Named Location

named-location.conf

http {
  server {
  
    upstream upstream_server {
      server unix:/tmp/rails.sock;
    }
  
    # This defines a "named location" called @proxy, which can be
    # referenced elsewhere in this configuration.  It's sort of like
    # a variable for locations.
    location @proxy {
      proxy_pass http://upstream_server;
      
      # The `proxy_set_header` directive is used to pass headers to the
      # upstream server.  In this case, we pass along the host of the original
      # server that first processed the request.
      proxy_set_header HOST $host;
      
      # Similarly, we pass the ip address of the client to the upstream server.
      proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $ remote_addr;
    }
    
    location / {
    
      # The `try_files` takes a list of files an a location as the last argument.
      # The $uri is a special variable that refers to the URI of the request.
      # Basically for every request, we will try to find/directory the file that 
      # matches the URI and if it's not found, we forward the request to the upstream 
      # server.
      try_files $uri $uri/ @proxy;
    }
  }
}

# vim: ft=nginx