

Answer 4

I have an API I use on a site and below is my configuration. I also have it with SSL and GZIP, if someone needs it, just comment me.

var http = require('http'),
    httpProxy = require('http-proxy');

var proxy_web = new httpProxy.createProxyServer({
        target: {
            host: 'localhost',
            port: 8080
        }
    });

    var proxy_api = new httpProxy.createProxyServer({
        target: {
            host: 'localhost',
            port: 8081
        }
    });

    http.createServer(function(req, res) {
        if (req.headers.host === 'http://www.domain.com') {
            proxy_web.proxyRequest(req, res);
            proxy_web.on('error', function(err, req, res) {
                if (err) console.log(err);
                res.writeHead(500);
                res.end('Oops, something went very wrong...');
            });
        } else if (req.headers.host === 'http://api.domain.com') {
            proxy_api.proxyRequest(req, res);
            proxy_api.on('error', function(err, req, res) {
                if (err) console.log(err);
                res.writeHead(500);
                res.end('Oops, something went very wrong...');
            });
        }
    }).listen(80);

Answer 5

If you are using connect/express server, you can see the vhost middleware. It will allow multiple domains(sub-domains) to be used for the server address.

You can follow the example given here, which looks exactly like what you need.

Answer 6

Choose one of:

• Use some other server (like nginx) as a reverse proxy.
• Use node-http-proxy as a reverse proxy.
• Use the vhost middleware if each domain can be served from the same Connect/Express codebase and node.js instance.