CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jsexpressvirtualhost
G.D. Singh
G.D. Singh

Reputation: 173

How to set vhost in Expressjs without hard coding?

So i know this works:

app.use(express.vhost('sub.xyz.com', subdomainApp));
app.use(express.vhost('xyz.com', mainApp));

But when i try set the host part in express.vhost dynamically, it simply doesn't work. (I need to set it dynamically in order to avoid changing the hard coded domains while i move between production and development.)

I tried the code below and i dont know why this doesn't work:

app.use(function(req, res){ return express.vhost('xyz.'+req.host, subdomainApp); });
app.use(function(req, res){ return express.vhost(req.host, mainApp); });

So how do i pass 'request host' dynamically to express.vhost?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 1507

Answers (3)

Trevor Dixon
Trevor Dixon

Reputation: 24352

Use * as a wildcard in the hostname:

app.use(express.vhost('sub.*', subdomainApp));
app.use(mainApp);

See http://www.senchalabs.org/connect/vhost.html.

Upvotes: 0

Plato
Plato

Reputation: 11052

I misread your question so my answer is about programmatically binding vhosts. I don't know if you can bind new vhosts on the fly as requests come in, it sounds like a bad idea. I would just use @alfonsodev 's technique to force one environment or the other.

if you have a set of known subdomains and particular middlewares you want to execute for those domains, you could bind them all like this:

$ # set env variable before invoking the script
$ APP_DEVPROD=dev node server.js

// Default to 'prod' if no env var set
var p = process.env.APP_DEVPROD || 'prod';
var myHost = (p === 'dev' ? 'localhost:8001' : 'xyz.com');

[
  ['admin.'+myHost, handlers.admin],
  ['demo.'+myHost, handlers.demo],
].forEach(setVhost);

function setVhost(pair){
  var hostname = pair[0];
  var appFn = pair[1];
  app.use(express.vhost(hostname, appFn));
}

Upvotes: 2

alfonsodev
alfonsodev

Reputation: 2754

I don't know exactly your implementation details, but what I suggest and I think it's the most common practice, is to set those configuration params in envrionment variables.

so you would have.
app.use(express.vhost('xyz' + process.env.APP_HOST, subdomainApp));

so you can have different env vars in production / development environments.

to set env variables from command line use 

export APP_HOST=wahtever

or append just before execute the node command

APP_HOST=whatever node server.js

or add them to your *.bash_profile* or equivalent for your OS

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions