Checklist for reverse proxies in Apache/Windows

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 by Dave Winer.

Checklist of things to do with a fresh Apache install to get reverse proxies working (on Windows). 

1. Start with apache_2.2.9-win32-x86.nossl.msi, go through normal install. When it asks for domains I entered: twitterland.org, apache.twitterland.org (one of many unused domains I've bought over the years) and my Gmail address. 

2. Rebooted the system. 

3. Editing httpd.conf. In the default install the full path is:
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2conf\http.conf 

4. Uncomment two lines, to activate the proxy module, per advice. 

4a. Configure Apache to only listen on port 80 of 67.18.151.42. 

5. Restarted server. It works. http://apache.twitterland.org/  

6. Added code to map /npr on this server to the OPML Editor (which is running on port 5337). Well, it didn't kill the server, but it's also not mapping to the right place. What you should see is exactly what you see at: http://npr2.twitterland.org:5337/  

After a bit of fussing on the OPML Editor side of things, it worked. Thank you everyone for the help and encouragement. 

Here's the code I added in step 6. 

ProxyPreserveHost On
<Location /npr/>
   ProxyPass http://npr2.twitterland.org:5337/
   ProxyPassReverse http://npr2.twitterland.org:5337/
</Location> 

I have a bit more work to do, later, to get virtual domains to pass through the proxy, but I've heard that's pretty easy (heh, I'll believe it when I see it). 

Later... 

It turned out to be very straightforward and easy. I set it up so that http://test5.twitterland.org/ points to the Apache server, and using VirtualHost I sent it over to the OPML Editor through a proxy. Worked the first time.  

<VirtualHost 67.18.151.42:80>
   ServerName test5.twitterland.org
   ProxyPass / http://test5.twitterland.org:5337/
   ProxyPassReverse / http://test5.twitterland.org:5337/
</VirtualHost>