Daemon init script for node.js based app/server (DEBIAN/UBUNTU)

node_debian_init.sh

#!/bin/sh
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
# SOME INFOS : fairly standard (debian) init script.
#                 Note that node doesn't create a PID file (hence --make-pidfile) 
#                 has to be run in the background (hence --background)
#                 and NOT as root (hence --chuid)
#
# MORE INFOS :  INIT SCRIPT       http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-opersys.html#s-sysvinit
#               INIT-INFO RULES   http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts
#               INSTALL/REMOVE    http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/28
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#                                                                              #
#                     BEGIN <MODIFY TO REFLECT YOUR SETTINGS>                  #
#                                                                              #
#
#  1) Don't forget to also modify the COMMENTED fields in the "### BEGIN INIT INFO"
#     below (don't uncomment them) if you wish to install system-wide with update-rc.d
#     eg: provides, Short-Description, Description
#
#  2) in case you have different node.js servers running, each init.d script should
#     (obviously) have a UNIQUE BASE name so that PIDS do not conflict
#     --> name them accordingly
#     eg: node_static_server, node_express1, node_load_balancer.sh...
#
#  3) copy the renamed/modified script(s) to /etc/init.d
#     chmod 755,
#
#  4) if you wish the Daemon to be lauched at boot / stopped at shutdown :
#     INSTALL : update-rc.d scriptname defaults 
#     (UNINSTALL : update-rc.d -f  scriptname remove)
#
#  5)  based on : Debian /etc/init.d/skeleton
#      modified by : Peter Host (www.oghme.com)
# ______________________________________________________________________________ 
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          node_debian_init
# Required-Start:    $remote_fs $named $syslog
# Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $named $syslog
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: DEBIAN initscript for node.js servers/apps
# Description:       ex : proxy server is a node.js http server listening on
#                    port 8080 (relayed from 80 by iptables). It balances
#                    http requests between the main nodejs server 
#                    (nodejs.mydomain.com:8000), the static file-server 
#                    (static.mydomain.com) and the legacy apache server
#                    (apache.mydomain.com) and possibly other servers
#                    place this file in /etc/init.d.
### END INIT INFO

# Author: My Name <myname@domain.tld>
#
# Please remove the "Author" lines above and replace them
# with your own name if you copy and modify this script.
# ______________________________________________________________________________ 
#
# PATH should only include /usr/* if it runs after the mountnfs.sh script
PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin # modify if you need

DAEMON_ARGS="/path/to/app.js"               # path to your node.js server/app
                                            # NB: don't use ~/ in path

DESC="node.js http server"                  # whatever fancy description you like

NODEUSER=myuser:mygroup                     # USER who OWNS the daemon process (no matter whoever runs the init script)
                                            # user:group (if no group is specified, the primary GID for that user is used)

LOCAL_VAR_RUN=/usr/local/var/run            # in case the init script is run by non-root user, you need to
                                            # indicate a directory writeable by $NODEUSER to store the PID file
                                            # NB : 1) /usr/local/var/run does not exist by DEFAULT. Either create it
                                            #      or choose one of your own liking.
                                            #      2) node, npm,... are best NOT installed/run as ROOT.
                                            #         (see here: https://github.com/isaacs/npm/blob/master/README.md)

NAME=node                                   # name of the node.js executable
DAEMON=/usr/local/bin/$NAME                 # this SHOULD POINT TO where your node executable is
#
#                                                                              #
#                   END </MODIFY TO REFLECT YOUR SETTINGS>                     #
#                (Nothing else to modify from this point on...)                #
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 





# Do NOT "set -e"

[ $UID -eq "0" ] && LOCAL_VAR_RUN=/var/run # in case this script is run by root, override user setting
THIS_ARG=$0
INIT_SCRIPT_NAME=`basename $THIS_ARG`
[ -h $THIS_ARG ] && INIT_SCRIPT_NAME=`basename $(readlink $THIS_ARG)` # in case of symlink
INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT=${INIT_SCRIPT_NAME%.*}                            
PIDFILE="$LOCAL_VAR_RUN/$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT.pid"
SCRIPTNAME=/etc/init.d/$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME

# Exit if the package is not installed
[ -x "$DAEMON" ] ||  { echo "can't find Node.js ($DAEMON)"  >&2; exit 0; }

# Exit if the 'run' folder is not present
[ -d "$LOCAL_VAR_RUN" ] || { echo "Directory $LOCAL_VAR_RUN does not exist. Modify the '$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT' init.d script ($THIS_ARG) accordingly" >&2; exit 0; }

