braydonf/node-deb

Debian packaging for Node.js projects

node-deb

Debian packaging for Node.js projects written 100% in bash.

Simple.

Installation

npm install node-deb

Compatibility

This exists mostly as an internal tool for my company, so until there is an 0.2.0 release, there will not be any sort of assurances of compatibility between releases. This includes command line flags, executables, and init scripts.

Usage

$ node-deb --help
Usage: node-deb [opts] -- file1 file2 ...
Opts:
  --cat-template)
    Print the contents of a given template then exit
  -d | --description)
     The description of the Debian package (default: 'node_deb.description' then 'description' from package.json)
  -e | --executable-name)
    The name of the executable (default: 'node_deb.executable_name' from package.json then $package-name)
  -g | --group)
     The Unix group the process will run as (default: 'node_deb.group' from package.json then $user)
  -h | --help)
    Display this message and exit
  -i | --init)
    Init script type {auto, upstart, systemd, none}. 'auto' chooses upstart or systemd. 'none' makes no init script. (default: 'node_deb.init' from package.json then 'auto')
  --list-json-overrides)
    List all fields of the 'node_deb' object in 'package.json' that can be used as an override then exit
  --list-templates)
    Print a list of available templates then exit
  --list-template-variables)
    Print a list of variales available to templates then exit
  -m | --maintainer)
    The maintainer of the Debian package (default: 'node_deb.maintainer' then 'author' from package.json)
  -n | --package-name)
    The name of the Debian package (default: 'node_deb.package_name' then 'name' from package.json)
  --no-delete-temp)
    Do not delete temp directory used to build Debian package
  --no-md5sums)
    Do not calculate md5sums for DEBIAN directory
  --template-control)
    Override Debian control template (default: 'node_deb.templates.control' from package.json then built-in)
  --template-executable)
    Override executable template (default: 'node_deb.templates.executable' from package.json then built-in)
  --template-postinst)
    Override maintainer script postinst template (default: 'node_deb.templates.postinst' from package.json then built-in)
  --template-postrm)
    Override maintainer script postrm template (default: 'node_deb.templates.postrm' from package.json then built-in)
  --template-prerm)
    Override maintainer script prerm template (default: 'node_deb.templates.prem' from package.json then built-in)
  --template-systemd-service)
    Override systemd unit template (default: 'node_deb.templates.systemd_service' from package.json then built-in)
  --template-upstart-conf)
    Override upstart conf template (default: 'node_deb.templates.upstart_conf' from package.json then built-in)
  -u | --user)
    The Unix user the process will run as (default: 'node_deb.user' from package.json then $package-name)
  --verbose)
    Print addtional information while packaging
  -v | --version)
    The version of the Debian package (default: 'node_deb.version' then 'version' from package.json)
  --)
    Delimiter separating options from files and directories

Configuration

You do not need to add anything to package.json as it uses sane defaults. However, if you don't like these, there are two options for overrides: command line options, or the JSON object node_deb at the top level of your package.json.

By default, if any of the following files exist, the will be included in the Debian package: package.json, npm-shrinkwrap.json, and node_modules/. To maintain some amount of compatibility between releases, if these files are not included in the command line arguments, a warning is issued alerting the user that they were included anyway.

For example, here are some sample node_deb overrides. The full list can be found by running node-deb --list-json-overrides.

{
  "name": "some-app",
  ...
  "node_deb": {
    "init": "systemd",
    "version": "1.2.3-beta",
    "start_command": "/usr/bin/node foo.js"
  }
}

Command line options always override values found in the node_deb object, and values found in the node_deb object always override the values found in the rest of package.json.

Examples can be found by looking at test.sh and the corresponding projects in the test directory.

Examples

Ex. 1

package.json:

{
  "name": "some-app",
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "/usr/bin/node app.js arg1 arg2 arg3"
  }
}

cmd: node-deb -- app.js lib/ package.json

You will get:

• A Debian package named some-app_1.2.3_all.deb
  • Containing the files app.js & package.json and the directory lib
  • Installed via
    • apt-get install some-app
    • apt-get install some-app=1.2.3

On install, you will get.

• An executable named some-app
  • That starts the app with the command /usr/bin/node app.js arg1 arg2 arg3
• An upstart init script installed to /etc/init/some-app.conf
• A systemd unit file installed to /etc/systemd/system/some-app.service
• A Unix user some-app
• A Unix group some-app

Ex. 2

package.json:

{
  "name": "some-other-app",
  "version": "5.0.2",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "/usr/bin/node --harmony index.js"
  }
}

cmd: node-deb -u foo -g bar -v 20150826 -- index.js lib/ package.json

You will get:

• A Debian package named some-other-app_20150826_all.deb
  • Containing the files index.js & package.json and the directory lib
  • Installed via
    • apt-get install some-other-app
    • apt-get install some-other-app=20150826

On install, you will get.

• An executable named some-other-app
  • That starts the app with the command /usr/bin/node --harmony index.js
• An upstart init script installed to /etc/init/some-other-app.conf
• A systemd unit file installed to /etc/systemd/system/some-other-app.service
• A Unix user foo
• A Unix group bar

&c.

node-deb can Debian-package itself. Just run ./node-deb -- node-deb templates/ package.json.

More complete examples can be found by looking at test.sh and the corresponding projects in the test directory.

Requirements

• dpkg
• jq

These are both available through apt and brew.

Contributing

Please make all pull requests to the develop branch.