WarpSpeed Express Sample Application

Express is a minimal and flexible Node.js web application framework that provides a robust set of features for web and mobile applications. WarpSpeed makes it incredibly simple to work with and deploy Express and other Node.js based projects. This guide will help you get up and running with Express and WarpSpeed.

Each of the WarpSpeed sample projects is a simple "To Do" list. All of the projects, regardless of language or framework, have the same basic functionality. If you are new to a particular language or framework, just compare the code to a language example that you are familiar with and you will be able to catch on quickly. A preview of the deployed project is show below:

Vagrant Development Envrionment

This guide assumes that you are using the WarpSpeed Vagrant development environment. Doing so will help you follow best practices and keep your development and production environments as similar as possible. If you are not using WarpSpeed Vagrant, ignore the sections that involve using the VM.

Fork and Clone the Sample Project

The best way to begin using this project is to fork the repository to your own GitHub account. This will allow you to make updates and begin using the project as a template for your own work. To fork the repository, simply click the "Fork" button for this repository.

Once you have forked the repository, you can clone it to your development environment or use pull-deploy to deploy it directly to a server configured with WarpSpeed.io.

Ideally, you should be using the WarpSpeed Vagrant development environment. The instructions below will assume this, although it isn't necessary if you already have a python environment set up.

To clone the repository to your local machine (not in your VM), use the following command:

# RUN THIS COMMAND FROM YOUR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT

cd ~/Sites
git clone [email protected]:YOUR_USERNAME/node-express-sample.git warpspeed-express.dev

Create a Database

The sample project uses a MongoDB document-oriented database. Mongo and its interactive shell come preinstalled on the Warpspeed Vagrant box. With some effort, the sample project can be configured with a traditional SQL database, however, Node.js web applications conventionally operate with NoSQL databases such as MongoDB. To access the Mongo interactive shell, run the following commands:

# if you aren't already in your VM then...
# cd to your warpspeed-vagrant directory
# and ssh into your VM
cd ~/warpspeed-vagrant
vagrant ssh

# activate the Mongo interactive shell
mongo

# list all existing MongoDB databases
show dbs

# create a dedicated database
use tasks_db

# create a dedicated collection
db.createCollection('tasks')

# Exit mongo
exit

This will create a database named "tasks_db" with a collection, roughly equivalent to an SQL database's table, named 'tasks', in which your Task objects will be stored.

Create a WarpSpeed Site

We need to create the appropriate server configuration files to run the site. To configure Nginx and Passenger to run your site, perform the following:

# if you aren't already in your VM then...
# cd to your warpspeed-vagrant directory
# and ssh into your VM
cd ~/warpspeed-vagrant
vagrant ssh

# then, run the site creation command
# notice that --force is used because the site directory already exists
warpspeed site:create node warpspeed-express.dev --force

Install Express.js

Express.js utilizes Node Package Manager (npm) to manage its dependencies. To install the required libraries listed in the package.json, run the following commands:

# RUN THESE COMMANDS FROM YOUR VM

# cd to the project's root directory
cd ~/sites/warpspeed-express.dev

# install Express.js
npm install

# (on windows)
npm install --no-bin-links

Add a Hosts File Entry

To access your new Express site, you will need to add an entry to your hosts file on your local machine (not your VM). To do so, perform the following:

# RUN THESE COMMANDS FROM YOUR LOCAL MACHINE

# open a terminal and run the following command (for Mac)
sudo nano /etc/hosts

# using git bash or similar, must be run as admin (windows)
notepad /c/Windows/System32/Drivers/etc/hosts

# using command prompt, must be run as admin (windows)
notepad C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts

# add this line to the end of the file
192.168.88.10 warpspeed-express.dev

# exit and save

Now, whenever you access "warpspeed-express.dev" in the browser, you will be directed to your Express site within your VM.

Restart your Site and Celebrate

Finally, we need to reload the site configuration to finalize and effectuate our changes. To do so, perform the following:

# RUN THESE COMMANDS FROM YOUR VM

# reload the site configuration
warpspeed site:reload warpspeed-express.dev

Now you can access http://warpspeed-slim.dev on your local machine to view the site.

Troubleshooting

If you have issues, chiefly a 500 Status Code Internal Error, and need to troubleshoot, view the NGINX error log for helpful clues.

# RUN THESE COMMANDS FROM YOUR VM

# open the NGINX error log
sudo nano /var/log/nginx/error.log

# ...or keep an open tab of the NGINX error log
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log

License

This sample project is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.