Node.js - How would I forward HTTP traffic (reverse proxy)?

javascript, node.js, reverse-proxy

Solution

I've managed this using `node-http-proxy`, where http://first.test/ and http://second.test/ are the hostnames.

var http = require('http'),
    httpProxy = require('http-proxy');

var proxy = httpProxy.createProxyServer({});

// reverse proxy server
http.createServer(function (req, res) {
    var target = '';

    if (req.headers.host.match(/first.test/)) {
        target = 'http://127.0.0.1:8001';
    } else if (req.headers.host.match(/second.test/)) {
        target = 'http://127.0.0.1:8002';
    }

    console.log(req.headers.host, '->', target);
    proxy.web(req, res, { target: target });
}).listen(8000);

// test server 1
http.createServer(function(req, res) {
    res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
    res.write('8001\n');
    res.write(JSON.stringify(req.headers, true, 2));
    res.end();
}).listen(8001);

// test server 2
http.createServer(function(req, res) {
    res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
    res.write('8002\n');
    res.write(JSON.stringify(req.headers, true, 2));
    res.end();
}).listen(8002);

Problem

I need what is essentially a reverse proxy but I need it in Node.js as I will have to put in some custom functionality. The `gateway` will be the only visible service, and it needs to forward traffic on to an internal network of services. A simple 302 isn't going to work here. How can I realistically achieve this with Node.js given the asynchronous nature of it? Are there any well known libraries used for this?

Original source