Node.js application subpath shows error 404 after being deployed in Plesk

Symptoms

• Subpath of the website, e.g. example.com/api/test shows "error 404" in a web-browser.

• A website also may show the following error:

  CONFIG_TEXT: 405 - HTTP verb used to access this page is not allowed

• Node.js application is deployed using Node.js extension.

• \api\test does not exist on a filesystem and should be generated dynamically via Node.js.

• Web application works as expected when iisnode is not used, and the required path example.com:3000/api/test is available.

Cause

Node.js extension creates an URL rewrite rule in IIS as follows:

CONFIG_TEXT: <rewrite>
<rules>
<rule name="startup-file">
<match url="^$" />
<action type="Rewrite" url="<?= htmlentities($this->startupFile) ?>" />
</rule>
</rules>
</rewrite>

The existing IIS rewrite rule is not compatible with the application.
This is a Bug in the Node.js extension #EXTNODEJS-46 which will be fixed in future product updates.

Resolution

1. Connect to the server via RDP.

2. Open IIS Manager > SERVER_NAME > example.com > URL Rewrite > startup-file.

3. Change Pattern from ^$ to /* to route everything to Node.js Startup File.

   Note: the solution does not address all the use cases. For example, it may be required to create the additional rewrite rule to rewrite a single subfolder only, using the folder name as a pattern.
   E.g. to rewrite example.com/api/, use the Pattern api*: