How can I run nodebb on 2 urls?

[dunlix]

Hello. The title describes my problem. What I want, is that you can connect to my forum using two URLs: forum.example.com and community.example.com. These are not the same but it is the same scenario. I can connect with both, but only one acts normal like before. The other prevents me from logging in because of token errors and whatnot, and when clicking the site logo, goes to the homepage on the wrong URL.
Is there any way to achieve this? in the config.json file, I've made it so there are two url options, like

"url":"forum.example.com",
"url":"community.example.com",

and then the rest of the file.

Is there any way to get this working? or does NodeBB not support it?

[dunlix]

@pitaj I've got it working now and I don't have the config.json handy right now. but it looked something like this:

"url" : "forum.url1.com"
"url" : "forum.url2.com"
the rest of the config

[dunlix]

UPDATE: I've got it working, it seems, but I'm not sure what I did to get it to work. I can access even the admin panel from both domains.

[fais3000]

@dunlix Do you have nginx or any reverse proxy in front?

What kind of setup do you have to load each subdomain?

[dunlix]

@fais3000 yes I use Nginx but as I've said I have it working now. I just have a server block that includes the certificates and such for each url. I also have redirects from HTTP to HTTPS.

[PitaJ]

@dunlix mind sharing your config.json? You're not running in dev mode are you?

[dunlix]

@pitaj I've got it working now and I don't have the config.json handy right now. but it looked something like this:

"url" : "forum.url1.com"
"url" : "forum.url2.com"
the rest of the config

[PitaJ]

@dunlix the second entry will just override the first one in that case. I'm more interested in if you configured the websockets.

Why not just redirect one address to the other?

[dunlix]

@pitaj The second one definitely does not override it, because both work now. In some of my scenarios, my forum is blocked because it is categorized as a forum (FORUM.url) so a separate url works then. If it redirects then you know what will happen, it will still be blocked

[PitaJ]

@dunlix I guarantee you that it's not because there are two url entries in config.json

I know how NodeBB works and there is no support for multiple URLs.

If forum.example.com is blocked sometimes, but community.example.com isn't, then just serve at community and redirect from forum to community.

[dunlix]

@pitaj huh. Then I wonder why they both work, because they both do. I installed the session sharing plugin but haven't configured anything in it (all text boxes are empty).

[dunlix]

@pitaj maybe it is because there are TWO server blocks in the nginx config, and both of them point towards 127.0.0.1:4567. But i suppose it doesn't really make a difference then in the config.json, does it?

[PitaJ]

@dunlix session sharing shouldn't have anything to do with it. My guess is you put community second, so that is used as the URL, and it always works because it isn't blocked.

There might be some caching going on or you're running multiple instances or something. Without access to the sites I can't confirm anything.

[dunlix]

@pitaj The url to the site is https://forum.gggrealms.ml.
the second I added is http://unblocked.gggrealms.ml

[dunlix]

@pitaj also, I am definitely not running multiple instances because I always leave the log open so never use the console to start.

[PitaJ]

@dunlix a few problems

Certificate mismatch for unblocked. Suggest having a separate cert for each subdomain.

Your http -> https redirect isn't working for unblocked.

I get a security error for both (even after bypassing the TLS mismatch error). Looks like your server is set up for an outdated version of TLS.

Also it looks like your URL in config.json has http instead of https.

Right now I can't access your sites because of the errors.

[dunlix]

@pitaj I know about cert stuff for the unblocked and https, haven't set those up yet. I can access both fine on chrome, though.
I use lets encrypt for https://forum.gggrealms.ml

[dunlix]

@pitaj Does https://forum.gggrealms.ml give you any problems/errors? it shouldn't because i have a security cert for that

[PitaJ]

@dunlix it doesn't work on Firefox, Chrome, or Edge on my computer. On my phone, it doesn't work in Firefox, but it does work in Chrome.

Error in Firefox on my phone:

The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.
Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.

Websites prove their identity via certificates. Firefox Nightly does not trust https://forum.gggrealms.ml/ because its certificate issuer is unknown, the certificate is self-signed, or the server is not sending the correct intermediate certificates.

Error in Firefox on my computer:

NS_ERROR_NET_INADEQUATE_SECURITY

In this topic I made you should see the emoji image doesn't load. That's because it's trying to load from http://unblocked.gggrealms.ml/plugins/nodebb-plugin-emoji/emoji/customizations/ea9804b2-6c62-4ca1-b8b4-0d79bd12eb10-touchicon-orig.png which I think the browser blocks.

It's loading from there because that's your url in config.json

[Keng Her]

Just a thought.... For internal use you can do whatever you want, but if you're publishing these urls onto the web I don't understand why you would seek this. It would be much simpler to just keep it in one URL and do a redirect from the other URL. Also it's bad for SEO if you have two urls pointing to the same forum generating "duplicate" content.

Maybe you can enlighten me.

[dunlix]

I believe I made myself clear in this reply @Keng-Her.
Anyway I’ve got this working as I marked it solved.

@dunlix said in How can I run nodebb on 2 urls?:

@pitaj The second one definitely does not override it, because both work now. In some of my scenarios, my forum is blocked because it is categorized as a forum (FORUM.url) so a separate url works then. If it redirects then you know what will happen, it will still be blocked