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Author's profile photo Pierre Godart

Developing UI5 application locally using Nginx ((http) reverse proxy server)

Overview

This is about developing an UI5 application with access to OData layer on a local machine thanks to a local HTTP server.

You can find different htttp servers on the web but some have advantages for the current context.

But first of all, you can ask yourself:

Why a local http server instead of the SAP solution (SAP Web IDE + Cloud connector for example)?

  • in case of you cannot use the SAP solution (SAP could connector is not installed on your environment)
  • in case of your web connection is too slow/bad: local server can speed-up application development
  • in case of you prefer another development tool (more advanced like MS-Visual Studio or more simple like Sublime text)
  • ….

Simple case

For some developments, I use Microsoft IIS Express server. This solution is just fine if your OData layer remains on the same server as your pages.

This server is

  • simple
  • can host ASP.NET pages / OData services (working nicely with Entity framework and linq)
  • can work in a standalone mode (no need extra administrator rights to use it)

Configuration of the server

Given this context:

  • IIS Express installed in  => C:\Temp\_WebServer\IIS_Express_10.0
  • Local configuration file => C:\Users\godartp\Documents\IISExpress\config

Edit the local configuration file applicationhost.config like this:

!! IIS will restrict access to some file extensions by default… this is annoying for UI5 library files, to enable the access:

You can now launch IIS so that your pages can be requested:

C:\Temp\_WebServer\IIS_Express_10.0\iisexpress.exe   /siteid:MySapUI5App

Issue

The simple case below  is working fine..BUT a common issue arise when you want to consume services that are hosted in another server that the one hosting your pages… Typically when you are  consuming (OData) services from a SAP Netwevear GateWay (NGW).

This is the “Cross-Origin Resource Sharing” issue (CORS): the browser security will detect cross-origin requests and will not allow them.

You can avoid CORS issues using tricks like launching browser in specific mode and configuring servers responses… but theses solutions seem to me a bit wobbly.

So, I looked forward the reverse proxy solution. I found a web server having  the same advantages as IIS but supporting reverse proxy functionality: NginX.

 

NginX solution

Architecture

Installation of the server

 

The situation

  • WebServer:  C:\Temp\_WebServer\nginx-1.17.10\
  • UI5 Librairies: C:\Temp\Applications\OpenUI5_1.60.24\resources
  • UI5 Application: C:\Temp\Applications\webapp

 

Configuration of the server

I want first:

http://localhost/index.html … =>

…to give access to C:\Temp\Applications\webapp\index.html

http://localhost/resources/… =>

…to give access to C:\Temp\Applications\OpenUI5_1.60.24\resources

and then OData services are first requested to NginX server and then are forwarded to the NWG web application server.

 

So, let’s proceed:

Edit the file nginx.conf

 

In the server section:

The section “location /sap/…” specify to the server the reverse proxy set-up.

 

Conclusion

This simple solution allows you to bypass the SAP solution when needed and uses a better approach for developing end-to-end SAP solutions.

 

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      1 Comment
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      Author's profile photo Anand Rai
      Anand Rai

      Hi @0001916606,

       

      Thanks a lot for this blog.

      I am new to this nginx, so can you please let me know how can i run my app once I created all the conf file as per your blog.

      I have a VS Code and developed the project as per this blog. But I am wandering how to run this nginx file now.

       

      Regards,

      Anand