NGINX WebSocket Proxy

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Nginx
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Node.js
2014-12-15 · 1 min read

NGINX can be easily configured as a reverse WebSocket proxy since version 1.3. WebSocket handshake is compatible with HTTP using Upgrade and Connection headers. As WebSocket connections are long running, NGINX will keep these connections open rather then closing them as idle.

Set Upgrade and Connection headers explicitly for NGINX to handle a WebSocket connection.

location / {
    proxy_pass http://app;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
}

Additionaly, such WebSocket proxy mechanism can be extended to have multiple backend servers for high availability and performance wth NGINX server acting as a load balancer between them.

By default NGINX closes the connection if no data is sent for 30 seconds. This timeout value can be changed wth proxy_read_timeout; alternatively, a WebSocket server should send ping messages periodically to reset the timer.