How do I point my custom domain to my IP:Port (41.111.20.36:8080)?

Question

My word press app is working within a docker container with host port 8080 bound to the web container 80. I am able to access the app using the public IP with port 8080 (41.111.20.36:8080), but the app cannot be accessed using the only IP (41.111.20.36). Secondly, I have pointed my custom domain to digital servers and have matched the droplet and the domain name, I have even created a cname record pointing to that custom domain. But I am unable to access my application using the domain name, and I am unable to access it using the domainename:8080.... I assume I should be able to access the web container with only the domain name.... Am I missing something? Even inside the server, curl localhost triggers an error with the message, the server refused connection on port 80.... but curl localhost:8080 works fine. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

kamaln7 June 10, 2016

Hi!

DNS only handles domain -> IP mapping. It cannot map the default port (80) to a custom port–you will have to use a reverse proxy for that. nginx is one of the most popular reverse proxies that are used to do that.

First, add a DNS record for your subdomain.

Then, install nginx:

How To Install Nginx on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Add a new server block:

/etc/nginx/sites-available/myapp

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name myapp.domain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8080;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

Finally, enable it and restart nginx:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/myapp /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/myapp
sudo service nginx configtest
sudo service nginx restart

You should now be able to browse to http://myapp.domain.com and see the contents of http://your droplet’s ip:8080.

How To Install Nginx on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

by Justin Ellingwood

Nginx is one of the most popular web servers in the world. It is extremely flexible and powerful and can be used to efficiently host sites and applications small or large sites and applications. In this guide we'll cover how to install and set this up on an Ubuntu 14.04 server.

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nanyang24 December 11, 2017

I love this answer！Solve my problems！
Reply Report
itzvarman August 29, 2018

Hi Im facing the same problem, how to create “myapp”? What is the type of app? Im very new to ubuntu :’(
Reply Report
- kamaln7 September 12, 2018
  
  Hi @itzvarman , you can use whatever you like in place of myapp—it’s just a generic placeholder I used in the config file. Usually you would replace it with your domain name
  
  Reply Report
ewebxml December 6, 2018

For the block
location / {
proxypass http://localhost:8080;
proxysetheader Host $host;
proxysetheader X-Real-IP $remoteaddr;
proxysetheader X-Forwarded-For $proxyaddxforwardedfor;
proxysetheader X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
}
Which values do you substitute in for
1) $proxyaddxforwardedfor;
2) $scheme;
?
Reply Report
- kamaln7 December 9, 2018
  
  @ewebxml Good question. You’ll want to keep them as is and nginx will treat them as variables and substitute with the values of the current request that it’s proxying. You can read more about what each of these variables does here: http://nginx.org/en/docs/varindex.html This page lists all nginx variables in alphabetical order.
  
  In the block I posted above, you only need to substitute the parts in red (myapp.domain.com and 8080) with your own
  
  Reply Report
keentolearn February 20, 2021

It solves my problem, too!
I’ve been wandering through various forums. So happy to find the final answer here. Thanks @kamaln7.
Reply Report

Answer 2

nanyang24 December 11, 2017

I love this answer！Solve my problems！
Reply Report
itzvarman August 29, 2018

Hi Im facing the same problem, how to create “myapp”? What is the type of app? Im very new to ubuntu :’(
Reply Report
- kamaln7 September 12, 2018
  
  Hi @itzvarman , you can use whatever you like in place of myapp—it’s just a generic placeholder I used in the config file. Usually you would replace it with your domain name
  
  Reply Report
ewebxml December 6, 2018

For the block
location / {
proxypass http://localhost:8080;
proxysetheader Host $host;
proxysetheader X-Real-IP $remoteaddr;
proxysetheader X-Forwarded-For $proxyaddxforwardedfor;
proxysetheader X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
}
Which values do you substitute in for
1) $proxyaddxforwardedfor;
2) $scheme;
?
Reply Report
- kamaln7 December 9, 2018
  
  @ewebxml Good question. You’ll want to keep them as is and nginx will treat them as variables and substitute with the values of the current request that it’s proxying. You can read more about what each of these variables does here: http://nginx.org/en/docs/varindex.html This page lists all nginx variables in alphabetical order.
  
  In the block I posted above, you only need to substitute the parts in red (myapp.domain.com and 8080) with your own
  
  Reply Report
keentolearn February 20, 2021

It solves my problem, too!
I’ve been wandering through various forums. So happy to find the final answer here. Thanks @kamaln7.
Reply Report

Answer 3

fsc7mail November 28, 2018

How can I do that without nginx? With .htaccess for instance?

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companyjuice January 5, 2021

If you are using Apache, you have two options, the first one is to add a redirection rule in your website’s .htaccess and the second one would be to do it directly in the Apache’s Vhost file. I like using the first option. In your .htaccess file, you can add the following rule

RewriteEngine on

redirect to 3000 if current port is not 3000 and “some-prefix/” is matched

RewriteRule ^/(.*[^/])/?$ http://www.mysite.com:3000/$1/ [R=301,L]
If you want to use Apache’s Vhost file, I’ll recommend going through the following tutorial :

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-apache-virtual-hosts-on-ubuntu-16-04

How To Set Up Apache Virtual Hosts on Ubuntu 16.04
by Brennen Bearnes
The Apache web server is the most popular way to serve web content on the internet. Apache has the ability to serve multiple domains from a single server by using a mechanism called "virtual hosts". If a virtual host is configured correctly for each domain, the web server can correctly route traffic to the appropriate files based on the domain name requested. In this guide, we'll demonstrate how to configure Apache virtual hosts on an Ubuntu 16.04 server.
Reply Report

Answer 4

companyjuice January 5, 2021

If you are using Apache, you have two options, the first one is to add a redirection rule in your website’s .htaccess and the second one would be to do it directly in the Apache’s Vhost file. I like using the first option. In your .htaccess file, you can add the following rule

RewriteEngine on

redirect to 3000 if current port is not 3000 and “some-prefix/” is matched

RewriteRule ^/(.*[^/])/?$ http://www.mysite.com:3000/$1/ [R=301,L]
If you want to use Apache’s Vhost file, I’ll recommend going through the following tutorial :

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-apache-virtual-hosts-on-ubuntu-16-04

How To Set Up Apache Virtual Hosts on Ubuntu 16.04
by Brennen Bearnes
The Apache web server is the most popular way to serve web content on the internet. Apache has the ability to serve multiple domains from a single server by using a mechanism called "virtual hosts". If a virtual host is configured correctly for each domain, the web server can correctly route traffic to the appropriate files based on the domain name requested. In this guide, we'll demonstrate how to configure Apache virtual hosts on an Ubuntu 16.04 server.
Reply Report

Answer 5

kavibvaidya December 19, 2018

If it says that there is IP not found, could this be a problem with the configuration of nginx or is this because of DNS configuration.

Reply Report

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