How do I run Node.js on port 80?

Question

My aim is to run Node.js on port 80. This is because I am finding node.js is being blocked from certain networks which do not allow traffic from any other port.

It appears that the best way to do this is by proxying Apache through Node.js. I have tried using node-http-proxy to do this but I have not had any luck.

The code I am using is here:

var util = require('util'),     http = require('http'),     httpProxy = require('http-proxy');  httpProxy.createServer(9000, 'localhost').listen(80);  http.createServer(function (req, res) {   res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });   res.write('request successfully proxied to: ' + req.url + '\n' + JSON.stringify(req.headers, true, 2));   res.end(); }).listen(9000); 

But I keep getting the error "Address in use" for port 80. I must be doing something wrong.

How do I proxy Apache through node.js using node-http-proxy? Will this enable me to run node.js on port 80? And is node-http-proxy the best way to achieve this?

Thank you.

Answer 1

run your app on a high port 8080 or whatev then

sudo iptables -A PREROUTING -t nat -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 80 -j REDIRECT --to-port 8080 

If you are not using ngnix or apache

Answer 2

The simplest solution: safely configure your node app to run on port 80.

• sudo apt-get install libcap2-bin
• sudo setcap cap_net_bind_service=+ep /path/to/node
• Ta da! You're done.

Why do I like it?

• You don't have to use apache or nginx
• You don't have to run your application as root
• You won't have to forward ports (and handle that each time your machine boots)

Reference Link: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-pm2-to-setup-a-node-js-production-environment-on-an-ubuntu-vps (A great article on how to set up your node app on cloud hosting).