code-server: Web socket fails to connect through Apache

For those affected, what version of Apache are you running?

I was able to resolve the issue by updating apache2 to Apache/2.4.53 — however, I believe any version >= Apache/2.4.47 may work.

I was experiencing websocket 1006 errors on Apache/2.4.41

Apache’s mod_proxy_wstunnel documentation mention this:

Since httpd 2.4.47, mod_proxy_http can handle WebSocket upgrading and tunneling in accordance to RFC 7230, this directive controls whether mod_proxy_wstunnel should hand over to mod_proxy_http to this, which is the case by default.

Setting to Off lets mod_proxy_wstunnel handle WebSocket requests as in httpd 2.4.46 and earlier.

The grammar is a bit off, but I just assumed Apache was handling the websocket proxy incorrectly and I updated apache.

Hope this helps!

Confirming I was able to reproduce:

$ sudo apt install apache2
$ sudo a2enmod rewrite proxy proxy_http proxy_wstunnel
$ sudo vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf # See below
$ sudo apache2
$ code-server --version
4.0.1 735c6da829535969ff7193c79379299e4a1cb9bc
$ code-server --port 8080

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ProxyPass / http://localhost:8080/
  RewriteEngine on
  RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} websocket [NC]
  RewriteCond %{HTTP:Connection} upgrade [NC]
  RewriteRule ^/?(.*) "ws://localhost:8080/$1" [P,L]
</VirtualHost>

1. Open localhost in browser
2. Get 1006 errors

Then to confirm it is a 4.0.1 issue I killed code-server with C-c and installed 3.12.0 with yarn:

$ yarn global add code-server@3.12.0
$ ~/.yarn/bin/code-server --version # .yarn/bin is not in my path
3.12.0 4cd55f94c0a72f05c18cea070e10b969996614d2
$ ~/.yarn/bin/code-server --port 8080

1. Open localhost in browser (Apache is still running from earlier)
2. Everything works

I have 35 enabled apache configurations and am not going to migrate to nginx for this.

However, I am stuck to version 3.x until this bug is solved.

Here’s my working config using apache2 v2.4.52 & code-server v4.3.0, using ProxyPass (and RewriteEngine only for WebSocket).

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName code.kaki87.net
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
    RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName code.kaki87.net
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPass / http://localhost:3090/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:3090/
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} =websocket [NC]
    RewriteRule /(.*) ws://localhost:3090/$1 [P,L]
    SSLCertificateFile /home/kaki/.acme.sh/kaki87.net/fullchain.cer
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /home/kaki/.acme.sh/kaki87.net/kaki87.net.key
</VirtualHost>

I always try to make those as light as possible. I don’t think proxying to the local host or to another host on the local network changes anything. Also, @ihowell, when making future reports about something that isn’t working, please document the unexpected behavior as much as you can, because it is as important as documenting your configuration. 😃

Sounds like we need to spin up Apache and try to reproduce.

I successfully upgraded both apache2 and code-server, thanks !

Well, since this issue is Apache-specific, not using Apache obviously “works around” the issue, but that’s not a really usable answer.

I’m guessing that line from release log “Web socket compression has been made the default (when supported). This means the --enable flag will no longer take permessage-deflate as an option” is causing problem. I tried finding analog to “proxy_set_header Accept-Encoding gzip” nginx but I have not yet figured way to make it work.

FYI: I also see some content security policy complaints in console log. There are also some 1006 errors, that are resolved in newer versions https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-remote-release/issues/6031 Although code server works without apache reverse proxy (http, not https), that’s not really clever to run though the internet 😃

Ditto.

3.12.0 works fine. 4.0.1 returns 1006. apache2 reverse proxy.

Same issue here using apache2 with reverse proxy

I am receiving the same 1006 error as op, however I don’t know how to tell if the websocket is being upgraded properly. I can access code-server from http://192.168.50.60:8081 in my browser and everything works fine. I just followed instructions and upgraded my server to Apache2 version 2.4.53, but it still isn’t working.

Edit: When I run code-server with --log debug, I don’t see any errors in the logs.

Edit 2: I now have it working by using the rewriting rules above instead of using my configuration for proxy passing and reverse proxy passing.

@KaKi87

I am running Debian (10), not Ubuntu.

Try using this to add the repository: curl -sSL https://packages.sury.org/apache2/README.txt | sudo bash -x

Then proceed with upgrading apache2.

Disclaimer: I’m not familiar with Debian. I’m suggesting this based on this guide

@KaKi87 I had to add this repository, and then reinstall apache to upgrade beyond 2.4.41

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/apache2 

@leuit Thanks!

Thank you @leuit. Upgrading apache2 to 2.4.53 solved the issue for me as well.

Thanks @leuit, upgrading to Apache/2.4.53 solved the issue

I’m hosting code-server in a dedicated server so I’m definitely in a different network.

Update! The problem was resolved when I tried it from an outside network. So it may have something to do with local routing / proxying differences. Unsure if this is directly related, but my websocket 1006 has been resolved. If I’m local and want to test through the domain I have it on, I’ll have to figure out something else.

Websocket 1006 error occurred under these conditions.

• nginxproxymanager to code-server (all in docker-compose) for my subdomain.
• also exposed code-server to local machine
• localhost:8080 to code-server works perfectly
• code.mydomain.com gives 1006 error (tried from same host)
• code.mydomain.com works perfectly (tried from host outside network)

I’m also seeing this bug, with NGINX (using nginx proxy manager). I’m currently trying to fix with https://github.com/coder/code-server/issues/4763 but I’m not having any luck. Latest docker version of code-server.

If the exact same config works with 3.12 that does seem like it could be an issue with 4.0 but I have no idea how; so far all the 1006 errors I have seen have been caused by misconfiguration.

I am not very familiar with Apache but maybe this comment has a clue:

https://github.com/coder/code-server/discussions/2104#discussioncomment-360665