# Read configuration variable file if it is present
[ -r /etc/default/$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME ] && . /etc/default/$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME

# Load the VERBOSE setting and other rcS variables
. /lib/init/vars.sh

# Define LSB log_* functions.
# Depend on lsb-base (>= 3.0-6) to ensure that this file is present.
. /lib/lsb/init-functions

# uncomment to override system setting
# VERBOSE=yes

#
# Function that starts the daemon/service
#
do_start()
{
	# Return
	#   0 if daemon has been started
	#   1 if daemon was already running
	#   2 if daemon could not be started
	start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --chuid $NODEUSER --background --exec $DAEMON --test > /dev/null \
		|| { [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg  "  --->  Daemon already running $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"; return 1; }
	start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --chuid $NODEUSER --make-pidfile --pidfile $PIDFILE --background --exec $DAEMON -- \
		$DAEMON_ARGS \
		|| { [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg  "  --->  could not be start $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"; return 2; }
	# Add code here, if necessary, that waits for the process to be ready
	# to handle requests from services started subsequently which depend
	# on this one.  As a last resort, sleep for some time.
	[ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg  "  --->  started $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"
}

#
# Function that stops the daemon/service
#
do_stop()
{
	# Return
	#   0 if daemon has been stopped
	#   1 if daemon was already stopped
	#   2 if daemon could not be stopped
	#   other if a failure occurred
	start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --retry=TERM/30/KILL/5 --pidfile $PIDFILE  --chuid $NODEUSER --name $DAEMON
	RETVAL="$?"
	#[ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && [ "$RETVAL" = 1 ] && log_daemon_msg  "  --->  SIGKILL failed => hardkill $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"
	[ "$RETVAL" = 2 ] && return 2
	# Wait for children to finish too if this is a daemon that forks
	# and if the daemon is only ever run from this initscript.
	# If the above conditions are not satisfied then add some other code
	# that waits for the process to drop all resources that could be
	# needed by services started subsequently.  A last resort is to
	# sleep for some time.
	start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --oknodo --retry=0/3/KILL/5 --pidfile $PIDFILE  --chuid $NODEUSER --exec $DAEMON -- $DAEMON_ARGS
	[ "$?" = 2 ] && return 2
	# Many daemons don't delete their pidfiles when they exit.
	rm -f $PIDFILE
  [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && [ "$RETVAL" = 1 ] && log_daemon_msg "  --->  $DESC not running" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"
  [ "$VERBOSE" != no -a "$RETVAL" = 0 ] && log_daemon_msg "  --->  $DESC stopped" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"
	return "$RETVAL"
}

#
# Function that sends a SIGHUP to the daemon/service
#
do_reload() {
	#
	# If the daemon can reload its configuration without
	# restarting (for example, when it is sent a SIGHUP),
	# then implement that here.
	#
	start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --signal 1 --pidfile $PIDFILE  --chuid $NODEUSER --name $NAME
	return 0
}

#
# Function that returns the daemon 
#
do_status() {
  #
  # http://refspecs.freestandards.org/LSB_3.1.1/LSB-Core-generic/LSB-Core-generic/iniscrptact.html
  # 0 program is running or service is OK
  # 1 program is dead and /var/run pid file exists
  # (2 program is dead and /var/lock lock file exists) (not used here)
  # 3 program is not running
  # 4 program or service status is unknown
  RUNNING=$(running)
  
  # $PIDFILE corresponds to a live $NAME process
  ispidactive=$(pidof $NAME | grep `cat $PIDFILE 2>&1` >/dev/null 2>&1)
  ISPIDACTIVE=$?

  if [ -n "$RUNNING" ]; then
    if [ $ISPIDACTIVE ]; then 
      log_success_msg "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT (launched by $USER) (--chuid $NODEUSER) is running"
      exit 0      
    fi
  else
    if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
      log_success_msg "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT (launched by $USER) (--chuid $NODEUSER) is not running, phantom pidfile $PIDFILE"
      exit 1
    else
      log_success_msg "no instance launched by $USER, of $INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT (--chuid $NODEUSER) found"
      exit 3
    fi
  fi
  
}

running() {
  RUNSTAT=$(start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --chuid $NODEUSER --background --exec $DAEMON --test > /dev/null)
  if [ "$?" = 1 ]; then
    echo y
  fi
  
