# Lost Connection to server, reconnecting on AWS linux

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [6 May 2026 23:25 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928 "2026-05-06T23:25:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 00:25 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/21 "2026-05-08T00:25:42Z")

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By the way I might have misspoke that it worked on my previous AWS, as this [LINK](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting/17667/21) shows that from at least 2021 I was following this issue.

I'll look at this thread to gain any insight.

ps. I just tried from my iPhone browser, and that Lost Connection shows up.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 00:33 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/22 "2026-05-08T00:33:11Z")

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How do I get to a window like you show? I have all linux command, like "netstat". But in general my AWS instance is just a processor with a firewall and ports.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 00:41 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/23 "2026-05-08T00:41:06Z")

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> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> How do I get to a window like you show?

You simply open the dev tools in your (desktop) browser then go to the network tab.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 00:49 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/24 "2026-05-08T00:49:36Z")

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OK, I see this under the "developer" of a web page (the node-red one).  
Here is some: /bot is a Redirect to port 2000

Gets error:

> [Error] WebSocket connection to 'wss://semanticmarkers.com/bot/comms' failed: There was a bad response from the server. (x5)

> Summary  
> URL: wss://semanticmarkers.com/bot/comms  
> Status: 404 Not Found  
> Source: —
> 
> Request  
> Cache-Control: no-cache  
> Origin: [https://semanticmarkers.com](https://semanticmarkers.com)  
> Pragma: no-cache  
> Sec-Fetch-Dest: websocket  
> Sec-Fetch-Mode: websocket  
> Sec-Fetch-Site: same-origin  
> Sec-WebSocket-Extensions: permessage-deflate  
> Sec-WebSocket-Version: 13  
> User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10\_15\_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/26.4 Safari/605.1.15
> 
> Response  
> Access-Control-Allow-Origin: \*  
> Content-Length: 144  
> Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'none'  
> Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8  
> Date: Fri, 08 May 2026 00:53:56 GMT  
> Server: Apache/2.4.66 (Amazon Linux) OpenSSL/3.5.5  
> Vary: Accept-Encoding  
> X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 01:04 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/25 "2026-05-08T01:04:01Z")

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OK, that makes one thing fairly clear I think. _This is an AWS configuration issue._

How, for example, is AWS hiding the Node-RED port? That strikes me as it running a proxy which isn't, perhaps, correctly configured to handle websockets.

I'm not sure how many people on the forum use AWS, I don't, for Node-RED but I fear you may have more joy with AWS support than here.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 01:11 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/26 "2026-05-08T01:11:46Z")

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Running node-red on my mac I can see what you desire:

> Summary  
> URL: ws://localhost:1880/comms  
> Status: 101 Switching Protocols  
> Source: —

As for AWS configuration issue, node-red only mentions a single port under my control (1880 or my 2000). So I open that port on the firewall.

If you say node-red needs a `wss` web socket port to be open - isn't that information I could use and configure AWS?

Or are you saying that is some strange proxy that only AWS has issues with?

There must be more your implementation can share?  
thanks.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 01:16 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/27 "2026-05-08T01:16:05Z")

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> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> If you say node-red needs a `wss` web socket port to be open - isn't that information I could use and configure AWS?

As I already said, websockets uses the same port as HTTP(S) so no additional port is needed. However, if going through a proxy, you have to be using HTTP v1.1 and have to configure the proxy to support websockets.

> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> Or are you saying that is some strange proxy that only AWS has issues with?

I don't know AWS so can't comment on that side. But most, if not all proxies require configuration to support websockets. I know how to do this on my local NGINX (or Caddy) proxies but not on AWS - I don't even know if AWS needs any config, sorry.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 01:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/28 "2026-05-08T01:44:54Z")

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I've been using node-red on an AWS for 10+ years. And I guess I've had this  
issue all along. It's just a virtual linux box with a firewall, as far as we are told.

And as you say the web sockets are somehow just re-configured through https? Maybe there is more to it and AWS is hitting a wall.

So, maybe your team can discuss this issue more. I can give you access to AWS for testing as well.

I hope you guys don't just punt and say you don't fully support one of the most popular Server-on-Demand services on the internet (Amazon).  
thanks.

ps. the httpd server reports trying to access that /comms httpd-in of node-red. But gets 404 error.

