I am doing some experiments with node.js + express and iisnode.
I have the following very simple app, located in C:\tsapp-deploy\tsappsvr\TestExpress\0.0.0
:
app.js:
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use(express.static(__dirname + "/public"));
var port = process.env.PORT || 2709;
app.listen(port, function() {
console.log('Listening on port ' + port);
});
package.json:
{
"name": "TestExpress",
"version": "0.0.0",
"private": true,
"dependencies": {
"express": "3.x"
}
}
web.config:
<configuration>
<system.webServer>
<handlers>
<add name="iisnode" path="app.js" verb="*" modules="iisnode" />
</handlers>
</system.webServer>
</configuration>
public/index.html:
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="js/jquery.js"></script>
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {
console.log("READY!");
$("#hello").html("Hello, World!");
});
</script>
</head>
<body>
<h1 id="hello" style="text-align:center;"></h1>
</body>
</html>
My configuration is: Windows 8.1, IIS 8; iisnode version 0.2.11, node version v0.10.28.
When launched from command line (C:\tsapp-deploy\tsappsvr\TestExpress\0.0.0>node app.js
), the app runs as expected: in the browser, I go to http://localhost:2709/
and see "Hello, World!".
My IIS is currently running other node.js-based applications not using express from similar locations (i.e. from C:\tsapp-deploy\tsappsvr\appname\x.y.z\index.js
), so I assume it should be correctly configured, but when I try to run this app from the browser, typing http://localhost/tsappsvr/TestExpress/0.0.0/app.js
I get a 404 Not Found (in IE) or a "Cannot GET /tsappsvr/TestExpress/0.0.0/app.js" in Chrome and Firefox.
I guess that the problem might be in my web.config, but I cannot figure out how to change it to get my app working. I have tried several changes to web.config as suggested in other answers to similar questions, but no success yet. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
I think I have found a solution to my problem:
web.config:
<configuration>
<system.webServer>
<handlers>
<add name="iisnode" path="app.js" verb="*" modules="iisnode" />
</handlers>
<rewrite>
<rules>
<rule name="myapp">
<match url="/*" />
<action type="Rewrite" url="app.js" />
</rule>
</rules>
</rewrite>
</system.webServer>
<appSettings>
<add key="deployPath" value="/tsappsvr/TestExpress/0.0.0" />
</appSettings>
</configuration>
Please note the deployPath
key in appSettings
section, whose value is set to the app's virtual path (set in IIS). In my case it is /tsappsvr/TestExpress/0.0.0
.
app.js:
// Preamble, so to say
var express = require('express');
var http = require('http');
var app = express();
// Variable deployPath is set in web.config and must match
// the path of app.js in virtual directory.
// If app.js is run from command line:
// "C:/tssapp-deploy/tsappsvr/TestExpress/0.0.0> node app.js"
// deployPath is set to empty string.
var deployPath = process.env.deployPath || "";
// Static content server
app.use(deployPath + "/pages", express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
// REST API handler (placeholder)
app.all(deployPath + "/api", function(req, res) {
res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/html'});
res.end("<h2>REST API Handler found.</h2>");
});
// Default handler
app.get(deployPath + "/", function(req, res) {
res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/html'});
res.end("<h2>Default Handler found.</h2>");
});
// Not Found handler
app.use(function(req, res, next){
res.writeHead(404, {'Content-Type': 'text/html'});
res.write("<h2>The requested resource is not available.</h2>");
res.write("Request received on port " + process.env.PORT + "<br>");
res.write("Request URL: " + req.url + "<br>");
res.write("Deploy Path: " + deployPath + "<br>");
res.end('[iisnode version is ' + process.env.IISNODE_VERSION + ', node version is ' + process.version + ']');
});
// Server creation
var server = http.createServer(app);
var port = process.env.PORT || 2709;
server.listen(port);
Variable deployPath
is used as a prefix for all handlers (except the "Not Found" handler). When app.js is launched from iisnode, deployPath it is part of process.env
, while it is undefined if app.js is launched from command line (e.g. C:/tsapp-deploy/tsappsvr/TestExpress/0.0.0>node app.js
). This ensures that app.js works in both cases.
Now, typing http://localhost/tsappsvr/TestExpress/0.0.0/
in the browser I fire the default handler; appending /pages
to the former URL I have access to static content, while appending /api
I fire the REST API handler. The same happens for http://localhost:2709/
as base URL.