lighttpd configuration to proxy/rewrite from one domain to another

Question

i need to setup proxy/rewrite on lighttpd!

i have server1, which serves via http 2 different web app paths:

* http://server1/path1
* http://server1/path2

also, i have lighttpd server in front of server1

i want to setup rewriting and/or proxing on lighttpd, so that each of the 2 paths would be served as root path on different domains:

* requests to http://server2.com/* are proxied/rewrited to http://server1/path1/*
* requests to http://server3.com/* are proxied/rewrited to http://server1/path2/*

important:

• server2.com and server3.com can access server1 only via http
• redirects are not the option, users of server2.com & server3.com shouldn't not know that the actual web apps are served from different paths of server1.

Is it possible?

Sock

Unfortunately, your question isn't about programming or programming tools, so we can't help you here. However, our friends over at Server Fault probably can - be sure to search before asking and read their FAQ for help on constructing a good question. – Assertive

Answer 1

Your need is known by lighttpd developers from several years.

It is answered by a workaround or new feature depending on the version.

Lighttpd 1.4

A workaround is explained in the bugtracker : bug #164

$HTTP["url"] =~ "(^/path1/)" {   
  proxy.server  = ( "" => ("" => ( "host" => "127.0.0.1", "port" => 81 ))) 
}

$SERVER["socket"] == ":81" {   
  url.rewrite-once = ( "^/path1/(.*)$" => "/$1" )   
  proxy.server  = ( "" => ( "" => ( "host" => "server2.com", "port" => 80 ))) 
}

Lighttpd 1.5

They added this feature with this command (official documentation) :

proxy-core.rewrite-request : rewrite request headers or request uri.

$HTTP["url"] =~ "^/path1" {
  proxy-co...

  proxy-core.rewrite-request = (
    "_uri" => ( "^/path1/?(.*)" => "/$1" ),
    "Host" => ( ".*" => "server2.com" ),
  )
}

Tetramethyldiarsine

FWIW, it seems that the 1.5 version has been abandoned before reaching the first release. I guess this means we're stuck with the workaround. – Fermi

For v1.4, the solution doesn't work. It redirects but doesn't change the path – Overtask

Answer 2

Update: lighttpd 1.4.46 (released in 2017) introduced proxy.header which can perform limited URL-prefix rewriting. More info at lighttpd mod_proxy

Spenserian