Docker nginx redirect HTTP to HTTPS

Question

I'm setting up a server using Docker. One container runs an nginx image with SSL configured. A second container runs with a simple node app (on port 3001). I've got the two containers communicating with a --link docker parameter.

I need to redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS. Looking at other threads and online sources, I found return 301 https://$host$request_uri. When I type http://localhost in the browser I'm getting the upstream's name in the browser (https://node_app instead of https://localhost). How can I successfully redirect without defining a server_name or explicitly defining a domain?

Edit: I should clarify that accessing https://localhost directly in the browser works. HTTP does not.

Here's my nginx.conf file:

worker_processes 1;

events { worker_connections 1024; }

http {

  upstream node_app {
    server node:3001;
  }

  server {
    listen 80;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
  }

  server {
    listen 443 ssl;

    ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/server.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/server.key;

    location / {
      proxy_pass http://node_app/;
      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;
    }

  }

}

Answer 1

Looks like everything was okay. Tried some curl calls to make sure headers were being set correctly (credits to @RichardSmith for recommendation). Also tested in different browsers. Everything worked! Turns out I needed to clear my primary browser's cache. Not sure why, but it resolved the issue!

For anyone interested in controlling the cache of 301 redirects done by nginx: https://serverfault.com/questions/394040/cache-control-for-permanent-301-redirects-nginx