atrakeur-com-cartridge-node-nginx

Custom cartridge used to deploy my nodejs applications on the cloud. Based on a nodejs Cartridge from Sbtoledo (here) but with some minor changes to the configuration.

A Node.js cartridge for OpenShift using nginx as a reverse proxy. It's intended for small to middle-sized applications, reducing Node.js demand—less database queries, template rendering, etc. For more information about how nginx handle the requests, look at the conf/nginx.conf.erb file.

Install

Create a new application with this url

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/atrakeur/atrakeur-com-cartridge-node-nginx/master/metadata/manifest.yml

Use

Just push a Node.js application with an index.js file in the repository root—it'll be the entrypoint of your application. Your application must listen to process.env.NODE_SOCKET variable. If the application has a package.json file, the cartridge will automatically run npm install during the build phase.

var express = require('express');
var app = express();

// ...

app.listen(process.env.NODE_SOCKET);

Configure

You can edit the main configuration files in $OPENSHIFT_NODE_DIR/conf and then reload the cartridge with rhc cartridge-reload node-nginx -a {myApplicationName}. Alternatively, you can edit $OPENSHIFT_NODE_DIR/usr/conf/nginx.conf and $PM2_HOME/process.yaml directly—in this case, don't forget that you must call rhc cartridge-restart [...] instead of rhc cartridge-reload [...] for the changes to take effect.

Using a TCP connection between nginx and Node.js

By default, nginx is configured to communicate with Node.js through process.env.NODE_SOCKET. To change this behaviour, change the proxy_pass option in $OPENSHIFT_NODE_DIR\conf\nginx.conf.erb file, from http://unix:<%= ENV['NODE_SOCKET'] %> to http://<%= ENV['NODE_HOSTNAME'] %>:<%= ENV['NODE_PORT'] %>, then reload using rhc cartridge-reload node-nginx -a {myApplicationName}. Your application will need to listen to both process.env.NODE_PORT and process.env.NODE_HOSTNAME variables, like below:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();

// ...

app.listen(process.env.NODE_PORT, process.env.NODE_HOSTNAME);

Troubleshooting

Bad Gateway

If you're getting this message in your browser, most likely your application is not listening to process.env.NODE_SOCKET. Otherwise, your application is not currently running. Remember that the default configuration requires an index.js file in the repository root to start the application. If you're sure that everything is all right, please open an issue so we can work it out.

Where is the nginx root?

The nginx root is located in $OPENSHIFT_NODE_DIR/usr/html. With the default configuration, its sole purpose is to store the 502 ("Bad Request") error page.

License

The MIT License (MIT), © 2016 Saulo Toledo