Nginx with static index.html and reverse proxy - nginx

Question

I'm trying to configure Nginx location for hours, not sure what I'm doing wrong:
server {
listen 80;
server_name test.myserver.com;
location = / {
root /www/;
}
location / {
proxy_pass http://192.168.0.170;
}
}
Nginx is running on OpenWRT router, inside /www/ there is only a index.html file. All other addresses should be proxied to an Arduino in 192.168.0.170.
I understand "location = /" rule should precede "location /". I'm avoiding creating a rule for any other address than "/", like /a, /b, /c, and go on.
With this code, I get a 404 from "/", as there is no index.html in 192.168.0.170. If I remove "location / { proxy_pass ...}", I could get index.html result from "/" address.
EDIT:
-Including a return 302 /blah; inside "location = /" block works fine, so the rule is being applied.

Answer 1

For anyone that drop here, the solution I've found:
server {
listen 80;
server_name test.myserver.com;
root /www/;
location = / { }
location /index.html { }
location / {
proxy_pass http://192.168.0.170;
}
}
Ugly, but it works. Maybe OpenWRT implementation (version 1.12.2) isn't as reliable a full distribution (current in 1.19.1 version).

Answer 2

In my example, just copied you configuration and did a little tweak, to match with a current configuration I use in my server.
Changed the listen to a default_server
Added root to the server block.
Added index index.html index.htm; line.
You can try the following configuration:
server {
listen 80 default_server;
root /www;
index index.html index.htm;
server_name test.myserver.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://192.168.0.170;
}
}
After change your configuration test your server block file with command:
sudo nginx -t
If everything is okay, restart the nginx instance:
sudo nginx -s reload
After restart with success if you are trying access via browser, try using incognito mode in a new browser instance. (just for cache clean)