Notes on compiling/packaging a node.js projects as a single binary

Compiling_Nodejs_Single_File.md

Compiling plain javascript (no external modules)

So we got nexe to compile nodejs projects to an executable binary:

• it downloads the nodejs source
• it creates a single file nodejs source (using sardines )
• it monkey patches the nodejs code to include this single file in the binary (adding it to the lib/nexe.js)

$ nexe -i myproject.js -o myproject.bin -r 0.10.3

Caveats:

• I had an issue with unicode chars that got converted: it uses uglify.js and this needs to be configured to leave them alone Sardines Patch Unichode . This was necessary to get terminal.js to compile
• Next issue was to get socket.io-client to compile: the swfobject has document and navigator objects, so this had to be fixed as well - Sardines Patch Document & Navigator

Alternatives:

• Node-webkit to package stuff
• http://tidesdk.multipart.net/docs/user-dev/generated/

Embedding a native module (in the nodejs binary)

• nexe doesn't handle native modules (yet).

This is what I did to add the pty.js native module directly to the nodejs binary

$ tar -xzvf node-v0.8.21.tar.gz
$ cd node-v0.8.21

# Copy the native code 
$ cp ~/dev/terminal.js/node_modules/pty.js/src/unix/pty.cc src/node_pty.cc
# Correct the export name of the module
# Add the node_ prefix to the node_module name
# Last line should read - NODE_MODULE(node_pty, init)

# add node_pty to src/node_extensions.h (f.e. right after node_zlib)
# NODE_EXT_LIST_ITEM(node_pty)

# Copy the pty.js file
$ cp ~/dev/pty.js/lib/pty.js lib/pty.js

# Adapt the namings/bindings in lib/pty.js
# 1) replace: var pty = require('../build/Release/pty.node');
#    with: var binding = process.binding('pty');
# 2) replace all references to pty. to binding.

$ ./configure
$ make

Now you have a custom build node in out/Release/node The filesize was about 10034856 , you can further strip it and 6971192 (6.6M)

Info on the process.binding:

• http://blog.carbonfive.com/2011/03/14/node-js-part-ii-spelunking-in-the-code/
• https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/nodejs/R5fDzBr0eEk

Packaging the file

• this also make it easy to make a curl installer from it as it only requires you to download file
• create a rpm, deb, etc.. package from it using fpm
• or create a native MacOSX .app file from it as Matthias Bynens suggest in http://mathiasbynens.be/notes/shell-script-mac-apps
• https://github.com/subtleGradient/Appify-UI
• http://blog.coolaj86.com/articles/how-to-create-an-osx-pkg-installer.html

Extras

• https://github.com/felixge/node-cross-compiler

Once you have compiled node with the native modules embedded, how do you point nexe to use it for compiling with your actual application?