nginx to node.js - pass params

Question

I would like to pass certain parameters to nodejs over nginx.

While I still used fastcgi, I could do that this way:

fastcgi_param   SCRIPT_FILENAME         $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
fastcgi_param   PATH_INFO               $fastcgi_script_name;

And now I'm basically searching the exact same functionality, for node.js

This would be my current configuration:

server {
    # ... other stuff ...

    location / {
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        proxy_set_header X-Nginx-Proxy true;

        proxy_pass http://node;
        proxy_redirect off;

        # pass any parameter here
    }

}

upstream node {
        server  127.0.0.1:8080;
}

How can I accomplish that? - And, how can I read the passed value in node.js?

Peter Lyons · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-05 20:32:48Z

5

The short answer that directly addresses your question, in your nginx config, add lines like this:

proxy_set_header X-My-Custom-Param-1 $whatever_variable_you_want_to_pass;

And to read that in your express route handler function,

req.get('X-My-Custom-Param-1');

However, if you explain the larger problem you are trying to solve and the specific value(s) you think you need to pass, we can give specific help if. It's likely you are solving a solved problem poorly. I haven't seen any real-world use case where such a setup was necessary.

answered Jul 5, 2013 at 20:32

Peter Lyons

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4 Comments

user169099 Over a year ago

I think that'll help a lot. The scenario is, that I'm passing different config-file paths to the server, since the config files arent stored in /var/www/ but in /etc/. The NGINX config itself takes care of that, so that I can have different dev configs (dev, staging, etc) - and directly steer them over the NGINX conf.

user169099 Over a year ago

Damn, I just figured that with node, it doesnt make too much sense. In PHP it did, since every call was the whole process - but with node I should just start it with params.

Peter Lyons Over a year ago

Yes, in node the convention is to use just a simple config file (.js or .json) or environment variables.

user169099 Over a year ago

Sure, I had that - but I wanted to define the config-path (path to the config file) outside from NGINX, to be able to change it to different settings if required. I managed to do that now, and I am handling a new command-line argument --config=/path/ now

moka · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-05 10:37:43Z

0

Any parameters will be passed by default and all you need is to handle routing in node it self.

Please check out express.js as it allows to define very flexible routes with regexp (if needed).
Bear in mind that params in express is different from query data ($_GET in PHP). As query data goes after question mark in URL, but params are defined in routes.
For example:

app.get('/user/:id', function(req, res, next) {
  res.send({
    params: req.params
    query: req.query
  }); // will respond with json object with 'id'
});

Then test it, with url: http://example.com/user/23?foo=bar&hello=world
It will output:

{
  params: {
    id: 23
  },
  query: {
    foo: 'bar',
    hello: 'world'
  }
}

edited Jul 5, 2013 at 10:37

answered Jul 5, 2013 at 9:54

moka

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2 Comments

user169099 Over a year ago

You mean GET params, right? I wasnt actually talking about GET parameters, but about 'internal' paramters - if I'm using the wrong wording, I didnt know that. I'm refering to NGINX config file entries. (for example, a certain path, etc)

moka Over a year ago

GET parameters are query

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