How to start nodejs application automatically on openwrt - Arduino Yun - - linux

Question

I am trying to have a nodejs application start automatically on system boot. Basically all I need is to run the command node /dir/app.
I am using openwrt on an Arduino Yun. And have tried a couple things.
On the openwrt website it said I can do this. https://wiki.openwrt.org/inbox/procd-init-scripts :
#!/bin/sh /etc/rc.common
USE_PROCD=1
start_service() {
procd_open_instance
procd_set_param command node ///www/www-blink.js
procd_close_instance
}
I have also tried changing the dir to /www/www-blink.js not ///
However i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong as nothing comes up when I try run it with /etc/init.d/node-app start I am obviously writing the code wrong but i'm not sure what it should exactly look like.
The other thing I have tried is the node modules forever and forever-service.
I downloaded them on my computer using npm install -g forever and forever-service aswell. I transfered them to usr/lib/node_modules on my arduino yun. However when I try to use and forever(-service) commands it says
-ash: forever: not found
I have tried a couple other things, however nothing has worked. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-- I also need to be able to start my express script with npm start not node app but I guess the first thing is getting it to work at all.

Answer 1

you can put the starting command (node /dir/app &)in the /etc/rc.local script. This will start your nodejs application automatically on system boot.

Answer 2

OpenWRT procd has a "respawn" parameter, which will restart a service that exits or crashes.
# respawn automatically if something died, be careful if you have an
# alternative process supervisor if process dies sooner than respawn_threshold,
# it is considered crashed and after 5 retries the service is stopped
procd_set_param respawn ${respawn_threshold:-3600} ${respawn_timeout:-5} ${respawn_retry:-5}
So, you cold just add:
procd_set_param respawn 60 5 5
or something like that to your OpenWRT procd initscript. This 60 5 5 means it will wait 5s between respawns (middle parameter), and if it respanws more than 5 times (last parameter) in 60s (first parameter), it will disable the service ("restart loop" detected).
Refer to this page for more information:
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-developer/procd-init-scripts

Answer 3

You need to execute your node application like a Linux Service.
Upstart is perfect for this task
Upstart is an event-based replacement for the /sbin/init daemon which handles starting of tasks and services during boot, stopping them during shutdown and supervising them while the system is running.
If you have an app like this (for example):
// app.js
var express = require('express')
var app = express()
var port = process.env.PORT
app.get('/', function(req, res) {
res.send('Hello world!')
})
app.listen(port)
With a package.json like this:
{
"name": "my-awesome-app",
"version": "1.0.0",
"dependencies": {
"express": "^4.13.3"
},
"scripts": {
"start": "node app.js"
}
}
We create a upstart configuration file called myAwesomeApp.conf with the following code:
start on runlevel [2345]
stop on runlevel [!2345]
respawn
respawn limit 10 5
setuid ubuntu
chdir /opt/myAwesomeApp.conf
env PORT=3000
exec npm start
To finish, put your application (app.js and package.json) in the /opt/myAwesomeApp.conf and copy the configuration file myAwesomeApp.conf in /etc/init/
This is all, now you just need to run service myAwesomeApp start to run your node application as a service

Answer 4

I've never used procd before, but it likely needs the full path to node (e.g., /usr/bin/node). You'd need to make the line something like procd_set_param command /usr/bin/node /www/www-blink.js, assuming the file you want to run is /www/www-blink.js. You can locate node by running which node or type -a node.