I'm really new to node.js. My friend helped me set up a node app to run a java process I need running on a server at all times. It works perfectly, except the only way I can see the standard i/o is if I use node app.js. I've looked into both forever and pm2, however neither of these use standard i/o, which I really need for this server to run commands. Could somebody help me out please? Thanks!
Assuming you have a *nix-based server:
You could use GNU Screen.
Screen is a full-screen window manager that multiplexes a physical terminal between several processes, typically interactive shells.
In plain words, you would have access to always-running processes on server and their input-output from your local command line.
After logging in to your server, all you need to do is this:
Start new screen screen -S <name>
Run you java process
Detach from screen screen -d <name>
That's it! Your java process keeps running and you could interact with it by reattaching to the screen session like this: screen -r <name>
Useful Link: GNU Screen Quick Reference
Even cooler would be creating your own service using an Upstart script, which you could then call directly from your local machine with:
Create your own service using Upstart script.
Related
I am running a game server as a service using systemctl to start and stop a script that runs the whole thing. I tried to modify the script to let me use a screen so I could attach to the process that the server is being run on, and issue commands. But so far I've not had much luck. Is it possible to attach to services that are running on a server?
This question belongs on the Unix/Linux StackExchange.
See e.g:
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/453998/systemd-connect-to-stdin-stdout-after-service-has-started
If you want to solve it via programming, you could consider writing a small web application as the interface instead of the console.
Not in systemd, but you can start the service using
screen -D -m yourservice
which will create a detached screen session that will wait for the process to exit (so systemd does not see the service terminating immediately if you use this in an ExecStart line). You can then attach to that session normally.
For a running script on a Linux VM with a regular console output: If I disconnect from the VM the output window disappears. If I restart the VM, the script is still running but how do I get back to the output-screen?
Easy solution: use GNU screen, or an alternative like tmux to run your scripts in a persistent session. Thus, if you accidentally disconnect from your SSH session (or must shut down your computer), you can still reattach to the screen session later.
Tutorial: Using GNU Screen to Manage Persistent Terminal Sessions
Another great feature is that screen can also log the console output to a file. I use it all the time for cron jobs or other unattended tasks. I also use screen for updates (using yum, dnf or whatever), because updates can take a lot of time, and sometimes may even have to restart the network service, which would terminate your SSH session.
I'm newbie using GCP and his Compute Engine Service. I've deploy a Linux Ubuntu Image an it's running like a charm, but I have a issue running Node JS backend.
Let me explain it better:
I'm connecting using Web Browser SSH terminal or GCloud Shell ssh, and it way works running node app.js my backend starts working. But after a time, the sessions stop and my backend service stop working as well. At this time every time when I need to work have to re-activate the service each time.
How could I do for this service works in background and not depends that my ssh terminal are opened?
Thanks a lot in advance.
What actually happen is you are starting your nodejs application using an client which is parent process. So if after sometime the connection is lost of some xyz seconds the parent process dies killing your node application. Now what you can do is use screen. On ubuntu you would do something like this.
sudo apt-get install screen
after successful install run the screen command. Now you will be thrown a brand new terminal. Here you can run your nodejs code which will never die. Since screen runs your application in background. More information here
A good solution could be to use a startup script. To insert a startup script into your already created instance you need to go to this link [1]. When you have your startup script inserted in the metadata field you just need to restart your Instance and then should work perfectly without depending of the ssh session.
[1] https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/startupscript#startupscriptrunninginstances
I've created this npm package, to make your node app run as a service on your linux machine. Please try it out.
It creates a systemctl service on your machine and runs it as a background service.
I have a website already developed with node.js and sails.js on "Compute Engine" but to start it, necessarily I have to write "node app.js" in the SSH console of browser. But there is a problem (since I am new to Linux and Google Cloud :)), if I want my Node app it keep online, the SSH window must be open, if I close, the Node application will terminate, like Ctrl+c. So it makes no sense to have my computer turned on, just to have the active window. So, how to keep my NodeJS app online without being in the presence of SSH console?. I know the question is illogic to some, but I would appreciate if you help me. Thanks
First of all it is not related to Compute Engine nor Node.js.
You mention that the application will terminate if you press ctrl+c and that's correct because you are running your application in the foreground instead of background. To run your application in the background you can either launch your app like this:
node app.js &
Or you can launch with node app.js and then press ctrl+z.
But just sending the application to the background wouldn't help. As soon as you disconnect from your ssh session, all programs started (background or foreground) will receive a HUP signal, in node.js you can handle that signal but the default behaviour is to close:
On non-Windows platforms, the default behaviour of SIGHUP is to terminate node
One thing that you can do to ignore the SIGHUP signal is running your app as follows:
nohup node app.js &
If you do this, your application will continue to run even when you close your ssh session. Another way to achieve this is by using the screen.
This will help you on very early stage and for development but I don't recommend using neither of these things for production. Eg: if your application crash it should be restarted. The recommended way is to use a service manager that comes with the OS: upstart, systemd, init, to name a few.
You can install forever module (https://www.npmjs.com/package/forever) to your Google compute engine using SSH window.
npm install forever -g
Then, in your node server directory, execute your server using forever.
forever start [YOUR_SERVER_FILE.js]
Now, if you close the SSH window, your node server is still on !!
Good luck!
The best solution would be using a module called forever:
https://www.npmjs.com/package/forever
You can use it this way:
forever start your_script.js
I am using derby on a remote Ubuntu 12.04 server. The standard derby commands are all working correctly and I am able to open my databases and access them via ij. I need to be able to start and stop the server from the terminal while logging in and out between commands. The problem is that I can not find a way to run the server as a background process. The closest I have come is: nohup java -jar $DERBY_HOME/lib/derbyrun.jar server start & > ~/dblog.txt which works except that it requires I hit [enter] before returning to the command line. I am aware of the daemon package but I am uncertain of whether it will allow me to then stop the server. What would be helpful is a explanation of how tomcat manages it since that is my app server.
Derby is just a Java application. Any technique you wish to use to run Java applications in the background (/etc/init.d, job control in your shell, etc.) will work fine for Derby.
You can use commands like "kill" or "killall" to kill your background process. Use "jobs" command to see list of running process you've sent to background. Also you can put them back in foreground by doing - "fg %n" (where n is the job number) and kill it using CTRL-C.