How to integrate http2 with ExpressJS using nodejs module http2?

Question

I am creating an api with nodejs and express and I want to integrate http2 with ExpressJS

This is my code:

'use strict';

const http2 = require('http2');
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');

const app = express();
const port = process.env.PORT || 443;

// Middleware
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: false }));

// Routes variables
const indexRouter = require('./routes/index');

// Routes uses
app.use('/', indexRouter);

// Server configurations
const key = path.join(__dirname + '/security/key.pem');
const cert = path.join(__dirname + '/security/certificate.pem');

const options = {
    key: fs.readFileSync(key),
    cert: fs.readFileSync(cert)
}

const server = http2.createSecureServer(options, app);

server.on('error', err => console.log(err));

server.listen(port, () => {
   console.log('Server running')
})

I am trying to pass express server as second parameter of createSecureServer() but I am not sure if I am right with this, cause I am getting this error:

[nodemon] 2.0.2 [nodemon] to restart at any time, enter rs [nodemon] watching dir(s): . [nodemon] watching extensions: js,mjs,json [nodemon] starting node index.js _http_incoming.js:96 if (this.socket.readable) ^

TypeError: Cannot read property 'readable' of undefined at IncomingMessage._read (_http_incoming.js:96:19) at IncomingMessage.Readable.read ( stream_readable.js:491:10) at resume (_stream_readable.js:976:12) at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:80:21) [nodemon] app crashed - waiting for file changes before starting...

It should be noted that my certificate, although self-signed and unreliable, is loading correctly. I try not to use a third-party module if I can do it with NodeJS. Any help?

Answer 1

expressjs still does not officially support Node http2

For more details visit here

But you can use node-spdy . With this module, you can create HTTP2 / SPDY servers in node.js with natural http module interface and fallback to regular https (for browsers that support neither HTTP2 nor SPDY yet).

 const port = 3000
    const spdy = require('spdy')
    const express = require('express')
    const path = require('path')
    const fs = require('fs')
    
    const app = express()
    
    app.get('*', (req, res) => {
        res
          .status(200)
          .json({message: 'ok'})
    })
    const options = {
        key: fs.readFileSync(__dirname + '/server.key'),
        cert:  fs.readFileSync(__dirname + '/server.crt')
    }
    console.log(options)
    spdy
      .createServer(options, app)
      .listen(port, (error) => {
        if (error) {
          console.error(error)
          return process.exit(1)
        } else {
          console.log('Listening on port: ' + port + '.')
        }
      })

For more datils on spdy , visit here .

if you have an option for other frameworks you can use 'KOA' or 'HAPI' which have support for node http2 . This might be useful for you

Also, Read this Release 5.0#2237 , It says that:

The goal of Express 5 is to be API tweaks & the removal of all code from the Express repository, moving into components in the pillarjs project ( https://github.com/pillarjs ), providing at least basic support for promise-returning handlers and complete HTTP/2 functionality. Express 5 would become a "view into pillarjs" and would be an arrangement of these components.

Answer 2

express doesn't know the underlying protocol, so you can do something like this:

const app = require('express')()
require('http2').createServer(options, app).listen(8080);