Automatically start forever (node) on system restart

Question

I am using node's forever module to keep my node server running. Forever however terminates when there is a system restart. Is there any way I can automatically start the node server (with forever) when the system restarts?

Answer 1

I would suggest using crontab. It's easy to use.

How to

1. To start editing run the following replacing the "testuser" with your desired runtime user for the node process. If you choose a different user other than yourself, you will have to run this with sudo.

   $ crontab -u testuser -e
   

2. If you have never done this before, it will ask you which editor you wish to edit with. I like vim, but will recommend nano for ease of use.

3. Once in the editor add the following line:

   @reboot /usr/local/bin/forever start /your/path/to/your/app.js
   

4. Save the file. You should get some feedback that the cron has been installed.

5. For further confirmation of the installation of the cron, execute the following (again replacing "testuser" with your target username) to list the currently installed crons:

   $ crontab -u testuser -l 
   

Note that in my opinion, you should always use full paths when executing binaries in cron. Also, if the path to your forever script is not correct, run which forever to get the full path.

Given that forever calls node, you may also want to provide the full path to node:

@reboot /usr/local/bin/forever start -c /usr/local/bin/node /your/path/to/your/app.js

Further Reading

• crontab Man Page
• Ubuntu Cron HowTo