nginx, handle 404s in another location with proxy_pass location

Question

I have a basic django application setup under nginx. So far everything runs fine. What I need is a setup so I can handle 404s under /media/ with my proxy_pass application. Currently, it shows a bare nginx 404 error when no file is found. I've read https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html#location, but cannot get my head around to find out how.

Two links, to showcase: https://pfadi.swiss/de/what/ (showing my real 404) and https://pfadi.swiss/media/foooing/ (showing nginx simplicity).

The reason: I need to intercept 404 errors under /media/ so I can redirect with the django application, if needed.

server { listen 127.0.0.1:123455; root /mysite; server_name host.com ; location / { proxy_set_header Host $http_host; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; proxy_redirect off; if (!-f $request_filename) { proxy_pass http://upstream_name ; break; } } error_page 500 502 503 504 /nginx/50x.html; location /nginx/ { root /mysite/public/static/; } location /media/ { alias /mysite/public/media/; expires 3M; } } 

Answer 1

As easy as it gets, reading on and on. coming across this: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/understanding-nginx-server-and-location-block-selection-algorithms#when-does-location-block-evaluation-jump-to-other-locations

So, basically, first try the public folder, if no match, @proxy_pass fallback.

 location / { root /mysite/public; try_files $uri @proxy_pass; expires 3M; } location @proxy_pass { proxy_set_header Host $http_host; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; proxy_redirect off; proxy_pass http://upstream_server ; }