}


case "$1" in
  start)
	[ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg "Starting $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"
	do_start
	case "$?" in
		0|1) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 0 ;;
		2) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 1 ;;
	esac
	;;
  stop)
	[ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg "Stopping $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"
	do_stop
	case "$?" in
		0|1) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 0 ;;
		2) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 1 ;;
	esac
	;;
  #reload|force-reload)
	#
	# If do_reload() is not implemented then leave this commented out
	# and leave 'force-reload' as an alias for 'restart'.
	#
	#log_daemon_msg "Reloading $DESC" "$NAME"
	#do_reload
	#log_end_msg $?
	#;;
  restart|force-reload)
	#
	# If the "reload" option is implemented then remove the
	# 'force-reload' alias
	#
	log_daemon_msg "Restarting $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"
	do_stop
	case "$?" in
	  0|1)
		do_start
		case "$?" in
			0) log_end_msg 0 ;;
			1) log_end_msg 1 ;; # Old process is still running
			*) log_end_msg 1 ;; # Failed to start
		esac
		;;
	  *)
	  	# Failed to stop
		log_end_msg 1
		;;
	esac
	;;
  status)
    do_status
  ;;
  *)
	#echo "Usage: $SCRIPTNAME {start|stop|restart|reload|force-reload}" >&2
	echo "Usage: $SCRIPTNAME {start|stop|restart|force-reload}" >&2
	exit 3
	;;
esac

exit 0

Here's the init.d script I use on a daily basis to monitor node.js servers on Debian. It should work "as is" on Ubuntu. It's (hopefully) versatile enough to enable a sysadmin to run multiple node instances under different usernames at startup, and monitor them via /etc/init.d/scriptname status (nagios, zabbix, monit & co)

/etc/init.d/MyNodejsServer.sh start|stop|restart|status

And in case anyone needs it, here's a similar startup/monitoring file for node.js on Amazon Web Services EC2 linux images. AWS EC2 linux images are loosely based on CentOS. It's a bit more simple than the above but probably doesn't provide as much flexibility or robustness.
https://gist.github.com/757965

I had to use /bin/bash as a shebang on Ubuntu hardy, or I would get: "[: 35: 0: unexpected operator".

Thanks script worked great for me.

Thanks for this script.
I think you souhld correct the shebang error :) there is a space in #! and /bin/sh

@Givre Done. Sorry for the delay

few hours for the delay hahaha good job !
I have to check why the restart say always [fail] but done correctly.. i think it's only on my computer :)

Is there a way to specify a logfile to redirect output to, or is this something that I would have to build into my node.js script? Thanks.

[: 89: -eq: unexpected operator

This doesn't work on a Debian Squeeze box, I am trying to see whats wrong.

thx rhoml. I'm not using it very much now as I need to launch like 20 different instances of node every time and scripting it to launch into 'gnu screens' works better for me.

NB: used it on Lenny, never tried it on Squeeze
(NB2 : check the paths, especially for PIDS)

Awesome stuff, thanks

I'm getting [: 83: -eq: unexpected operator for some reason because $UID is coming up undefined... not sure why when I do echo $UID I get 0... looking.

I hard coded a default value for the UID in the case where it is not defined. (hack)

UID=${UID:="1234"}

what do I have to change if I want to log output of the node.js console.log() to a file say /var/log/node_log

For the -eq: unexpected operator, use /bin/bash instead of /bin/sh on the first line (got the problem on Debian Squeeze).
In my case, I'm working on a weird non-made-by-me compilation of node.js which apparently requires the NODEUSER to be root:root (hate that, sorting it out, but in the meantime...).

@bertrandom @yulrizka:
To redirect output you must to create another *.sh file, which contains somefing like that:

!/bin/bash

NODEPATH=/usr/local/bin/node
$NODEPATH $1 1>>$2 2>>$3

Next you must edit above file:
line 76: $DAEMON=path_to_your_sh_file
before line 125 add this:
APPLOG_FILE="/var/log/node/$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT.log"
ERRLOG_FILE="/var/log/node/$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT.err.log"
if [ ! -a $APPLOGFILE ];then mkdir -p /var/log/node/;touch $APPLOG_FILE;fi
if [ ! -a $ERRLOGFILE ];then mkdir -p /var/log/node/;touch $ERRLOG_FILE;fi
chown -R $NODEUSER /var/log/node/

