How to setup reverse proxy in apache for play framework web app on mac os x

Question

I'm trying to add an apache front end with reverse proxy to a play framework app on port 9000. I've tried the following httpd configuration as per the play documentation: http://www.playframework.org/documentation/2.0.2/HTTPServer

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ProxyPreserveHost On
  ServerName http://localhost
  ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:9000/
  ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:9000/
  LogLevel debug
</VirtualHost>

I have loaded only the mod_proxy module, but have commented out all other proxy related modules (http, ajp, jk, etc).

When I try to hit http://localhost, I get the following in the error log:

[debug] mod_proxy_ajp.c(45): proxy: AJP: canonicalising URL //localhost:8009/
[debug] proxy_util.c(1506): [client ::1] proxy: ajp: found worker ajp://localhost:8009/ for ajp://localhost:8009/
[debug] mod_proxy.c(1015): Running scheme ajp handler (attempt 0)
[debug] mod_proxy_http.c(1963): proxy: HTTP: declining URL ajp://localhost:8009/
[debug] mod_proxy_ajp.c(672): proxy: AJP: serving URL ajp://localhost:8009/
[debug] proxy_util.c(1949): proxy: AJP: retrying the worker for (localhost)
[error] proxy: AJP: disabled connection for (localhost)
[debug] mod_proxy_ajp.c(45): proxy: AJP: canonicalising URL //localhost:8009/favicon.ico
[debug] proxy_util.c(1506): [client ::1] proxy: ajp: found worker ajp://localhost:8009/ for ajp://localhost:8009/favicon.ico
[debug] mod_proxy.c(1015): Running scheme ajp handler (attempt 0)
[debug] mod_proxy_http.c(1963): proxy: HTTP: declining URL ajp://localhost:8009/favicon.ico
[debug] mod_proxy_ajp.c(672): proxy: AJP: serving URL ajp://localhost:8009/favicon.ico
[debug] proxy_util.c(1949): proxy: AJP: retrying the worker for (localhost)
[error] proxy: AJP: disabled connection for (localhost)

When I use apachectl to see what modules have been loaded, I'm seeing this:

Loaded Modules:
 core_module (static)
 mpm_prefork_module (static)
 http_module (static)
 so_module (static)
 authn_file_module (shared)
 authz_host_module (shared)
 cache_module (shared)
 disk_cache_module (shared)
 dumpio_module (shared)
 reqtimeout_module (shared)
 ext_filter_module (shared)
 include_module (shared)
 filter_module (shared)
 substitute_module (shared)
 deflate_module (shared)
 log_config_module (shared)
 log_forensic_module (shared)
 logio_module (shared)
 env_module (shared)
 mime_magic_module (shared)
 cern_meta_module (shared)
 expires_module (shared)
 headers_module (shared)
 ident_module (shared)
 usertrack_module (shared)
 setenvif_module (shared)
 version_module (shared)
 proxy_module (shared)
 mime_module (shared)
 dav_module (shared)
 autoindex_module (shared)
 asis_module (shared)
 info_module (shared)
 cgi_module (shared)
 dav_fs_module (shared)
 vhost_alias_module (shared)
 negotiation_module (shared)
 dir_module (shared)
 imagemap_module (shared)
 actions_module (shared)
 speling_module (shared)
 alias_module (shared)
 rewrite_module (shared)
 apple_userdir_module (shared)
 bonjour_module (shared)
 authn_dbm_module (shared)
 authn_anon_module (shared)
 authn_dbd_module (shared)
 authn_default_module (shared)
 auth_basic_module (shared)
 auth_digest_module (shared)
 authz_groupfile_module (shared)
 authz_user_module (shared)
 authz_dbm_module (shared)
 authz_owner_module (shared)
 authz_default_module (shared)
 mem_cache_module (shared)
 dbd_module (shared)
 status_module (shared)
 proxy_http_module (shared)
 proxy_ajp_module (shared)
Syntax OK

So both proxy_http and proxy_ajp are getting loaded even though I commented them out. I'm trying to use the apache (2.2.21) that came on my mac running osx lion. Any ideas on what is wrong here?

Solution

Try to use other name than localhost, ie:

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ProxyPreserveHost On
  ServerName myproject.loc
  ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:9000/
  ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:9000/
  LogLevel debug
</VirtualHost>

and don't forget to add the 'domain' into your /private/etc/hosts file:

127.0.0.1 myproject.loc

After all, restart (or at least reload) the Apache and flush DNS cache:

dscacheutil -flushcache

then run your Play app and it should be available at http://myproject.loc address.

If you'll try to open it too fast (before Play console will run it) you can meet 503 error, in such case open http:// localhost:9000, clear the browser's cache and then your new 'domain' should be working.