Node.js

Simple Hosting Node.js makes it easy and affordable to host scalable Node.js applications.

Prerequisites

  • Node.js and NPM installed on your computer,

  • Your application must use NPM to handle its dependencies

Version support

Node.js 6 LTS is currently pre-installed and officially supported on Node.js instances. You can also use any version of Node.js and npm distributed by Node Version Manager (nvm).

Please see the Node Version Manager section below to learn how this works.

General functioning

Your Node.js application must be composed of at least a file called server.js, but the recommended setup is to use a package.json file where you specify your application’s dependencies and entry point.

This entry point file will be executed by the Node.js interpreter when your instance is started, or after a deployment with git+SSH.

In order to receive HTTP and HTTPS requests, your application must listen on a port specified by the environment variable PORT, available in Node.js with process.env.PORT.

A domain name is made available for you at instance creation for testing purposes. In addition, you can link many Domains and subdomains to your Node.js application.

Boot

The Simple Hosting platform tries to boot your application using the following sequence:

  1. Using a “start script” specified in package.json

  2. Using the default entry point defined in the main field in package.json

  3. Use a server.js file, if it exists at the root of the application

Please check below for more information on each of these options.

Defining an entry point

You can define an entry point using the main field. Simply enter the name of the file to boot from, and Simple Hosting will use node to run it.

For example, to boot from the index.js file:

package.json

{
  "name" : "foo",
  "version" : "1.2.3",
  "description" : "A packaged foo fooer for fooing foos",
  "main" : "index.js",
}

Running a custom command

You can also define the entire command to run by setting the ['scripts']['start'] field. Simple Hosting will simply execute this command to boot the application.

The following example is the equivalent of using the “entry point” technique described above.

package.json

{
  "name" : "foo",
  "version" : "1.2.3",
  "description" : "A packaged foo fooer for fooing foos",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node index.js"
  }
}

The start script is very flexible and provides a variety of nice feaures to customize the way your application runs. For example, you can support ES6 by running in harmony mode.

package.json

{
  "name" : "foo-ecma-script",
  "version" : "6",
  "description" : "ES6 on Simple Hosting",
  "engines": {
    "node": "6"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node --harmony index.js"
  }
}

Combined with environment variables, you can use this feature to launch your application with a process manager like pm2 and manually control your process lifecycle. Or even try some fun stuff with threads and libuv.

Using server.js

The simplest way to start a Node.js application for Simple Hosting is to create a file named server.js at the root of your project. In the absence of any of the settings specified in the previous section, the instance will try to boot your application by running this file.

Environment variables

Your application can rely on environment variables for a number of configuration options, set by the platform or by yourself at launch time.

Here are a few examples of environment variables set by the platform before your application is booted:

PORT=8080
NODE_ENV=production
WEB_MEMORY=128
WEB_CONCURRENCY=2

Bemerkung

WEB_MEMORY and WEB_CONCURRENCY values depend on your instance type (S, M, L, XL, XXL). The former is always set at the maximum for your instance type. The latter is our recommendation based on the instance size, but you can adapt it to suit your needs.

Accessing environment variables

You can retrieve environment variables from your application in the normal fashion, by accessing process.env. For example:

var port = process.env.PORT;
console.log(process.env.PORT);
// => 8080

Setting environment variables

You can set or override environment variables from within your application or at boot time using the start script.

From within the application, you can simply set the value of an environment variable with process.env. For example:

process.env.NODE_ENV = "staging";
console.log(process.env.NODE_ENV); // => "staging"

At boot time, use package.json['scripts']['start'] to set one or more environment variables in shell style. For example:

package.json

{
...
  "scripts": {
    "start": "NODE_ENV=staging node index"
  }
}

Make sure you’re not overriding the PORT environment variable, as your application might not be reachable afterwards. In general, make sure you’re not overriding any important setting before launching your application with a custom command.

Dependencies management

The Node.js Simple Hosting platform takes care of installing your depencies and launching your application during the git+SSH deploy process. Simply specify the dependencies in the package.json file at the root of your project:

package.json

{
  "name": "website",
  "version": "0.0.1",
  "dependencies": {
    "express": "3.x"
  }
}

Selection of Node.js version

You can use any version of Node.js and npm distributed by Node Version Manager (nvm).

Simply specify the versions you want to use in your project’s package.json file. For example:

package.json

{
  "engines": {
    "node": "6",
    "npm": "*"
  }
}

The example above will force the use of Node.js 6.x. For more information about the engines field , see https://docs.npmjs.com/files/package.json#engines.

Check out the official Node.js website for more information about current versions versions.

Websockets

Websockets is not currently supported on the Simple Hosting platform. If you’d like to see this feature, feel free to show your support by messaging us at feedback@gandi.net.

Logs

The standard output and errors of your website are sent to a log file on your disk, which you can access to debug your application.

  • via the SSH console: /srv/data/var/log/www/nodejs.log

  • via SFTP: /lamp0/var/log/www/nodejs.log

This log file also contains the output of the NPM program that is in charge of your application’s dependencies.

