Nginx Proxy for PlayFramework from port to path prefix - nginx

Question

I have a Play application listening on a local port :9000. There are other applications running.
I would like to server this application at a path like:
http://myhost/this-play-app -> localhost:9000
So that other apps could be nested at other paths.
I've tried the basic proxy_pass but it doesn't seem to work.
server {
listen 80;
server_name myhost;
# MMC Tool
# ----------------------------------------------------
location /this-play-app {
proxy_pass http://localhost:9000;
}
}
The play app seems to forward to the root. Is there a way to trick the play app to work within the /this-play-app path ?
Like /this-play-app/some-controller instead of /some-controller ?
Thanks

Answer 1

Using apps in folders isn't comfortable idea - you would need to at least prepare some dedicated config and change it each time when changing the location.
Instead as other suggested you should use subdomains, in this case each app behaves exactly the same as in the root domain and even if you will need/want to change that domain all you'll need will be change in the nginx's config.
Typical nginx's config looks like
upstream your_app {
server 127.0.0.1:9000;
}
server {
listen 80;
server_name your-app.domain.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://your_app;
}
}
Most probably on some VPS or shared hosts you'll need to add the subdomain by some kind of admin's panel - on localhost just need add the subdomain to the hosts file.
Edit if using subdomain is not possible anyway (pity) you can workaround it anyway by config, in nginx use (as you did in question:
...
location /this-play-app {
proxy_pass http://your_app;
}
...
and then add this line into your application.conf (Play 2.1+)
application.context = "/this-play-app"
Or this in case of Play 2.4+ (info)
play.http.context = "/this-play-app"