embed.js: GET https://remark42.host.com/web/embed.js net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED

[OnkelTem]

Backend

I run the remark42 server-side binary like this:

$ ./remark42.linux-amd64 server --secret=qwerty --url=https://remark42.host.com
remark42 local-20231016T10:52:00
2023/12/24 12:24:56.630 [INFO]  start server on port :8080
2023/12/24 12:24:56.631 [INFO]  root url=https://remark42.host.com
2023/12/24 12:24:56.631 [INFO]  make data store, type=bolt
2023/12/24 12:24:56.631 [INFO]  bolt store for sites [{FileName:./var/remark.db SiteID:remark}], options {Timeout:30s NoGrowSync:false NoFreelistSync:false PreLoadFreelist:false FreelistType: ReadOnly:false MmapFlags:0 InitialMmapSize:0 PageSize:0 NoSync:false OpenFile:<nil> Mlock:false}
2023/12/24 12:24:56.631 [INFO]  make admin store, type=shared
2023/12/24 12:24:56.631 [INFO]  make cache, type=mem
2023/12/24 12:24:56.631 [INFO]  make avatar store, type=fs
2023/12/24 12:24:56.631 [WARN]  no auth providers defined
2023/12/24 12:24:56.631 [INFO]  activate http rest server on :8080
2023/12/24 12:24:56.635 [INFO]  run file server, embedded
2023/12/24 12:24:56.636 [INFO]  start pictures cleanup, staging ttl=7m30s
2023/12/24 12:24:56.636 [INFO]  activate auto-backup for remark under ./var/backup, duration 24h0m0s

Frontend

However, I cannot fetch embed.js:

$ curl https://remark42.host.com/web/embed.js
curl: (7) Failed to connect to remark42.host.com port 443 after 140 ms: Connection refused

This is how it looks in the browser:

GET https://remark42.host.com/web/embed.js net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED

I reread the docs several times but haven't found any clues.

[umputun]

Unless the part of your setup is not provided, I don't see how this is supposed to work. You are running remark42 on port 8080, HTTP, but access it on port 443 HTTPS. Such a configuration may work only in case if you run it behind a reverse proxy of some kind (see 1 and 2) taking care of https termination and request's forwarding

If you want to run remark42 and expose it directly on https you should set SSL parameters appropriately, i.e. --ssl.type=auto --ssl.port=443. In this case you will have remark42 listening on port 443, and handling SSL certificate for you. Pls note: this will not work if you already have another web server running on the same box and on the same port

[OnkelTem]

Thanks, I'll try it!

I cannot run docker unfortunately because my VPS doesn't support it (too cheap). But I can rent another one if it's needed :)

[OnkelTem]

@umputun

re: http port - see --port parameter, which is 8080 by default. Just set it to 80

Thanks, it worked! At least the previous error has gone and I could successfully fetch the embed.js script with CURL. However, I couldn't fix the issue in the browser with:

publish.js:1 Refused to load the script 'http://remark42.host.com:443/web/embed.js' because 
it violates the following Content Security Policy directive: "script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' 'unsafe-eval' 
*.obsidian.md blob: https://*:*". Note that 'script-src-elem' was not explicitly set, so 'script-src' is used as a fallback.

Regarding *.obsidian.md and custom embdding sources - see --allowed-hosts (limit hosts/sources allowed to embed comments)

I tried setting --allowed-hosts=*obsidian.md and more specific:

$ ./remark42.linux-amd64 server --secret=qwerty --url=https://remark42.host.com --ssl.port=443 --ssl.type=auto --port=80 --allowed-hosts='self',host.com,publish.obsidian.md

but the error doesn't go away.

[umputun]

This is not how you pass multiple hosts, it is a repeatable parameter, i.e. --allowed-hosts=publish.obsidian.md --allowed-hosts=host.com

[OnkelTem]

The last problem was due to my inattention, but I've already figured that out: I didn't change the url from http to https on the frontend.

Thank you very much, @umputun!

I believe that documentation can be enhanced, but I don't know how atm. So let me write an article on how I configured comments when I finish the configuration :)

[paskal]

Please feel free to submit PRs with documentation updates, you are in the best position to add something useful for them. Happy holidays!