roa2web-service-auto/deployment/windows/config/README-WEB-CONFIG.md

web.config Files - Which Goes Where?

⚠️ IMPORTANT - Read Before Deployment!

ROA2WEB uses a 2-tier IIS architecture with 2 different web.config files for 2 different servers.

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Architecture Overview

Internet
    ↓
Public Server (10.0.20.122) - roa2web.romfast.ro
    ↓ HTTPS reverse proxy
Internal Server (10.0.20.36) - application host
    ↓ API proxy to localhost
Backend Service (localhost:8000 on 10.0.20.36)

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File Mapping

File: web.config.10.0.20.122-PUBLIC

Server: 10.0.20.122 (Public IIS - roa2web.romfast.ro) Role: Public gateway, reverse proxy to internal server

Purpose:

• Proxies ALL requests to https://10.0.20.36/{REQUEST_PATH}
• Sets forwarding headers (X-Forwarded-Proto, X-Forwarded-Host, X-Real-IP)
• Redirects root / to /roa2web/

Key Rule:

<match url="(.*)" />
<action type="Rewrite" url="https://10.0.20.36/{R:1}" />

Deployment Location:

10.0.20.122:
  C:\inetpub\wwwroot\[ROOT]\web.config

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File: web.config.10.0.20.36-INTERNAL

Server: 10.0.20.36 (Internal IIS - application host) Role: Serves frontend, proxies API to localhost backend

Purpose:

• Serves Vue.js frontend static files
• Proxies /roa2web/api/* to http://localhost:8000/api/*
• Proxies /roa2web/uploads/* to http://localhost:8000/uploads/*
• SPA fallback for client-side routing

Key Rules:

<match url="^roa2web/api/(.*)" />
<action type="Rewrite" url="http://localhost:8000/api/{R:1}" />

<match url="^roa2web/uploads/(.*)" />
<action type="Rewrite" url="http://localhost:8000/uploads/{R:1}" />

<match url="^roa2web/.*" />
<action type="Rewrite" url="/roa2web/index.html" />

Deployment Location:

10.0.20.36:
  C:\inetpub\wwwroot\roa2web\web.config

Note: This file is also in public/web.config (repository root) and is automatically copied to dist/ during Vite build.

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Deployment Checklist

✅ Public Server (10.0.20.122)

# Copy public server config
Copy-Item deployment/windows/config/web.config.10.0.20.122-PUBLIC `
          C:\inetpub\wwwroot\[ROOT]\web.config

# Verify
Get-Content C:\inetpub\wwwroot\[ROOT]\web.config | Select-String "10.0.20.36"

Expected: Should see url="https://10.0.20.36/{R:1}"

✅ Internal Server (10.0.20.36)

Option A: From built dist/ (recommended):

# After building frontend with `npm run build`
# web.config is automatically in dist/

# Deploy entire dist/ folder
Copy-Item dist\* C:\inetpub\wwwroot\roa2web\ -Recurse -Force

Option B: Manual copy:

# Copy internal server config
Copy-Item deployment/windows/config/web.config.10.0.20.36-INTERNAL `
          C:\inetpub\wwwroot\roa2web\web.config

# Verify
Get-Content C:\inetpub\wwwroot\roa2web\web.config | Select-String "roa2web/api"

Expected: Should see url="^roa2web/api/(.*)" and url="http://localhost:8000/api/{R:1}"

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Verification

Test Public Server (10.0.20.122)

# Should proxy to internal server
Invoke-WebRequest https://roa2web.romfast.ro/roa2web/ -UseBasicParsing

# Check response headers
(Invoke-WebRequest https://roa2web.romfast.ro/roa2web/).Headers

Expected: Request should be proxied to 10.0.20.36

Test Internal Server (10.0.20.36)

# Test backend directly
Invoke-WebRequest http://localhost:8000/health

# Test through IIS proxy
Invoke-WebRequest https://localhost/roa2web/api/health

# Test frontend
Invoke-WebRequest https://localhost/roa2web/

Expected: All should return 200 OK

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Common Mistakes ❌

❌ WRONG: Using internal config on public server

<!-- On 10.0.20.122 - WRONG! -->
<match url="^roa2web/api/(.*)" />
<action type="Rewrite" url="http://localhost:8000/api/{R:1}" />

Problem: Public server doesn't have backend on localhost:8000

❌ WRONG: Using public config on internal server

<!-- On 10.0.20.36 - WRONG! -->
<match url="(.*)" />
<action type="Rewrite" url="https://10.0.20.36/{R:1}" />

Problem: Creates infinite redirect loop

❌ WRONG: Missing /roa2web/ prefix on internal server

<!-- On 10.0.20.36 - WRONG! -->
<match url="^api/(.*)" />  <!-- Missing roa2web prefix! -->
<action type="Rewrite" url="http://localhost:8000/api/{R:1}" />

Problem: Requests come as /roa2web/api/... from public server, so ^api/ won't match

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Troubleshooting

Issue: 404 on API calls

Symptom: Frontend loads but API returns 404

Check: web.config on 10.0.20.36

# On 10.0.20.36
Get-Content C:\inetpub\wwwroot\roa2web\web.config | Select-String "roa2web/api"

Fix: Update to correct internal server config (see above)

Issue: Infinite redirect loop

Symptom: Browser shows "Too many redirects"

Check: Verify you didn't put public config on internal server

Issue: Backend not reachable

Symptom: 502 Bad Gateway on API calls

Check: Backend service on 10.0.20.36

# On 10.0.20.36
Get-Service ROA2WEB-Backend
Invoke-WebRequest http://localhost:8000/health

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Quick Reference

Server	IP	Config File	Key Pattern	Proxies To
Public	10.0.20.122	web.config.10.0.20.122-PUBLIC	url="(.*)"	https://10.0.20.36/{R:1}
Internal	10.0.20.36	web.config.10.0.20.36-INTERNAL	url="^roa2web/api/(.*)"	http://localhost:8000/api/{R:1}

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Documentation

For complete architecture details, see:

• deployment/windows/docs/TWO-TIER-IIS-DEPLOYMENT.md
• DIAGNOSIS-2025-12-30.md

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Last Updated: 2025-12-30 ROA2WEB Deployment Configuration Guide