Connecting to Socket.IO server hosted on Azure Mobile Services returns Error

Question

I am attempting to connect to a Socket.IO server hosted in the extension folder of my Azure Mobile service using the startup script, although I am unable to do so, and receive the error:

"WebSocket connection to 'ws://mymobileservice.azure-mobile.net/extensions/socket.io/?EIO=2&transport=websocket' failed: Error during WebSocket handshake: Unexpected response code: 503"

I am using port 80 with a path of 'extensions/socket.io' I've also used port 443 with a secure connection, and that has yielded the same error.

Am I on the right track? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Have you tried connecting using other transports? Web sockets are not enabled for azure mobile services. — Muhammad Hasan Khan, Oct 01 '14 at 21:42
Wow, I was under the impression that they were enabled due to information [here](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/mobile-services/). If they aren't, that is rather misleading, but to answer your question @HasanKhan, yes, I was able to get xhr-polling to work. — msdedwards, Oct 02 '14 at 14:14
we're working to resolve the issue. They will be enabled eventually. — Muhammad Hasan Khan, Oct 02 '14 at 19:01
@HasanKhan Is there a timeline for their use? Should we use the Azure website websockets instead? — tillerstarr, Oct 02 '14 at 19:09
@AlexFord My work around was to use an azure website to host the Socket.IO server instead of mobile services. It seems to work decently enough. — msdedwards, May 27 '15 at 14:54

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 03 '15 at 18:28

You figured this out, but here's a definitive answer.

The best way to host a socket.io server is to host it on Azure Websites directly (Azure > New > Website) instead of Azure Mobile Services. Once you publish your socket IO server to the website, don't forget to go to the "Configure" tab and enable "Websockets" for the server.

There is an amazing tutorial on deploying the socket.io chat app to azure websites here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/web-sites-nodejs-chat-app-socketio/

Connecting to Socket.IO server hosted on Azure Mobile Services returns Error

1 Answers1