CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jsgetexpress
sia
sia

Reputation: 2225

NodeJS w/Express Error: Cannot GET /

This is what i have, the filename "default.htm" actually exists and loads when doing a readFile with NodeJS.

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

app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/default.htm'));

app.listen(process.env.PORT);

The Error (in browser):

Cannot GET /

Upvotes: 83

Views: 238599

Answers (20)

Silent Voice
Silent Voice

Reputation: 3

First if you are just trying to render or serve default.html file then you can do so just by some simple changes

app.get("/",(req,res)=>{
 res.sendFile(__dirname+"/default.html");
})

This will serve the default.htlm page whenever you will hit the localhost:${PORT}

Second, If we use express.static() then we have to pass a directory path inside which everything will be served to client as static file. Let's say

We have a folder name "public"---> default.html inside it, Now

app.use(express.static("public"));

This will work as when we will hit the url "http://localhost:${PORT}/default.html". Then server will serve us the default.html page as a static page.

Upvotes: 0

Rajpal Saini
Rajpal Saini

Reputation: 1

use below code: // Serve static files from the "public" folder app.use(express.static("../public"));

// basically you have to use './' for same directory path '../' for previous directory path.

Upvotes: 0

PARAMJEET SINGH
PARAMJEET SINGH

Reputation: 1

Instead of using "app.use", try to use "app.get". It works on my machine.

Upvotes: -2

Suryakant
Suryakant

Reputation: 11

I was also getting the same error as "Cannot GET /" in my MERN application in the network tab. I added these lines of code in my index.js(in backend) file after referring to this article https://coursework.vschool.io/deploying-mern-app-to-heroku/ :

Right before my app.listen():

app.get("*", (req, res) => {
    res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname, "client", "build", "index.html"));
});

and also changed a line in

if(process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production')

from this:

app.use(express.static('./client/build'));

to this:

app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, "client", "build")))

So, check this too, if making these changes work for you.

Upvotes: 1

Maciej Wakula
Maciej Wakula

Reputation: 143

"Cannot " happens when a request is sent to non-defined target. For example:

app.get('/',()=>{});

This would handle requests sent to localhost/ but not localhost/path.

Please, make soure there is a routing defined for the URL you are trying to access. Actual response you might get:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Error</title>
</head>
<body>
<pre>Cannot GET /path</pre>
</body>
</html>

Upvotes: 1

Md Rehan
Md Rehan

Reputation: 363

Provide full path for example I am running my app on https://ugoods.in/nodeapp

app.get('/nodeapp', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World!')
})

If you will run directly on http://ugoods.in or http://localhost

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World!')
})

Upvotes: 3

Amin Matola
Amin Matola

Reputation: 177

I had this exact issue, my error source might differ to what your source of error was though.

However, as for me, it was because I was running the app instance on CPanel inside subfolder as:

app.get("/", (request, response) => {
       response.status(200).send("Hello there");
})

Results:

Can not GET /

So, I realized I was setting wrong parameter, and what I did was:

app.get("/foldername/", (request, response) => {
       response.status(200).send("Hello there, it works!");
 })

Results:

Hello there, it works!

Upvotes: 0

Muhammad Ihab
Muhammad Ihab

Reputation: 1

Another solution is to check whether your .static() parameter refers to the correct folder of your other website files (.html, .css, ..). this folder should be in the same directory of the server.js file. don't know why though, I tried to put it in a different directory and pass ./website for example but it didn't work. :/

Upvotes: -1

Chijioke Ugwuanyi
Chijioke Ugwuanyi

Reputation: 1354

You need to add a return to the index.html file.

app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'build')));

app.get('*', function(req, res) {res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/build/index.html')); });

Upvotes: 3

Bulent Balci
Bulent Balci

Reputation: 694

I've noticed that I forgot the "slash" in the beginning of the Route as below and I was getting same error :

Wrong :

app.get('api/courses',  (req, res) => { ... }
)

Correct :

  app.get('/api/courses',  (req, res) => { ... }
    )

Upvotes: 26

Ashwani Panwar
Ashwani Panwar

Reputation: 4608

You need to restart the process if app.get not working. Press ctl+c and then restart node app.

