How do I run a node.js app as a background service

Question

Since this post has gotten a lot of attention over the years, I've listed the top solutions per platform at the bottom of this post.

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Original post:

I want my node.js server to run in the background, i.e.: when I close my terminal I want my server to keep running. I've googled this and came up with this tutorial, however it doesn't work as intended. So instead of using that daemon script, I thought I just used the output redirection (the 2>&1 >> file part), but this too does not exit - I get a blank line in my terminal, like it's waiting for output/errors.

I've also tried to put the process in the background, but as soon as I close my terminal the process is killed as well.

So how can I leave it running when I shut down my local computer?

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Top solutions:

• Systemd (Linux)
• Launchd (Mac)
• node-windows (Windows)
• PM2 (Node.js)

Answer 1

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Guvnor

I have tried forever, pm2, etc. But, when it comes to solid control and web based performance metrics, I have found Guvnor to be by far the best. Plus, it is also fully opensource.

Edit : However, I am not sure if it works on windows. I've only used it on linux.

Answer 2

If you are running OSX, then the easiest way to produce a true system process is to use launchd to launch it.

Build a plist like this, and put it into the /Library/LaunchDaemons with the name top-level-domain.your-domain.application.plist (you need to be root when placing it):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>top-level-domain.your-domain.application</string>

    <key>WorkingDirectory</key>
    <string>/your/preferred/workingdirectory</string>

    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/local/bin/node</string>
        <string>your-script-file</string>
    </array>

    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>

    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>

</dict>
</plist>

When done, issue this (as root):

launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/top-level-domain.your-domain.application.plist
launchctl start top-level-domain.your-domain.application

and you are running.

And you will still be running after a restart.

For other options in the plist look at the man page here: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/Manpages/man5/launchd.plist.5.html

Answer 3

has anyone noticed a trivial mistaken of the position of "2>&1" ?

2>&1 >> file

should be

>> file 2>&1

Answer 4

This answer is quite late to the party, but I found that the best solution was to write a shell script that used the both the screen -dmS and nohup commands.

screen -dmS newScreenName nohup node myserver.js >> logfile.log

I also add the >> logfile bit on the end so I can easily save the node console.log() statements.

Why did I use a shell script? Well I also added in an if statement that checked to see if the node myserver.js process was already running.

That way I was able to create a single command line option that both lets me keep the server going and also restart it when I have made changes, which is very helpful for development.

Answer 5

Node.js as a background service in WINDOWS XP

• Kudos goes to Hacksparrow at: http://www.hacksparrow.com/install-node-js-and-npm-on-windows.html for tutorial installing Node.js + npm for windows.
• Kudos goes to Tatham Oddie at: http://blog.tatham.oddie.com.au/2011/03/16/node-js-on-windows/ for nnsm.exe implementation.

Installation:

1. Install WGET http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/wget.htm via installer executable
2. Install GIT http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/downloads/list via installer executable
3. Install NSSM http://nssm.cc/download/?page=download via copying nnsm.exe into %windir%/system32 folder

4. Create c:\node\helloworld.js

   // http://howtonode.org/hello-node
   var http = require('http');
   var server = http.createServer(function (request, response) {
       response.writeHead(200, {"Content-Type": "text/plain"});
       response.end("Hello World\n");
   });
   server.listen(8000);
   console.log("Server running at http://127.0.0.1:8000/");
   

5. Open command console and type the following (setx only if Resource Kit is installed)

   C:\node> set path=%PATH%;%CD%
   C:\node> setx path "%PATH%"
   C:\node> set NODE_PATH="C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules"
   C:\node> git config --system http.sslcainfo /bin/curl-ca-bundle.crt    
   C:\node> git clone --recursive git://github.com/isaacs/npm.git    
   C:\node> cd npm    
   C:\node\npm> node cli.js install npm -gf   
   C:\node> cd ..    
   C:\node> nssm.exe install node-helloworld "C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe" c:\node\helloworld.js    
   C:\node> net start node-helloworld
   

6. A nifty batch goodie is to create c:\node\ServiceMe.cmd

   @echo off
   nssm.exe install node-%~n1 "C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe" %~s1
   net start node-%~n1
   pause
   

Service Management:

• The services themselves are now accessible via Start-> Run-> services.msc or via Start->Run-> MSCONFIG-> Services (and check 'Hide All Microsoft Services').
• The script will prefix every node made via the batch script with 'node-'.
• Likewise they can be found in the registry: "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\node-xxxx"

Answer 6

You can use Forever, A simple CLI tool for ensuring that a given node script runs continuously (i.e. forever): https://www.npmjs.org/package/forever