How to Deploy an AngularJS Frontend Application with Nginx and Dropwizard

What are the steps to deploy an AngularJS frontend application using Nginx and Dropwizard?

# Example Nginx Configuration
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name my-angular-app.com;

    location / {
        root /var/www/my-angular-app;
        index index.html;
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
    }

    location /api {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8080;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Deploying an AngularJS frontend application with Nginx and Dropwizard involves setting up Nginx as a web server to serve the static files and configuring Dropwizard to handle API requests. This guide describes the necessary steps for a successful deployment.

# Start Dropwizard server command
java -jar my-dropwizard-app.jar server config.yml

Causes

• Misconfiguration of Nginx settings.
• Network issues preventing communication between Nginx and Dropwizard.
• Build errors in the AngularJS application.

Solutions

• Ensure the build output of your AngularJS app is correctly located in the configured Nginx root directory.
• Set proper proxy settings in Nginx for API requests to Dropwizard.
• Test the deployment in a staging environment before going live.

Mistake: Incorrect root directory specified in Nginx configuration.

Solution: Make sure the 'root' directive points to the correct path where your AngularJS application is built.

Mistake: Failing to set up API proxying correctly in Nginx.

Solution: Ensure that the Nginx location block for /api correctly points to your Dropwizard application.

Mistake: Not checking CORS settings when frontend and backend are on different domains.

Solution: Configure CORS headers in your Dropwizard application to allow requests from your AngularJS frontend.