Upvotes: 1

Chaim Eliyah
Chaim Eliyah

Reputation: 2962

In my case, the static content was already being served:

app.use('/*', express.static(path.join(__dirname, '../pub/index.html')));

...and everything in the app seemed to rely on that in some way. (path dep is require('path'))

So, a) yes, it can be a file; and b) you can make a redirect!

app.get('/', function (req, res) { res.redirect('/index.html') });

Now anyone hitting / gets /index.html which is served statically from ../pub/index.html.

Hope this helps someone else.

Upvotes: 2

Officialzessu
Officialzessu

Reputation: 984

var path = require('path');

Change app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/default.htm')); to app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname + '/default.htm')));.

Also, make sure you point it to the right path of you default.html.

Upvotes: 1

Amal Augustine Jose
Amal Augustine Jose

Reputation: 97

I had the same issue. Solved it by small changes like below.

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));

Got help from here (ExpressJS Documentation - Serving static files).

Upvotes: 2

PTD
PTD

Reputation: 1053

I found myself on this page as I was also receiving the Cannot GET/ message. My circumstances differed as I was using express.static() to target a folder, as has been offered in previous answers, and not a file as the OP was.

What I discovered after some digging through Express' docs is that express.static() defines its index file as index.html, whereas my file was named index.htm.

To tie this to the OP's question, there are two options:

1: Use the code suggested in other answers

app.use(express.static(__dirname));

and then rename default.htm file to index.html

or

2: Add the index property when calling express.static() to direct it to the desired index file:

app.use(express.static(__dirname, { index: 'default.htm' }));

Upvotes: 6

CopyLeft
CopyLeft

Reputation: 349

I had the same problem, so here's what I came up with. This is what my folder structure looked like when I ran node server.js

app/
  index.html
  server.js

After printing out the __dirname path, I realized that the __dirname path was where my server was running (app/).

So, the answer to your question is this:

If your server.js file is in the same folder as the files you are trying to render, then

app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/default.htm'));

should actually be

app.use(express.static(__dirname));

The only time you would want to use the original syntax that you had would be if you had a folder tree like so:

app/
  index.html
server.js

where index.html is in the app/ directory, whereas server.js is in the root directory (i.e. the same level as the app/ directory).

Overall, your code could look like:

var express = require('express');

var app = express();

app.use(express.static(__dirname));

app.listen(process.env.PORT);

Upvotes: 11

Akshay Vijay Jain
Akshay Vijay Jain

Reputation: 16025

I was facing the same problem as mentioned in the question. The following steps solved my problem.

I upgraded the nodejs package link with following steps

  1. Clear NPM's cache:

    npm cache clean -f

  2. Install a little helper called 'n'

    npm install -g n

Then I went to node.js website, downloaded the latest node js package, installed it, and my problem was solved.

Upvotes: 1

Sdedelbrock
Sdedelbrock

Reputation: 5292

You typically want to render templates like this:

app.get('/', function(req, res){
  res.render('index.ejs');
});

However you can also deliver static content - to do so use:

app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));

Now everything in the /public directory of your project will be delivered as static content at the root of your site e.g. if you place default.htm in the public folder if will be available by visiting /default.htm

Take a look through the express API and Connect Static middleware docs for more info.

Upvotes: 54

Serdar Dogruyol
Serdar Dogruyol

Reputation: 5157

Where is your get method for "/"?

Also you cant serve static html directly in Express.First you need to configure it.

app.configure(function(){
  app.set('port', process.env.PORT || 3000);  
  app.set("view options", {layout: false});  //This one does the trick for rendering static html
  app.engine('html', require('ejs').renderFile); 
  app.use(app.router);

});

Now add your get method.

app.get('/', function(req, res) {
  res.render('default.htm');
});

Upvotes: 3

Daniel
Daniel

Reputation: 1692

You need to define a root route.

app.get('/', function(req, res) {
  // do something here.
});

Oh and you cannot specify a file within the express.static. It needs to be a directory. The app.get('/'.... will be responsible to render that file accordingly. You can use express' render method, but your going to have to add some configuration options that will tell express where your views are, traditionally within the app/views/ folder.

Upvotes: 18

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