Host ASP.NET application on Linux with Nginx

This guide explains setting up a production-ready ASP.NET application generated with GeneXus .NET generator on Linux (Ubuntu 14.04) with Nginx as a reverse proxy.

Prerequisites for .NET on Linux

See Linux prerequisites for other Linux versions.

Install .NET for Ubuntu 14.04

1. Register the Microsoft Product key as trusted.

curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > microsoft.gpg
sudo mv microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.gpg

2. Set up the desired version host package feed.

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/microsoft-ubuntu-trusty-prod trusty main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dotnetdev.list' 
sudo apt-get update

3. Install .NET

sudo apt-get install dotnet-sdk-5.0

5.Run the dotnet --version command to prove the installation succeeded.

dotnet --version

Copy over the app

Deploy your application using Build -> Deploy Application and then and copy it to the target linux.

From command line positioned in web directory (or equivalent) run:

dotnet bin/GxNetCoreStartup.dll

Your application can be tested at for example: http://localhost:5000/Webpanel1.aspx (see dotnet command output to check port)

Configure Nginx as a reverse proxy server

1.Install Nginx

sudo apt-get install nginx

2. Start it by running:

sudo service nginx start

3.Configure Nginx

To configure Nginx as a reverse proxy to forward requests to our ASP.NET app, modify 

/etc/nginx/sites-available/default

. Open it in a text editor, and replace the contents with the following:

server {
    listen 80;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:5000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection keep-alive;
        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

This Nginx configuration file forwards incoming public traffic from port 

80

 to port 

5000

.

Once the Nginx configuration is established, run 

sudo nginx -t

 to verify the syntax of the configuration files. If the configuration file test is successful, force Nginx to pick up the changes by running 

sudo nginx -s reload

 

Enable websockets

In order to enable websockets in Nginx the following configuration is needed:

location /gxwebsocket.svc {
         proxy_pass http://localhost:5000/gxwebsocket.svc;
         proxy_http_version 1.1;
         proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
         proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
      }

 

Multiple applications on one domain with Nginx

Let's suppose you have two applications SmallDemo0 and SmallDemo1 (*) and want to host both on the same server and access at: http://localhost/SmallDemo0/WebPanel1.aspx and http://localhost/SmallDemo1/WebPanel1.aspx.

(*) For example /home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo0 and /home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo1

1. Configure nginx to handle boths ports. Open /etc/nginx/sites-available/default in a text editor and replace the contents with the following:

server {
    listen 80;
    # Make site accessible from http://localhost/
    server_name localhost;
     location /SmallDemo0/ {
           proxy_pass http://localhost:5000/;
           proxy_http_version 1.1;
           proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
           proxy_set_header Connection keep-alive;
           proxy_set_header Host $host;
           proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
    location /SmallDemo1/ {
           proxy_pass http://localhost:5001/;
           proxy_http_version 1.1;
           proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
           proxy_set_header Connection keep-alive;
           proxy_set_header Host $host;
           proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    } 
}

Once the Nginx configuration is established, run 

sudo nginx -t

 to verify the syntax of the configuration files. If the configuration file test is successful, force Nginx to pick up the changes by running 

sudo nginx -s reload

Or start it with: 

sudo service nginx start

 

2. Run your apps with the following commands:

/home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo1$ dotnet bin/GxNetCoreStartup.dll "" /home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo1 5001

/home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo0$ dotnet bin/GxNetCoreStartup.dll "" /home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo0 5000

Test your sites at http://localhost/SmallDemo0/WebPanel1.aspx  and http://localhost/SmallDemo1/WebPanel1.aspx

 

 

Another valid configuration using a different BaseURL (but getting the same final urls) could be:

1. Configuration por nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    # Make site accessible from http://localhost/
    server_name localhost;
     location /SmallDemo0/ {
           proxy_pass http://localhost:5000/SmallDemo0/;
           proxy_http_version 1.1;
           proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
           proxy_set_header Connection keep-alive;
           proxy_set_header Host $host;
           proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
    location /SmallDemo1/ {
           proxy_pass http://localhost:5001/SmallDemo1/;
           proxy_http_version 1.1;
           proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
           proxy_set_header Connection keep-alive;
           proxy_set_header Host $host;
           proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    } 
}

2. Run commands:

/home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo1$ dotnet bin/GxNetCoreStartup.dll "SmallDemo1" /home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo1 5001

/home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo0$ dotnet bin/GxNetCoreStartup.dll "SmallDemo0" /home/deploy/dev/dotnet/SmallDemo0 5000

3. Test your sites at http://localhost/SmallDemo0/WebPanel1.aspx  and http://localhost/SmallDemo1/WebPanel1.aspx

 

 

GxNetCoreStartup.dll has 3 parameters: 

1. Virtual Dir (or BaseURL)

2. Physical application path

3. Port

default values are:

1. Empty

2. Current Directory where dotnet command is executed

3. 80