I have a JS file that runs via node.js, so normally I crank open a terminal window and type something like node myfile.js and it runs and runs all day; fun.
Then when I want to reboot it, I hit control-c and and it quits. Then I can run the command again.
Now what I would like to do is be able to do this through a web page so that my users can run specific JS files and also be able to "reboot" them.
So two questions about this:
- Is it possible, and if so how do I get started?
- Is it safe, and if not, can it be made safe?
Based on swatkins response
i tried this and got nothing
$output = exec("node -v");
echo $output;
then i tried on my local machine and it worked fine what gives ?
also I'm still not sure about the security and the ability to stop a running script
Assuming you're on Unix-based OS:
You can run shell commands via the exec() function:
// in php file
// to start the script
exec("node myscript.js &", $output);
$output becomes an array of each line of output, so you can see what the process id is. Then you would use that process id to kill the script:
exec("kill " . $processid);
I would avoid any direct interaction with the shell. It would probably be the safest, to solve it this way:
- implement some overall "service"-script, that launches the user-node-app and keeps it running (something like https://github.com/isaacs/node-supervisor)
- Make it, so it automatically reboots on changes of either the relevant files or a database-entry
- With the user triggering a reboot, add a flag (timestamp?) to the database-entry or file that is watched by the reboot-script. It then will reboot the node.js-app/script.