> 75.213.29.86 - - [08/May/2026:01:53:08 +0000] "GET /bot/comms HTTP/1.1" 404 144

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 06:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/29 "2026-05-08T06:32:04Z")

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Did you try googling for how to enable websockets on AWS?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 09:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/30 "2026-05-08T09:24:41Z")

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> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> So, maybe your team can discuss this issue more. I can give you access to AWS for testing as well.
> 
> I hope you guys don't just punt and say you don't fully support one of the most popular Server-on-Demand services on the internet (Amazon).  
> thanks.

Hi, I fear you may be misinterpreting what Node-RED is. As an open source project, most of us here, including me, are simply open source and Node-RED enthusiasts, not part of a "team" as such.

The problem is that there are hundreds if not thousands of different environments so unless there are other enthusiasts on the forum who use the same environment type, there may be nobody to help. That's why I suggested trying to get some help from an AWS support forum as well.

Most of my spare development time is focused on developing the UIBUILDER nodes and some web components. I don't typically use cloud compute now I've retired and when working, I was more focused on Azure rather than AWS though even then, not really a "pro" user.

In doing some background reading, I can see plenty of posts online regarding an AWS websocket API but I couldn't really make much sense of them with a casual reading. Unfortunately, that's all I have time for.

I can share my NGINX config which might help you understand the proxy requirements for websockets but that's about it.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 09:26 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/31 "2026-05-08T09:26:00Z")

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> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> ps. the httpd server reports trying to access that /comms httpd-in of node-red. But gets 404 error.

Almost certainly because AWS is translating the external-facing endpoints differently to what you expect. Again, this is AWS specific.

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**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 16:21 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/32 "2026-05-08T16:21:56Z")

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> AWS is translating the external-facing endpoints differently to what **you** expect.

All I can say is your product `node-red` doesn't work correctly with AWS. You can say that's an AWS specific issue, but it's `node-red` that isn't working as expected.

Looking through the threads, this issue was first reported by someone in 2019. My first use of AWS was 2020 and I reported that issue then.

I'm wiling to debug more.

thanks.

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**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [8 May 2026 16:46 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/33 "2026-05-08T16:46:30Z")

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> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> your product

Not my product. I am a user of it just like you (though using it for over a decade).

> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> I'm wiling to debug more.

And I would be willing to help more. But without knowledge of AWS, I fear I cannot and, as I've said, I don't have capacity to start learning AWS. Hopefully, someone else with more knowledge will chip in.

Node-RED works fine in many different environments including cloud ones. So something is certainly different with the AWS environment - I'm not blaming AWS, a number of the big cloud platforms can have some odd effects. I've never had much luck either with IBM or Oracle for example. I've set up Node-RED in two different configurations on Azure but even there, you need to know a reasonable amount about Azure configuration to get things to work.

* * *

Perhaps AI will help - here is what Gemini has to say:

> How to set up a Linux server on AWS with a node.js app that uses websockets?

Setting up a Node.js server with WebSockets on AWS involves configuring the virtual machine, the networking (security groups), and the application environment. Since WebSockets require a persistent connection, your infrastructure must be configured to handle "upgraded" HTTP requests.

Here is a streamlined guide to getting this running on an **EC2 (Ubuntu)** instance.

* * *

## 1. Launch the EC2 Instance

1. **AMI Selection:** Choose **Ubuntu 24.04 LTS** (or the latest LTS).
2. **Instance Type:** `t3.micro` is usually sufficient for testing.
3. **Security Group (Crucial):**

- **SSH (Port 22):** From your IP.
- **HTTP (Port 80):** From anywhere.
- **App Port (e.g., 3000):** If you aren't using a reverse proxy yet, open the port your Node app listens on.

* * *

## 2. Server Environment Setup

Once you SSH into your instance (`ssh -i your-key.pem ubuntu@your-public-ip`), install the essentials:

```bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
# Install Node.js (via NodeSource for specific versions)
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

```

### Process Management

Use **PM2** to ensure your app stays alive if it crashes or the server reboots.

```bash
sudo npm install -g pm2
# Start your app
pm2 start server.js
# Ensure it starts on boot
pm2 startup systemd
pm2 save

```

* * *

## 3. The Node.js WebSocket Code

For WebSockets in Node, the `ws` library or `socket.io` are standard. Here is a basic implementation using `ws` that integrates with an HTTP server:

```javascript
const http = require('http')
const WebSocket = require('ws')

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.writeHead(200)
  res.end('HTTP server running')
})

const wss = new WebSocket.Server({ server })

wss.on('connection', (ws) => {
  console.log('Client connected')
  ws.on('message', (message) => {
    console.log('Received: %s', message)
    ws.send(`Echo: ${message}`)
  })
})

server.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server listening on port 3000')
})

```

* * *

## 4. Configuring a Reverse Proxy (Nginx)

While you can point traffic directly to port 3000, it is best practice to use **Nginx**. This allows you to use port 80/443 and handle the WebSocket "Upgrade" headers properly.