Replace lines 127-130:
start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --chuid $NODEUSER --make-pidfile --pidfile $PIDFILE --background --exec $DAEMON --
$DAEMON_ARGS
|| { [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg " ---> could not be start $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"; return 2; }
with this:
start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --chuid $NODEUSER --make-pidfile --pidfile $PIDFILE --background --exec $DAEMON --
$DAEMON_ARGS $APPLOG_FILE $ERRLOG_FILE
|| { [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg " ---> could not be start $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"; return 2; }

If this not help you then you must to upgrade dpkg package to version 1.16.5 or higher

Some Notes on this:

• Beware of non-privileged port ranges being used. In this case, an exception will be thrown in events.js but you will never see it. Use a higher port assignment or look into setcap. More on that here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/413807/is-there-a-way-for-non-root-processes-to-bind-to-privileged-ports-1024-on-l
• If you get an error about the system not being able to track processes more than 15 chars you can change the do_stop() method to use --exec $DAEMON instead of --name $DAEMON.
• Ubuntu users change bang line for /bin/bash. (previously mentioned).

Could you give some pointers on how to modify this script to use forever? I am able to start forever but not all the processes close when I try to stop.

I encountered two problems with this script. The first was the unexpected operator error, I fixed that by adding a line above the line 89, UID=id -u``. The second problem was when invoking restart. I was getting a 'failed!' message. The fix was to add return 0; to the end of the `do_start()` function (line 134).

@kerog. seems a litle cumbersome solution. Anyhow I could not get the modification to work.
Is there an other solution to get the log of node?

ok, got the script with @kerog's log file modification to work :)
but I cant get the stop command to work.

No process in pidfile

How can I restart the process i have started?

According to this, redirecting log output without a second shell script can be done for Ubuntu 10.04 like so:

• use kerog's variation as a starter

• revert $DAEMON back to the node instance

• keep the APPLOGFILE and ERRLOGFILE entries on line 125

• add two more variables:

  arg1="1> $APPLOG_FILE"  
  arg2="2> $ERRLOG_FILE" 
  

• replace line 127 to 130 with

  start-stop-daemon --start --chuid $NODEUSER --make-pidfile --pidfile $PIDFILE --background --exec /bin/bash -- \
  -c "exec $DAEMON $DAEMON_ARGS $arg1 $arg2"  \
  || { [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg " ---> could not be start $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"; return 2; }
  

Start, stop, restart, status should work now.

With the change to the bash shell it works perfect for me on Debian 6 and 7.
Perfect work, thanks

I had a bug where restart was returning a false fail message even though everything was fine. Below is the fix I used.
Line 133 replace

•   [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg  "  --->  started $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"
  

with

•   if [ "$VERBOSE" != no ]; then
  

•     log_daemon_msg  "  --->  started $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"
  

•   fi
  

Hi, really cool script! I use it for running rocketchat on Ubuntu 14.04.
I cannot get the logging piece working though. I have added the log redirect like described above:

do_start()
{
       APPLOG_FILE="/var/log/node/$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT.log"
       ERRLOG_FILE="/var/log/node/$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT.err.log"

       arg1="1> $APPLOG_FILE"
       arg2="2> $ERRLOG_FILE"

        # Return
        #   0 if daemon has been started
        #   1 if daemon was already running
        #   2 if daemon could not be started
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --chuid $NODEUSER --background --exec $DAEMON --test > /dev/null \
                || { [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg  "  --->  Daemon already running $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"; return 1; }
        start-stop-daemon --start --chuid $NODEUSER --make-pidfile --pidfile $PIDFILE --background --exec $DAEMON -- \
                $DAEMON_ARGS $arg1 $arg2\
                || { [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg  "  --->  could not be start $DESC" "$INIT_SCRIPT_NAME_NOEXT"; return 2; }

I created the respective .log and err.log files in /var/log/node manually, chown -R to node user and chmod 666.
ps -ef also shows that my node process is running with "1> /var/log/node/rocketchat.log 2> /var/log/node/rocketchat.err.log"

However, the files remain empty.
Any idea what might be the reason?

Hi, just found out that it is necessary to execute it as /bin/bash (I thought I could omit that part), i.e.
--exec /bin/bash -- -c "exec $DAEMON $DAEMON_ARGS $arg1 $arg2" \
This post helped me understand: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8251933/how-can-i-log-the-stdout-of-a-process-started-by-start-stop-daemon