Multiple Subdomains Tutorial

This tutorial teaches developers how to deploy multiple apps to the same AWS EC2 instance using Nginx as a reverse proxy and how to configure subdomains. (Node and Pylot apps)

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Instructions

1. First, configure at least one application for deployment. Follow the instructions below for the corresponding type of app.

Node Deployment

Pylot Deployment

Rails Deployment

Django Deployment

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2. All applications must be on a different port.

Node: Typically, the port is specified in the server.js file or a settings.js file using:

var server = app.listen(8001);

Pylot: The port must be modified in both manage.py and wsgi.py.

manage.py:

manager.add_command('runserver', Server(host='127.0.0.1',port='5001'))
# NOTE: port must be a string.

wsgi.py:

application.run(host='127.0.0.1',port=5001)
# NOTE: port must be an integer.

Rails: You don't need to specify ports because of Phusion Passenger.

Django: Replace your manage.py file (do not forget to replace PROJECTNAME and PORT with your project name and port number)

manage.py:

#!/usr/bin/env python
import os
import sys

if __name__ == "__main__":
    os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "PROJECTNAME.settings")
    
    # Different port manage.py file 
    import django
    django.setup()

    # Override default port for `runserver` command
    from django.core.management.commands.runserver import Command as runserver
    runserver.default_port = "PORT"

    from django.core.management import execute_from_command_line

    execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)

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3. Configure one Nginx file for all apps.

Consolidate any existing Nginx files into a SINGLE file. Use a similar format as the example file below. There are two server configs for Node, one for Pylot, one for Rails, and one for Django.

• DOMAIN.com must be replaced by the domain name
• PROJECT#.DOMAIN.com must be replaced by the desired subdomain name
• PORT* must be replaced by the project's port
• PROJECT#.sock must match the configuration of the project.ini file

# Node example (replace PORT1)
server {
  server_name DOMAIN.com;
  location / {
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header Host $proxy_host;
    proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;
    proxy_pass       http://127.0.0.1:PORT1;
    }
}
# Node example 2 (replace PROJECT1 and PORT2)
server {
  server_name PROJECT1.DOMAIN.com;
  location / {
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header Host $proxy_host;
    proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;
    proxy_pass       http://127.0.0.1:PORT2;
    }
}
# Pylot example (replace PROJECT2 and PORT3)
server {
  server_name PROJECT2.DOMAIN.com;
  location / {
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header Host $proxy_host;
    proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;
    proxy_pass       http://127.0.0.1:PORT3;
    include uwsgi_params;
    uwsgi_pass unix:/home/ubuntu/PROJECT2/PROJECT2.sock;
    }
}
# Rails example (replace PROJECT3 and FOLDER)
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name PROJECT3.DOMAIN.com;
    passenger_enabled on;
    passenger_app_env development;
    root /var/www/FOLDER/public;
}
# Django example (replace REPONAME and PROJECT4)
server {
      listen 80;
      server_name PROJECT4.DOMAIN.com;
      location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
      location /static/ {
            root /home/ubuntu/REPONAME;
      }
      location / {
            include proxy_params;
            proxy_pass http://unix:/home/ubuntu/REPONAME/PROJECT4.sock;
      }
}

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4. Deploy other apps to the existing AWS EC2 instance.

Node:

cd /var/www
sudo git clone {{project file path on github}}
cd /var/www/{{project_name}}
sudo npm install
pm2 start server.js
sudo service nginx reload && sudo service nginx restart

Pylot:

follow instructions in highlighted blue lines via Pylot Deployment (except for Nginx section)

sudo service nginx reload && sudo service nginx restart

Rails:

follow instructions via Rails Deployment (except for Nginx section)

sudo service nginx restart

Django:

follow instructions via Django Deployment (except for Nginx section) Ubuntu 14.04:

sudo service gunicorn restart
sudo service nginx reload && sudo service nginx restart

Ubuntu 16.04:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start gunicorn
sudo systemctl enable gunicorn
sudo service nginx restart

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5. Verify all the apps are running.

Node:

pm2 status

Pylot:

sudo start PROJECT

Rails:

sudo service nginx restart

Django (Ubuntu 14.04):

sudo service gunicorn restart
sudo service nginx restart

Django (Ubuntu 16.04):

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start gunicorn
sudo systemctl enable gunicorn
sudo service nginx restart

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6. Go to your domain name registrar and find Advanced DNS.

Set up an "A Record" with "Host" set to @ and "Value" set to {{IP ADDRESS OF AWS INSTANCE}}

Set up "CNAME Record" with "Host" set to {{SUBDOMAIN}} and Value set to {{DOMAIN NAME}}

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7. Congratulations! We're done!

Note: It may take some time for subdomains to propagate (up to 24 hours). Be sure to test out the domain and subdomains.