404 Not Found on “Next” Step During PrestaShop Installation

[WoozyFace]

Hi all,

I’m trying to set up PrestaShop 8.x behind a reverse proxy using Nginx, and after days of configuration and troubleshooting, I’m still hitting a wall.

⚙️ Setup Overview:

Frontend (Proxy Host):

Debian 12 (Virtualmin-based Nginx setup)

Handles domain ***.com

SSL termination done here

Forwards to internal backend server (via LAN)

Backend (App Host):

Debian 12 bare metal

Nginx + PHP 8.2-FPM

PrestaShop extracted in /var/www/easycomp.shop

install/index.php is present and accessible via curl

MariaDB on a separate host (working and accessible)

❌ Issue:

When I visit https://***.com/install/index.php or even the root https://***.com, I receive:

A 404 Not Found

Even though curl http://localhost/install/index.php on the backend returns 200 OK

The proxy setup seems to strip or misroute the /install/ path

🔎 What I’ve Verified:

File exists and has correct permissions (www-data)

PrestaShop dependencies installed

PHP extensions (SimpleXML, Zip, etc.) are enabled

Nginx config passes syntax check (nginx -t)

No Apache involved, only NGINX on both servers

DNS/proxy resolves correctly to the backend

Direct access to backend IP from LAN works

🚧 Current Reverse Proxy Block (Simplified):

 

server { listen 443 ssl; server_name ***.com www.***.com; ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/virtualmin/ssl.combined; ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/virtualmin/ssl.key; location / { proxy_pass http://192.168.1.243; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; } }

❓ My Main Question:

What is missing or misconfigured that prevents PrestaShop 8’s installer from loading through this reverse proxy setup?

It works directly from the backend, but refuses via the domain.
Do I need to expose additional rewrite rules in the proxy? Is something in Nginx caching a bad route? Is the path /install/index.php being dropped by the proxy or mangled?

I’d love any working Nginx reverse proxy examples (especially with PrestaShop 8), or suggestions for what else I can check to get the installer running.

Thanks in advance!

— WoozyFace (slightly less woozy than before)

Edited May 28 by WoozyFace (see edit history)

[WoozyFace]

Hey mods! I just pulled a textbook noob move in my last post—apparently I triggered the infamous ID-10-T error. Could you please delete it before my “pro user” status evaporates? Sorry for the hassle! And hey, if this merits the ban hammer, I’ll bravely accept my fate. Thanks and may your logs stay error-free!

[sparkest]

Hey WoozyFace,

No worries, your post was detailed and helpful for anyone running into similar issues, so definitely don’t be too hard on yourself. We’ve all stared down confusing 404s that end up being something small but maddening. If you do figure out what was causing it (especially across both Nginx and Docker), I’d be curious to hear the fix. Hope you get it sorted soon, and may your next “Next” button behave properly!