Just figured I'd write back with what the fix was!
First of all, if you're using apache 2.2, it doesnt come with a new proxy module "mod_proxy_wstunnel", this is now included in the newer 2.4 distributions of the platform.
Next, if you google around, you can find easy instructions for debian/ubuntu for backporting that module to work with your setup.
The next part, is what was added to my sites-available/sitename.conf
ProxyRequests off
<Proxy *>
Order deny,allow
Allow from all
</Proxy>
ProxyPass /socket.io/1/websocket ws://127.0.0.1:4567/socket.io/1/websocket
ProxyPassReverse /socket.io/1/websocket ws://127.0.0.1:4567/socket.io/1/websocket
ProxyPass /socket.io/ http://127.0.0.1:4567/socket.io/
ProxyPassReverse /socket.io/ http://127.0.0.1:4567/socket.io/
ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:4567/
ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:4567/
My config.json from Nodebb
"port": "4567",
"use_port": true,
"bind_address": "127.0.0.1",
Sincerely hope this helps someone else out. However after this major fiasco, I'm leaning towards NGinx more now as it seems to be supported by default and I've been thinking about the move for a while now.
