Redirect specifc HTTPS request to a specific port with apache - apache

Question

I have a problem to redirect some request to an other port. Here's my configuration:
I have a public domain like XXXX.ddns.net
I have a Rapsbian server with apache and files in my /var/www folders are correctly served (angular website)
On the same Raspbian server there is a REST server running on the 3000 port
This is running on HTTPS with SSL(letsencrypt)
I would like that all requests to XXXX.ddns.net/api/* to be redirected to the 3000 port.
I change the .htaccess file and the rewrite rule seems to works on local but I can't make it working from my internet site. API requests achieve with a error 500.
Here is my current .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^api/(.*) https://localhost:3000/api/$1 [QSA]
# not sure if it should be http or https in the rule but nothing works
#RewriteRule ^api/(.*) http://localhost:3000/api/$1 [QSA]
# If an existing asset or directory is requested go to it as it is
RewriteCond %{DOCUMENT_ROOT}%{REQUEST_URI} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{DOCUMENT_ROOT}%{REQUEST_URI} -d
RewriteRule ^ - [L]
# If the requested pattern is file and file doesn't exist, send 404
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^(\/[a-z_\-\s0-9\.]+)+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,4}$
RewriteRule ^ - [L,R=404]
Here is my current 000-default-le-ssl.conf file (in /etc/apache2/sites-available):
<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
<VirtualHost *:443>
ServerAdmin webmaster#localhost
DocumentRoot /var/www/html
ServerName XXXX.ddns.net
SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/XXXX.ddns.net/fullchain.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/XXXX.ddns.net/privkey.pem
Include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-apache.conf
<Location /api>
ProxyPass http://127.0.0.1:3000/api
ProxyPassReverse http://127.0.0.1:3000/api
</Location>
</VirtualHost>
</IfModule>
If someone could help me to achieve it...
Thanks!

Answer 1

Your self-found solution looks strange to me. You switch on the SSLProxyEngine and than disable all security measures. Is the backend API running under HTTPS and HTTP at port 3000 at the same time? This is not possible.
I use this setup (apache as proxy to backend application) pretty often and would suggest the following configuration:
As I did not understand the purpose of the rewrite directives I left them out. The VirtualHost at port 80 always redirects HTTP requests to HTTPS. If this works add permanent to the directive (permanent is cached by some browsers, see comment in VirtualHost *:80).
The VirtualHost for HTTPS serves content from your DocumentRoot at /var/www/html. The Directory directive takes care that only correctly addressed files are served (no lookups possible). The VirtualHost also provides the proxy for the /api on the same server on port 3000.
It should work for apache 2.4 if your letsencrypt configuration is correct (fill-in the XXXX). Both VirtualHost configurations can be written into a single file, usually located in /etc/apache2/sites-available with a symlink to /etc/apache2/sites-enabled. Please remove/rename your .htaccess file and other configurations before testing this configuration. If you need access control through apache this could also be configured directly in the VirtualHost configuration.
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName XXXX.ddns.net
# Always https
Redirect / https://XXXX.ddns.net/
# Redirect permanent / https://XXXX.ddns.net/
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:443>
ServerAdmin webmaster#localhost
ServerName XXXX.ddns.net
# These are your SSL settings; your responsibility
SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/XXXX.ddns.net/fullchain.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/XXXX.ddns.net/privkey.pem
Include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-apache.conf
# Your document root; where the JavaScript application lives
DocumentRoot /var/www/html
<Directory /var/www/html/ >
Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Order Allow,Deny
Allow From All
</Directory>
# Reverse proxy settings for api
ProxyRequests Off
ProxyPreserveHost On
<Location /api >
ProxyPass http://127.0.0.1:3000/api
ProxyPassReverse http://127.0.0.1:3000/api
</Location>
</VirtualHost>

Answer 2

Thanks for your help. I don't really know how but it works now!
I dont rember exactly what i did, but the last one was to modify my 000-default-le-ssl.conf file like this:
SSLProxyEngine On
SSLProxyVerify none
SSLProxyCheckPeerCN off
SSLProxyCheckPeerName off
SSLProxyCheckPeerExpire off
<Location /api>
ProxyPass http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/
ProxyPassReverse http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/
ProxyPass https://127.0.0.1:3000/api/
ProxyPassReverse https://127.0.0.1:3000/api/
</Location>