How to Implement Gray Release in Nginx Using Cookies, Weights, IP, and Lua

Cookie‑Based Gray Release

Read the version cookie; if it equals V1 forward to server_01, if V2 forward to server_02, otherwise default to server_01.

1. Using if directive

upstream server_01 {
    server 192.168.1.100:8080 max_fails=1 fail_timeout=60;
}
upstream server_02 {
    server 192.168.1.101:8080 max_fails=1 fail_timeout=60;
}
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.server.com;
    set $server "server_01";
    if ($http_cookie ~* "version=V1") { set $server server_01; }
    if ($http_cookie ~* "version=V2") { set $server server_02; }
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://$server;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        index index.html index.htm;
    }
}

2. Using map directive

upstream server_01 { server 192.168.1.100:8080 max_fails=1 fail_timeout=60; }
upstream server_02 { server 192.168.1.101:8080 max_fails=1 fail_timeout=60; }
map $COOKIE_version $server {
    ~*V1$ server_01;
    ~*V2$ server_02;
    default server_01;
}
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.server.com;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://$server;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        index index.html index.htm;
    }
}

Weight‑Based Gray Release

Assign different weights to upstream servers; higher weight receives more traffic.

upstream server {
    server 192.168.1.100:8080 max_fails=1 fail_timeout=60 weight=5;
    server 192.168.1.101:8080 max_fails=1 fail_timeout=60 weight=1;
}
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.server.com;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://server;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        index index.html index.htm;
    }
}

Source‑IP Based Gray Release

1. Resources on different servers

upstream server_01 { server 192.168.1.100:8080 max_fails=1 fail_timeout=60; }
upstream server_02 { server 192.168.1.101:8080 max_fails=1 fail_timeout=60; }
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.server.com;
    set $server "server_01";
    if ($remote_addr ~ "211.118.119.11") { set $server server_02; }
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://$server;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        index index.html index.htm;
    }
}

2. Resources on the same server (different document roots)

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.server.com;
    set $rootdir "/var/www/html";
    if ($remote_addr ~ "211.118.119.11") { set $rootdir "/var/www/test"; }
    location / {
        root $rootdir;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        index index.html index.htm;
    }
}

Nginx + Lua Gray Release

If the client IP matches an entry in ipList.conf , route to @test_env ; otherwise route to @product_env .

ip_gray.lua script

local ip_config = ngx.shared.config;
local ClientIP = ngx.req.get_headers()["X-Real-IP"]
if ClientIP == nil then
    ClientIP = ngx.req.get_headers()["x_forworded_for"]
end
if ClientIP == nil then
    ClientIP = ngx.var.remote_addr
end
for line in io.lines("/usr/local/nginx/conf/lua/ipList.conf") do
    if not ip_config:get(line) then
        ip_config:set(line, "0")
    end
end
if ip_config:get(ClientIP) == "0" then
    ngx.exec("@test_env")
else
    ngx.exec("@product_env")
end

Lua configuration and locations

lua_code_cache on;
lua_shared_dict config 1m;
upstream MyServer {
    server 192.168.1.199:8099 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s;
    server 192.168.1.200:8099 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s;
    ip_hash;
}
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name jokerzhang.cn;
    access_log off;
    location / {
        access_by_lua_file /usr/local/nginx/conf/lua/ip_gray.lua;
    }
    location @test_env {
        proxy_pass http://192.168.1.199:8099;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
    location @product_env {
        proxy_pass http://MyServer;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
}