Forwarding http to https in node.js express app using EBS & ELB environment

Question

I am using the following to redirect all http requests to https requests.

I can see from logs that the header 'x-forwarded-proto' is never populated and is undefined.

app.get('*', function(req, res, next) {
    //http://docs.aws.amazon.com/ElasticLoadBalancing/latest/DeveloperGuide/TerminologyandKeyConcepts.html#x-forwarded-proto
    if (req.headers['x-forwarded-proto'] != "https") {
        res.redirect('https://' + req.get('host') + req.url);
    } else {
        next();     
    }
});

It is causing a redirect loop. How can I redirect properly without looping?

Answer 1

edit: my original answer below is for express 3.x, for 4.x you can get a string http or https in req.protocol, thx @BrandonClark

---

use req.get, not req.headers. Note that POST requests and all other non-GET will not see this middleware. It's also possible that Express does not carry the x-forwarded-proto header across when you redirect. You may need to set it yourself.

app.get('*', function(req, res, next) {
//http://docs.aws.amazon.com/ElasticLoadBalancing/latest/DeveloperGuide/TerminologyandKeyConcepts.html#x-forwarded-proto
    if (req.get('x-forwarded-proto') != "https") {
        res.set('x-forwarded-proto', 'https');
        res.redirect('https://' + req.get('host') + req.url);
    } else {
        next();     
    }
});

Another way to force https:

function ensureSecure(req, res, next){
  if(req.secure){
    // OK, continue
    return next();
  };
  res.redirect('https://'+req.host+req.url); // handle port numbers if non 443
};

app.all('*', ensureSecure);

Answer 2

You can edit the nginx config file in the EC2 instance. SSH to ec2 instance and follow the following steps

1. go to /etc/nginx/conf.d
2. open 00_elastic_beanstalk_proxy.conf sudo vi 00_elastic_beanstalk_proxy.conf

3. put

   location / { if ($http_x_forwarded_proto != 'https') { rewrite ^ https://$host$request_uri? permanent; } … }

4. reload nginx sudo /usr/sbin/nginx -s reload