After spending several hours combing through documentation, API references, and various search results, I couldn’t find a straightforward way to access user data externally from discussions.codenamejessica.com when using my codenamejessica.com website. This led me down a rabbit hole of researching CORS policies, cookie documentation, and related topics—it was anything but enjoyable. Along the way, I managed to break my site at least a hundred times, an experience rivaled only by my frustrations with Azure at work. To save others from the same ordeal, I’ve created a concise guide to simplify this process.
This document provides a detailed guide to resolving CORS issues when using Nginx as a reverse proxy for NodeBB, ensuring proper handling of credentials (cookies) and cross-origin requests.
Prerequisites
- Access to your Nginx server configuration: Ensure you can edit the Nginx configuration files.
- NodeBB installed and running: NodeBB should be accessible locally at
http://127.0.0.1:4567.
- SSL Certificate: Ensure your server uses HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate (e.g., managed by Certbot).
Problem Overview
The issue occurs because:
- The
Access-Control-Allow-Credentials header is missing or improperly set.
- Cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) policies block requests when credentials (cookies) are included.
- The
OPTIONS preflight request is not properly handled.
Steps to Fix
Step 1: Edit the Nginx Configuration
Locate your Nginx configuration file for **domain or subdomain NodeBB points too**. This is typically located in /etc/nginx/sites-available or /etc/nginx/conf.d.
Edit the file to include the following configuration:
server {
listen 80;
server_name forum.example.com;
# Global CORS Headers
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin https://example.com always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Methods "GET, POST, OPTIONS" always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Headers "Authorization, Content-Type" always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Credentials true always;
location / {
# Handle OPTIONS preflight requests
if ($request_method = OPTIONS) {
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin https://example.com always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Credentials true always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Methods "GET, POST, OPTIONS" always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Headers "Authorization, Content-Type" always;
return 204; # No Content
}
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4567;
proxy_redirect off;
# Socket.IO Support
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
}
location /assets/uploads/ {
add_header Cross-Origin-Resource-Policy cross-origin always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin "https://example.com" always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Methods "GET, POST, OPTIONS" always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Headers "Authorization, Content-Type" always;
}
location ~ ^/api/(categories|topic|posts|users|login|groups|admin|email|flags|notifications|search|tags|post|outgoing)$ {
# Add CORS headers
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin https://example.com always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Credentials true always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Methods "GET, POST, OPTIONS" always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Headers "Authorization, Content-Type" always;
# Handle OPTIONS preflight requests
if ($request_method = OPTIONS) {
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin https://example.com always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Credentials true always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Methods "GET, POST, OPTIONS" always;
add_header Access-Control-Allow-Headers "Authorization, Content-Type" always;
return 204; # No Content
}
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4567;
}
# HTTPS Configuration
listen 443 ssl; # managed by Certbot
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot
include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; # managed by Certbot
ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; # managed by Certbot
}
# Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
server {
if ($host = forum.example.com) {
return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
} # managed by Certbot
listen 80;
server_name forum.example.com;
return 404; # managed by Certbot
}
Step 2: Restart Nginx
Save the changes and restart Nginx to apply the new configuration:
sudo systemctl restart nginx
Step 3: Clear Browser Cache
Clear your browser cache and cookies to ensure no stale configurations interfere with testing.
Step 4: Test the Configuration
-
Open Browser Developer Tools:
- Go to the Network Tab.
- Trigger a cross-origin request (e.g., from
https://example.com to https://forum.example.com).
-
Inspect the Request and Response Headers:
- Ensure the following headers are present in the response:
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: https://example.comAccess-Control-Allow-Credentials: trueAccess-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, POST, OPTIONSAccess-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization, Content-Type
-
Verify Preflight (OPTIONS************) Requests:
- Confirm that the
OPTIONS requests return a 204 No Content response with the correct CORS headers.
-
Test API Calls:
Step 5: Debugging
If the issue persists:
-
Check Nginx Logs:
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
-
Verify the Backend (NodeBB):
- Ensure NodeBB is not overriding or omitting the required headers.
-
Repeat Testing:
- Retest using both browser tools and
curl.
This configuration should resolve the CORS issue and allow cross-origin requests with credentials. If further issues arise, revisit the headers and proxy configuration for adjustments.
Changing Cookie Settings in NodeBB
To ensure cookies work correctly across domains (e.g., example.com and forum.example.com), configure the following settings in NodeBB:
-
Edit the config.json file in the NodeBB root directory:
Add or modify the cookieDomain and cookie properties as follows:
{
"cookieDomain": ".example.com",
"cookie": {
"sameSite": "None",
"secure": true
}
}
cookieDomain: Ensures cookies are shared across the main domain and subdomains.sameSite: Set to None to allow cross-origin requests with credentials.secure: Set to true to ensure cookies are only sent over HTTPS.
-
Restart NodeBB:
Apply the changes by restarting NodeBB:
./nodebb restart
-
Verify Cookies:
Use your browser's developer tools to check that the cookies are:
- Accessible on both
example.com and forum.example.com.
- Marked with the correct domain,
Secure, and SameSite attributes.
With these changes, cookies should work seamlessly across your domains, ensuring proper authentication and session handling for cross-origin requests.
Additional Steps: Configuring Cookies in the NodeBB Admin Control Panel
In addition to editing the config.json file, update the cookie settings in the NodeBB Admin Control Panel:
-
Access the Admin Control Panel:
- Navigate to
Admin -> Settings -> Cookies.
-
Set the Cookie Domain:
- Add
.example.com as the cookie domain.
-
Save Changes:
- Ensure you click "Save" to apply the changes.
-
Restart NodeBB:
- Restart NodeBB to ensure all settings take effect:
./nodebb restart
This ensures that cookies are properly configured for cross-origin requests and shared between the primary domain and subdomains.
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