Alinex web server

The alinex server is a simple base system making it possible to easily use it for any application. The main part is it's HTTP/HTTPS server part but it may also include other server protocols like ftp later.

• full configurable
• supports multiple IPs, ports, ssl
• support vhost and spaces
• full debug and logging support
• authentication
• forwarding and redirects
• proxy support

It is one of the modules of the Alinex Universe following the code standards defined in the General Docs.

Install

The easiest way is to let npm add the module directly to your modules (from within you node modules directory):

npm install alinex-server --save

And update it to the latest version later:

npm update alinex-server --save

Always have a look at the latest changes.

Usage

The usage is very simple, you have to load the server module first:

server = require 'alinex-server'

Setup

After that in your code you have to initialize the server:

server.init (err) ->
  return cb err if err
  # go on

Now you may add some specific routes:

server.route
  path: '/my-path'
  handler: (request, reply) ->
    # function handling this request

Start

server.http.start ->
  # server is running

Webserver Architecture

At the base this module manages any server like an HTTP or HTTPS server. Therefore it includes the basic server technology without specific applications.

Just now the only possible server is an http server.

The following architecture shows you how it is organized internally to learn how to customize it to your needs.

The server has two different bindings, first it should bind to the network to get the requests. Second it allows binding plugins to specific requests.

The arrows will show you some of the possibilities to connect the different server parts together. Because of the possibilities it may look complex at first.

Listener

The basic part of the connection to the network are the listeners. The server may listen on multiple or all IP addresses of the local host and may bind to multiple ports with HTTP or HTTPS protocols. For each Port binding and specific IP an extra listener has to be created.

The different listeners bundle all the used network connections for the server together and their names may be used later to bind spaces or apps to it. It also defines if an SSL protocol (HTTPS) will be used.

The concrete listener, virtual host (used Domain) and context (path) may be used to bind spaces and plugin to them.

Spaces

To make administration of complex and big servers easier you may use spaces. They define an area over some parts of one or multiple listeners which belongs together. It is not necessary to do so but it helps you to make configuration easier and put all configurations of one space together.

If spaces are used and you bind a plugin to them the plugin will be bound only to this area or a subpart of it if specified.

Plugins

Everything a user can use is specified using some plugins which may have their own configuration. They will be bound to a space, listener, domain and context path.

In the configuration you define them below the spaces to bind them to it or directly below the http element to directly bind to the listeners. If you want a plugin to be bound to multiple spaces you have to bind it directly to the listener or make multiple entries for it.

Configuration

The main configuration is done using the Config module so that the end user may easily configure the server without changing the code.

See the files for `server/http' configuration to get a list of all possibilities.

Routes

The following settings may be given:

• space
• listener
• domain
• context
• path
• method
• handler

Server start

The server will response after a short time with it's routing table on the console. You are now able to access the server.

API

License

Copyright 2015 Alexander Schilling

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.