Why does try_files append each path together?

Question

I'm using try_files like this:

 http { server { error_log /var/log/nginx debug; listen 127.0.0.1:8080; location / { index off default_type application/octet-stream; try_files /files1$uri /files2/$uri /files3$uri; } } } 

In the error log, it's showing this:

*[error] 15077#0: 45399 rewrite or internal redirection cycle while internally redirecting to "/files1/files2/files3/path/to/my/image.png", client: 127.0.0.1, server: , request: "GET /path/to/my/image.png HTTP/1.1", host: "mydomain.com", referrer: "http://mydomain.com/folder"

Can anyone tell me why nginx is looking for /files1/files2/files3/path/to/my/image.png instead of /files1/path/to/my/image.png, /files2/path/to/my/image.png and /files3/path/to/my/image.png?

Thanks

Answer 1

http://nginx.org/r/try_files

syntax: try_files file ... uri; try_files file ... =code; 

The last parameter specifies return code or URI for internal redirect. In your case it's /files3$uri.

Perhaps you actually want this: try_files /files1$uri /files2$uri /files3$uri =404;

Answer 2

I suspect that nginx is essentially recursing, because the paths specified in try_files are matched by the location / block, which applies the try_files directive again. Try adding these location blocks to catch the paths which are being searched.

location /files1 {} location /files2 {} location /files3 {} 

Answer 3

The issue was solved by adding a root directive outside the location block:

 http { root /; location / { try_files files1$uri files2$uri files3$uri =404; } }