[SOLVED] Node.js app can't run on port 80 even though there's no other process blocking the port

Issue

I'm running an instance of Debian on Amazon EC2 with Node.js installed. If I run the code below:

http = require('http');

http.createServer(function (request, response){
  response.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type':'text/plain'});
  response.end('Hello World\n');
}).listen(80);
console.log("Running server at port 80");

I get the output below which tells me there's another process listening at port 80:

Running server at port 80

events.js:72
        throw er; // Unhandled 'error' event
              ^
Error: listen EACCES
    at errnoException (net.js:901:11)
    at Server._listen2 (net.js:1020:19)
    at listen (net.js:1061:10)
    at Server.listen (net.js:1127:5)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/home/admin/nodetests/nodetest.js:6:4)
    at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:474:10)
    at Module.load (module.js:356:32)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
    at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:497:10)

Now when I check to see if there's a process (as root in case anything is hidden) listening on port 80 using:

netstat -tupln

I get the below output, which tells me theres nothing listening at port 80:

Active Internet connections (only servers)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address           Foreign Address         State       PID/Program name
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:22              0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      1667/sshd       
tcp6       0      0 :::22                   :::*                    LISTEN      1667/sshd

I should note that the debian has port 80 open as an inbound rule if that makes a difference.

My question is: What am I doing wrong? How come I can't identify the process listening to port 80? Why is it blocked in Debian? What steps should I take to get the code running correctly?

Solution

The error code EACCES means you don't have proper permissions to run applications on that port. On Linux systems, any port below 1024 requires root access.

Answered By - hexacyanide

Answer Checked By - Cary Denson (WPSolving Admin)