node server.js - Cannot GET /

Question

I am currently working on a project which is a webpage using angular to dynamically change DOM elements. Within the project is a public folder which contains all HTML, CSS, JavaScript and JSON objects. The project must be distributed so I am using node to run from localhost. This is my server.js code:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var path = require('path');

app.get('/', function(req,res){
   res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/public')); 
});

app.listen(8080, function(){
    console.log((new Date()) + " Server is listening on port 8080");
});

When I head to localhost:8080 it just says Cannot GET /. Where am I going wrong?

are you sure to send __dirname + '/public' ? shouldn't it be __dirname + '/public/index.html' or something like that? — Adam
– Adam, Commented Jan 4, 2017 at 9:49
That will only send the index.html file and not the associated files for the javascript or css. Im looking to serve the whole public folder so that these files will be rendered along with the HTML — James Marshall-Osborne
– James Marshall-Osborne, Commented Jan 4, 2017 at 9:51

Muli Yulzary · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-04 10:18:13Z

3

The correct way to serve static files with express is as follows:

//Look for statics first
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));
//Return the index for any other GET request
app.get('/*', function (req, res) {
    res.sendFile('index.html', {root: path.join(__dirname, 'public')});
});

Edit: on a side note this may be worthwhile to mention that app.get should be the last route declared in node so if you want API endpoints exposed declare them above (before) the final app.get.

edited Jan 4, 2017 at 10:18

answered Jan 4, 2017 at 9:51

Muli Yulzary

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6 Comments

Quentin Over a year ago

That would then return index.html for URLs which really should be 404 error pages. That complicates all sorts of debugging because you get 200 OK messages displayed in dev tools when you put the wrong URL to (for example) an image or a JavaScript file.

Muli Yulzary Over a year ago

He uses angularjs. This is required for html5mode to work correctly.

Quentin Over a year ago

The URLs should be specified explicitly (and should return server rendered pages which Angular can progressively enhance, otherwise there is no point in using html5mode).

James Marshall-Osborne Over a year ago

Followed Muli's code and it works. Page is now working 100%! Many thanks.

Quentin Over a year ago

@JamesMarshall-Osborne — It works, but the app.get call has negative side effects and is unnecessary to solve the problem.

|

Non Plus Ultra · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-04 09:53:23Z

0

You forgot to point to the actual html file you want to display. If you have a index.html in your public directory, just point tot '/public/index.html' . That works (tested it here).

answered Jan 4, 2017 at 9:53

Non Plus Ultra

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Comments

James Marshall-Osborne · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-04 10:03:18Z

0

Followed user Muli's answer and all files are now being served correctly. Code here:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var path = require('path');

app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));

app.get('/', function(req,res){
   res.sendFile('index.html', {root: path.join(__dirname, './public')}) 
});

app.listen(8080, function(){
    console.log((new Date()) + " Server is listening on port 8080");
});

answered Jan 4, 2017 at 10:03

James Marshall-Osborne

1043 silver badges11 bronze badges

1 Comment

Quentin Over a year ago

app.get('/', function(req,res){ ... }); is pointless. It does nothing that app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public'))); doesn't already do. (Muli's code had a * in the path, which was harmful rather than pointless).

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