Run Node app on your local machine, in the background
In my last post I wrote how to run a Telegram bot on Fly.io. This is cool and all, but sometimes you don't need your Node.js app to run 24/7. Instead, running it only when your laptop/desktop is on might be enough for many cases.
Running Node apps using pm2 is super easy; it's lightweight, runs smoothly in the background and requires almost no setup at all:
- Install pm2:
npm install pm2 -g - Start your Node app with pm2:
pm2 start index.js --name my-app - Generate a startup script:
pm2 startup - Save the app list to be restored at reboot:
pm2 save
Some useful commands
- List your current apps:
pm2 list - View app logs:
pm2 logs my-app - Run app with environment variables:
ENV_VAR=xxx pm2 start index.js- Change environment variable:
ENV_VAR=xxx pm2 restart my-app --update-env
- Change environment variable:
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