Did you see my config? I'm solid with nginx - so i'm banging my head here. varnish is new to me but that performance boost is incredible. I'll take a look at the docs again - but i've been going through the pdf version with a fine tooth comb and not sure where i'm going wrong here.
http://pastebin.com/p1gqhw1i
That's my config above - both varnish - config.json - and nginx included. I actually don't use apache -
Default port is set to 8080 which is how i have the server block setup for forum.mysimpleclouds.com - you can see everything at the pastebin link above. I posted my entired configuration there.
I thought about adding an additional block to the fqdn however since it's wordpress it's just going to complicate things being as it's php and not nodejs/javascript. It was easier to setup another vhost.
I'm new to nodejs - and love nodebb - since i first set my eyes on it i wanted it. you guys did a great job. I tested it out with docker then decided to bring it live because I loved it so much. I see so much potential in this - way more than forum software. Plus it's so fast with varnish/nginx that i'm literally going to be replacing my wordpress sites one by one - once i figure out how to get it to survive reboots. Looking at upstart scripts / forever - but can't seem to nail that down yet.
I am ultra proficient with NGINX - so a proxy setup is nothing new to me - and I have some pretty advanced nginx configs setup for clients/our own sites but it's a whole new ball game with node. I'm stumped. I spent almost 24 hours getting it up and going with mongo /nginx/varnish - and then finallly got it off the port and was like wtf. Take a look at my setup and let me know if you see anything wrong there. I followed your docs and added a couple things for performance boosts but other than that, this is a pretty simple setup at this point.
FYI I don't use Apache - it's bloat to me and not needed imo. I only use it when I absolutely have to. NGINX powers everything we use.