server.js

var express = require('express');
var compression = require('compression');
var webpack = require('webpack');
var path = require('path');

var port = process.env.APP_PORT || 3000;

// Reference the config file that was used
var config = require('./webpack.config.js');

// What relative path is the UI content to be built into
var publicPath = path.join(__dirname, 'build');

// milli-seconds in one hour
var oneHour = 3600000;

// ===============================================================================
// 'webpack-dev-middleware' configuration
// ===============================================================================
var compilerConfig = {
  publicPath: config.output.publicPath,
  noInfo: true,
  // quiet: true,
  stats: {
    colors: true
  }
};

// ===============================================================================
// 'webpack-hot-middleware' configuration
// ===============================================================================
// log: A function used to log lines, pass false to disable. Defaults to console.log
// path: The path the middleware serves event stream on, must match the client setting
// heartbeat: Frequency of heartbeat updates => client to keep the connection alive
// ===============================================================================
var hotConfig = {
  // log: false // console.log
};

// static path configuration
var publicConfig = {
  dotfile: 'ignore',
  etag: true,
  index: false,
  maxAge: oneHour,
  lastModified: true
};

var compiler = webpack(config);

// ========================================
// Main Website Express V 4.x for UI pages
// ========================================
var app = express();

// enable gzip compression on the server
app.use(compression());

// Load the various webpack middlewares
var devMiddleware = require('webpack-dev-middleware')(compiler, compilerConfig);
app.use(devMiddleware);

// Load the various webpack middlewares
var hotMiddleware = require('webpack-hot-middleware')(compiler, hotConfig);
app.use(hotMiddleware);

// serve static file contents
app.use(express.static(publicPath, publicConfig));

// deal with requested paths under the public path
app.use( function(req, res, next) {
  var index = devMiddleware.fileSystem.readFileSync(path.join(config.output.path, 'index.html'));
  res.end(index);
}.bind(this));

// Finally run the server
app.listen(port, 'localhost', function (err) {
  if (err) {
    console.log(err);
    return;
  }
  // So we can see a message whilst it bundles
  console.log('App running on port ' + port + ', waiting for bundling to finish...');
});