How to properly configure alias directive in nginx? - php

Question

I have been trying to configure multiple webapp on my nginx webserver but I can't get working one Laravel app that requires $document_root set to laravel public folder.
I am currently trying to configure it using alias directive but for an obscure reason this doesn't work. Here is what I am trying to do.
# Default server configuration
#
server {
listen 80;
# SSL configuration
#
listen 443 ssl;
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log warn;
ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/server.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/server.key;
set $root_path '/var/www/html';
root $root_path;
# Add index.php to the list if you are using PHP
index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html index.php;
server_name localhost;
location /paperwork {
alias /var/www/html/paperwork/frontend/public;
try_files $uri $uri/;
#location ~ \.php {
# fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(.*)$;
# fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php5-fpm.sock;
# include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;
# #fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME /var/www/html$fastcgi_script_name;
# #fastcgi_intercept_errors on;
#}
}
#location #paperwork {
# rewrite /paperwork/(.*)$ /paperwork/index.php/$1 last;
#}
location / {
}
location /wallabag {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php;
}
location /laverna {
try_files $uri/ /index.php;
}
# pass the PHP scripts to FastCGI server listening on 127.0.0.1:9000
#
location ~ \.php$ {
# With php5-cgi alone:
#fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;
# With php5-fpm:
fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
#try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php5-fpm.sock;
fastcgi_index index.php;
include fastcgi_params;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
}
# deny access to .htaccess files, if Apache's document root
# concurs with nginx's one
location ~ /\.ht {
deny all;
}
}
To test my "alias" config I put a 'test.php' files in /var/www/html/paperwork/frontend/public/test.php and tried to access it via https://IP/paperwork/test.php. I get a 404 error and nothing in nginx error log.
If I try https://IP/paperwork/frontend/public/test.php in browser it displays the test.php file without errors.
Nothing change if I uncomment try_files line in php location.
If I copy test.php to /var/www/html/paperwork/test2.php and access to https://IP/paperwork/test2.php the file is displayed without errors so I can see here that alias is not working as there is not a test2.php in paperwork public directory.
I can have a different behaviour if I uncomment php location inside paperwork location. With this, requests like https://IP/paperwork/test.php do not display a 404 but a blank screen.
I have been through a lot of forums / questions related to this but I couldn't get a working config for a simple task like displaying test.php...
Thanks !

Answer 1

I found the solution. It seems that a wrong request was sent for php files. When alias is used it is recommend to use $request_filename instead of $fastcgi_script_name.
Here is my location block :
location /paperwork {
alias /var/www/html/paperwork/frontend/public;
#try_files $uri $uri/;
location ~ \.php$ {
fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php5-fpm.sock;
include fastcgi_params;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $request_filename;
#fastcgi_intercept_errors on;
}
}
This solved my problem for my 'test.php' file which is now executed while reaching https://IP/paperwork/test.php. So alias is working and php is well executed.
I still have a problem when trying to reach 'index.php' (which is my laravel app index). File is found but instead of executing it is downloaded. So when I reach https://IP/paperwork/index.php I get a login file downloaded which is index.php file. I get same behaviour if I try /paperwork/index.php/login or /paperwork/login.

Answer 2

try this:
location /api/ {
index index.php index.html index.htm;
alias /app/www/;
location ~* "\.php$" {
try_files $uri =404;
fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $request_filename;
}
}
https://www.nginx.com/resources/wiki/start/topics/tutorials/config_pitfalls/