@studiowebux/server

Introduction

This module starts an HTTP or HTTPS server.

It requires an expressJS application or an handler function to launch the server.

This is possible to use an HTTP or an HTTPS server, but not both in same time.

To redirect the traffic from HTTP to HTTPS, this is recommended to use a proxy (Nginx, HAProxy and others)

For more details (EN/FR) : Wiki

Installation

npm install --save @studiowebux/server

NPM

Usage

Configuration

Options

Key	Value	Description
ssl	{ enabled: false, key: "base64", cert: "base64" }	To enable and configure the HTTPS
enterprise	Enterprise name
author	Your name
project	Your project name	The NPM project name
version	The version of your backend	require("./package.json")["version"] allows to use the version in package.json file directly
endpoint	The base URL to access the backend	Don't forget to configure the proxy server with this information
port	The port to listen on	If the port is already used, the server will throw an error. Using the port 0 will use a random port.
cores	Number of cores to use when using the cluster mode.	If this value is undefined, all available cores will be use.

The available options:

const options = {
  ssl: {
    enabled: false,
    key: "base64",
    cert: "base64",
  },
  enterprise: "Studio Webux",
  author: "Tommy Gingras",
  project: "@studiowebux/bin",
  version: require("./package.json")["version"],
  endpoint: "/api/v1",
  port: 1337,
  cores: 4,
};

Functions

constructor(opts, app, log = console)

It initializes the server based on the configuration.

const WebuxServer = require("@studiowebux/server");

const webuxServer = new WebuxServer(opts, app, console);

The log parameter allows to use a custom logger function.

The app parameter must be an ExpressJS or an handler function (See below for more details).

StartServer(): Promise <Object>

This function starts only one process for the application.
It means that only one core will be use on the system.
To know the difference, please read this : NodeJS Cluster

const instance = await webuxServer.StartServer();

StartCluster(): Promise <Object>

This function starts multiple processes based on the number of cores defined in the configuration (or all cores if undefined).
The technology used for that is NodeJS Cluster

If the key cores is undefined, all cores will be used.

const instance = await webuxServer.StartCluster();

The first instance returned is the actual cluster (returned by the master), that means that to use the functions from the HTTP/HTTPS server, you have to do a condition,

Example:

// Start the cluster
webuxServer.StartCluster().then((instance) => {
  if (instance && !instance.isMaster) {
    // For example, to stop the HTTP/HTTPS server;
    // right after the creation (this is useless ..)
    instance.close();
  }
});

The cluster.js file within the examples directory contains some functions to show the idea.

Quick start

The /examples directory has multiple demos and resources.

How to create an HTTP server with Express

Step 1 - The configuration

config/server.js

module.exports = {
  enterprise: "Example Inc.",
  author: "Example",
  project: "example",
  version: require("./package.json")["version"],
  endpoint: "/api/v1",
  port: 1337,
};

Step 2 - The server file with express routing

index.js

const WebuxServer = require("@studiowebux/server");
const express = require("express");
const app = express();
const options = require("config/server.js");
const webuxServer = new WebuxServer(options, app, console);

app.set("node_env", process.env.NODE_ENV || "development");
app.set("port", process.env.PORT || 1337);

app.get("*", (req, res, next) => {
  console.log(`New Request`);
  return next();
});

app.get("/", (req, res, next) => {
  res.status(200).json({ message: "Something Fun !" });
});

webuxServer.StartServer();
// OR to use the cluster implementation
// webuxServer.StartCluster();

How to create an HTTPS server with Express

Step 1 - The certificates

To generate a self-signed certificate:

This is highly recommended to use real certificate,
 this example should only be used in test and development.

openssl req -new -newkey rsa:4096 -x509 -sha256 -days 365 -nodes -out  cert.crt -keyout key.key

To convert the certificate and the key in base64 format:

cat key.key | base64
cat cert.crt | base64

To add those in the environment variables:

export KEY=...
export CERT=...

Step 2 - The configuration

config/server.js

module.exports = {
  ssl: {
    enabled: process.env.KEY && process.env.CERT ? true : false,
    key: process.env.KEY,
    cert: process.env.CERT,
  },
  enterprise: "Example Inc.",
  author: "Example",
  project: "example",
  version: require("./package.json")["version"],
  endpoint: "/api/v1",
  port: 1337,
};

Step 3 - The server file with express routing

index.js

const WebuxServer = require("@studiowebux/server");
const express = require("express");
const app = express();
const options = require("config/server.js");
const webuxServer = new WebuxServer(options, app, console);

app.set("node_env", process.env.NODE_ENV || "development");
app.set("port", process.env.PORT || 1337);

app.get("*", (req, res, next) => {
  console.log(`New Request`);
  return next();
});

app.get("/", (req, res, next) => {
  res.status(200).json({ message: "Something Fun !" });
});

webuxServer.StartServer();
// OR to use the cluster implementation
// webuxServer.StartCluster();

How to create a server without Express

Step 1 - The handler function

index.js

function handler(req, res) {
  res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "text/html" });
  res.write("Hello World!");
  res.end();
}

Official documentation: NodeJS HTTP

Step 2 - The configuration

config/server.js

module.exports = {
  enterprise: "Example Inc.",
  author: "Example",
  project: "example",
  version: require("./package.json")["version"],
  endpoint: "/api/v1",
  port: 1337,
  cores: 4, // Optional, used with StartCluster()
};

Step 3 - The server file with the handler

index.js

const WebuxServer = require("@studiowebux/server");
const handler = require("handler.js");
const options = require("config/server.js");
const webuxServer = new WebuxServer(options, handler, console);

webuxServer.StartServer();
// OR to use the cluster implementation
// webuxServer.StartCluster();

The server events

NodeJS events

By default, these events are implemented

• error
• close
• listening

They print messages to keep traces of what happened.

To use the events, you can do something like:

Both StartServer & StartCluster are configured the same way:

const WebuxServer = require("@studiowebux/server");
const handler = require("handler.js");
const options = require("config/server.js");
const webuxServer = new WebuxServer(options, handler, console);

webuxServer.StartServer();
// webuxServer.StartCluster();

webuxServer.server.on("connection", (req) => {
  console.log(req);
  //
});

Videos and other resources

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

License

SEE LICENSE IN license.txt