check if a port is being used with nodejs

isPortTaken.js

var isPortTaken = function(port, fn) {
  var net = require('net')
  var tester = net.createServer()
  .once('error', function (err) {
    if (err.code != 'EADDRINUSE') return fn(err)
    fn(null, true)
  })
  .once('listening', function() {
    tester.once('close', function() { fn(null, false) })
    .close()
  })
  .listen(port)
}

@lyret

you've implemented isPortAvailable or isPortNotTaken()
in my opinion, "isPortTaken" should not return false when the port is available

i think its best to make it as a node global module to be able to call it in any project directories... anyways nice style ;0

I published a simple npm package, inspired by this code: is Port Available

This is simple and easy to use. No need of installing extra package. I just can copy & paste it in my code and it just works. Thank you so much for making it simple.

This is a version of the original using a promise :)

const isPortTaken = (port) => new Promise<boolean>((resolve, reject) => {
    const tester = Net.createServer()

//resolve true not false

     .once('error', err => (err.code == 'EADDRINUSE' ? resolve(true) : reject(err)))

// resolve false not true

     .once('listening', () => tester.once('close', () => resolve(false)).close())
     .listen(port)

})

I like to use this instead! :-)

https://github.com/indexzero/node-portfinder

Thnx man 😉

I like to use this instead! :-)

https://github.com/indexzero/node-portfinder

Thanks. This is a very simple and easy to use package.

a promise implement

import { createServer } from "net";

const isPortTaken = (port: number, type: 'IPv4' | 'IPv6' = 'IPv4') => {
  let hasError = 0;
  return new Promise((res) => {
    const server = createServer()
      .once('error', err => { if (err) { res(false) } })
      .once('listening', () => {
        server
          .once('close', () => {
            hasError++;
            if (hasError > 1) {
              res(false)
            } else {
              res(true)
            }
          })
          .close()
      })
      .listen(port, type === 'IPv4' ? '0.0.0.0' : '::')
  })

};

Test without producing an error
on mac and most unix/linux

const { spawnSync } = require('child_process')

function checkPort(port) {
  const output = spawnSync(
    `lsof -i tcp:${port} | awk '{print $2}' |grep --invert PID`,
    { shell: true }
  )
  if (output.error) {
    console.error(output.error)
    return
  }
  const pid = Buffer.from(output.stdout.buffer).toString().split('\n')[0]
  console.log({ pid })
  return pid
}

const pid = checkPort(443)) 
if (pid) {
  console.log(`server is running, process id  ${pid}`)
}

const pid = checkPort(443)) 

@tysonrm – nice technique! FYI, there's an extra ) when making the checkPort() example.