1. **Install Nginx:** `sudo apt install nginx`
2. **Edit Config:** `sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default`
3. **Update the `location /` block:**

```nginx
location / {
    proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
}

```

1. **Restart Nginx:** `sudo systemctl restart nginx`

* * *

## 5. Important AWS Considerations

- **Idle Timeouts:** If you use an **AWS Application Load Balancer (ALB)**, the default idle timeout is 60 seconds. WebSockets will disconnect if no data is sent. You must either increase this timeout in the ALB attributes or implement a **heartbeat (ping/pong)** in your Node.js code.
- **Elastic IP:** EC2 public IPs change if you stop/start the instance. Assign an **Elastic IP** in the AWS Console to keep your address permanent.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [9 May 2026 02:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/34 "2026-05-09T02:14:05Z")

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Thanks for the info. Like you say, maybe someone is interested. I just assumed you were support for node-red.

I can support web sockets in node-red, but that's at the user level. The comments above say the node-red internals are moving the socket into the https connection somehow. I would think that's a place to look or at least print out some debug.

THanks.

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**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [9 May 2026 09:28 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/35 "2026-05-09T09:28:28Z")

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> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> I just assumed you were support for node-red.

🤣 It's open source my friend. Support is from the community. There is FlowFuse if you want to pay for support.

> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> the node-red internals are moving the socket into the https connection somehow.

This is automatic due to the way that websockets work. They piggyback off HTTP(S). So if you use HTTPS for Node-RED itself, the Editor will use WSS. However, also note that it is possible to move the TLS processing to a proxy relieving Node-RED of the overheads, but assuming you aren't using a VPN into your cloud server, you would be accessing the Editor via HTTPS external to Node-RED itself - the websockets would still be using WSS but the proxy would be responsible for the translation back to ws before forwarding to Node-RED. This is why an understanding of the cloud architecture is necessary - it is quite likely to be doing things for security and efficiency that need to be taken into account.

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**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [9 May 2026 15:47 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/36 "2026-05-09T15:47:02Z")

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Thanks for the information. I'm not using a VPN, and I am using HTTPS. I have had web sockets working before. I "ssh" into my AWS linux box. Also node-red is NOT running in a docker (versus MQTT - first time with docker).

So this "security and efficiency" will have to be explored. Is there any better debug option on the node-red engine?

thanks.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [9 May 2026 16:43 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/37 "2026-05-09T16:43:11Z")

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> [@knowledgeshark](#):
>
> Is there any better debug option on the node-red engine?

You can turn up the logging level, settings are in the settings.js file. It gets very noisy very quickly though, especially if you have a lot of nodes installed. Best to run up a separate Node-RED instance to keep the noise more manageable. There is a lot of info there but it equally takes a lot of walking through. You can even set up custom logging as well.

Because Node-RED is built on Node.js, it is mostly JavaScript though, so you can always go digging in the code and add your own debugging.

You can also run Node-RED in a node.js debug mode - something like this:

```auto
node --inspect <???>/node_modules/node-red/red.js

```

You will need to find where red.js is installed. `whereis red.js` should do that.

If you prefer, there is a contributed node that will set that up for you, `node-red-contrib-inspector`.

Just remember that it fires up a separate port which you have to connect to from your browser's dev tools. Not sure if that is possible from AWS.

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**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [9 May 2026 17:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/38 "2026-05-09T17:12:13Z")

</div>

Thanks. I tried the "trace" and that's a lot of info. Another "port" is possible to open if I go to that level of debugging.

Again, hopefully someone can keep this issue open and try to solve it.

cheers,

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [10 May 2026 16:00 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/39 "2026-05-10T16:00:49Z")

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There are tools that you can use to check whether a websocket port is open on a server. Google for how to do it for the OS you have on your PC (which is the client). If the port is not open then that shows that it is a mis-configuration of your server.

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**Author:** ![knowledgeshark](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knowledgeshark/32/4820_2.png) [@knowledgeshark](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knowledgeshark)\
**Post date:** [11 May 2026 17:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/lost-connection-to-server-reconnecting-on-aws-linux/100928/40 "2026-05-11T17:20:01Z")

</div>

If there is a specific web socket port that has to be open .. then I need to know that. Unless I'm missing something node-red only says to open the main port (for me it's 2000).

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