Additionally, you can view the history of actions taken by the program in charge of launching your app:

  • via the SSH console: /srv/data/var/log/www/nodejs-watchd.log

  • via SFTP: /lamp0/var/log/www/nodejs-watchd.log

You can also see if your Node.js application has correctly booted in this file.

Database

MySQL

MySQL 5.7 (Percona) is available to use with Node.js instances on Simple Hosting.

You can connect to the MySQL database service through its Unix socket, available at /srv/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock. The default user is root and no password is required by default. However, you should create safe credentials for real-world usage. You can also use the default_db database for fast setups and testing purposes, as it is automatically setup when the instance is created.

You can create as many databases and database users as you need; you’re only limited by your disk space, which you can increase at any moment up to 1 TB.

You can manage your MySQL database with the standard shell tools (mysql, mysqldump, etc.) via the SSH console, or from the web admin console with PHPMyAdmin. Check out the reference article about MySQL management on Simple Hosting to learn more.

Below is a minimalistic Node.js code example to test the database connection on Simple Hosting:

index.js

var http = require('http'),
    mysql = require('mysql');

var mysql_conn = mysql.createConnection({
  socketPath: '/srv/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock',
  database: 'default_db',
  user: 'root',
  password: ''
});

var test_mysql_conn = function(callback) {
  mysql_conn.connect(function(err) {
    if (err) {
      console.log(err.code);
      if (callback) callback("NOT WORKING");
    } else {
      console.log('connected...');
      if (callback) callback("OK");
    }
  });
  mysql_conn.end();
};

http.createServer(function (req, res) {
  res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'});
  res.write('Hello Node.js!\n');
  test_mysql_conn(function(mysql_status) {
    res.write('MySQL connection: ' + mysql_status + '\n');
    res.end();
  });
}).listen(process.env.PORT);

package.json

{
  "name": "sample-nodejs-mysql-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Sample Node.js MySQL app for Simple Hosting",
  "main": "index.js",
  "engines": {
    "node": "4"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "mysql": "*"
  }
}

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL version 9.6 is available for Simple Hosting with Node.js.

Your instance’s PostgreSQL service will be reachable on localhost at port 5432.

By default, you can use the hosting-db user without a password to connect to the default database, called postgres. We recommend that you create secure credentials for real-world usage.

You can create as many users and databases as you need; you’re only limited by your disk space, which you can increase at any moment up to 1 TB.

You can manage your PostgreSQL database with the standard shell commands via the SSH console (psql, pg_dump, etc.), or from the Web admin panel with phpPgAdmin. Check out the reference article about PostgreSQL management on Simple Hosting to learn more.

Below is a minimalistic Node.js code example to test the database connection on Simple Hosting:

index.js

var http = require('http'),
    pg = require('pg');

var pg_url = "tcp://hosting-db@localhost/postgres";
var pg_conn = new pg.Client(pg_url);

var test_pg_conn = function(callback) {
  pg_conn.connect(function(err) {
    if (err) {
      console.log(err);
      if (callback) callback("NOT WORKING");
    } else {
      console.log('Connected to PostgreSQL');
      if (callback) callback("OK");
    }
  });
};

http.createServer(function (req, res) {
  res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'});
  res.write('Hello Node.js!\n');
  test_pg_conn(function(pg_status) {
    res.write('PostgreSQL connection: ' + pg_status + '\n');
    res.end();
  });
}).listen(process.env.PORT);

package.json

{
  "name": "sample-nodejs-pgsql-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Sample Node.js PostgreSQL app for Simple Hosting",
  "main": "index.js",
  "engines": {
    "node": "4"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "pg": "*"
  }
}

MongoDB

MongoDB 3.2 is the version currently available for Node.js instances on Simple Hosting.

The MongoDB database service is available on localhost at port 27017. No user and password are required by default, but you should create safe credentials for real-world usage.

You can create as many users and databases as you need; you’re only limited by your disk space, which you can increase at any moment up to 1 TB.

You can manage your MongoDB database from the standard mongo shell via the SSH console, or from the Web admin panel with Adminer. Check out the reference article about MongoDB management on Simple Hosting to learn more.

Below is a minimalistic Node.js code example to test the database connection on Simple Hosting:

index.js

var http = require ("http"),
    mongo = require("mongodb");

var mongo_url = "mongodb://localhost:27017/sample";
var mongo_conn = mongo.MongoClient;

var test_mongo_conn = function(callback) {
  mongo_conn.connect(mongo_url, function(err, db) {
    if (err) {
      console.log(err);
      if (callback) callback("NOT WORKING");
    } else {
      console.log("Connected to server.");
      if (callback) callback("OK");
    }
    if (db) db.close();
  });
};

http.createServer(function (req, res) {
  res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'});
  res.write('Hello Node.js!\n');
  test_mongo_conn(function(status) {
    res.write('MongoDB connection: ' + status + '\n');
    res.end();
  });
}).listen(process.env.PORT);

package.json

{
  "name": "sample-nodejs-mongodb-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Sample Node.js MongoDB app for Simple Hosting",
  "main": "index.js",
  "engines": {
    "node": "4"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "mongodb": "*"
  }
}

You’ll find detailed documentation about getting started and using MongoDB with Node.js in the official website: https://docs.mongodb.org/getting-started/node/

See also