Run Node.js as a Service on Ubuntu

The post argues that sending a Node.js program to the background with & is not enough for a real service, because the process can die when STDOUT disappears or when the server crashes or reboots. It recommends using Ubuntu’s Upstart so the system recognizes the program as a daemon, can restart it, and can manage it more cleanly.

Reading notes

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• Running node ./yourprogram.js & only backgrounds the process, but it is still vulnerable if the console closes, STDOUT disappears, or the machine reboots.
• The suggested approach is to create an Upstart script in /etc/init/yourprogram.conf for each Node program.
• The example script sets a description, starts on mountall, stops on shutdown, respawns the process, and logs output to /var/log/node.log.
• The script can run Node as a limited user by using sudo -u www-data.
• Restarting and stopping the daemon is done with start yourprogram and stop yourprogram.
• The post says initctl is behind those shortcuts and can also show status, reload a job, and start it directly.
• A later update shows a production Upstart script with respawn limit, a higher nofile limit, a FIFO used for logging, and a post-start notification script.
• The post ends by saying Node can be used for very fast server-side JavaScript programs, including chat, key-value stores, and HTTP servers.