Install MongoDB and Node.js on a Raspberry Pi

This tutorial is the second part of the series on raspberry pi. In this part we will focus on the installation of MongoDB and Node.js that will run at startup. MongoDB is a popular NOSQL database that is often used with Node.js which is a JavaScript runtime mainly used to build server-side applications.

MongoDB

Let’s get started with the MongoDB installation which is pretty simple:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get upgrade
$ sudo apt-get install mongodb-server

And to start it as a service when the raspberry pi starts just have to enter this command:

$ sudo service mongod start

The binaries are stored in the /usr/bin/ folder while the datas are in the /var/lib/mongodb/ folder. You can check everything is ok by using the mongo shell:

$ mongo

Node.js

Now we are going to install the Node.js server on our raspberry pi and put it as a service. Firstly download the latest version:

$ wget https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v5.x/node-v5.11.0-linux-armv7l.tar.gz

You can download another version here but be careful to take the linux-armv7l distribution.

Once the archive downloaded, extract the package, move it in the /opt/node folder and create the symbolic links:

$ tar -xvzf node-v5.11.0-linux-armv7l.tar.gz
$ sudo mv node-v5.11.0-linux-armv7l /opt/node

$ sudo mkdir /opt/bin

$ sudo ln -s /opt/node/bin/* /opt/bin/

To finish the installation, let’s add the binaries in the PATH:

$ sudo nano /etc/profile

PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/opt/bin"

Press CTRL+O then CTRL+X to save the file. Voilà! The installation is done, check that everything is ok by taping these commands:

$ npm --version
3.7.3
$ node -v
v5.9.1

Run your web server as a service

Now that you have node and npm installed on your raspberry pi 2 you can work with your web server. Imagine you have a really simple on the /home/pi/dev/node folder named app.js with this code:

const http = require('http');

const hostname = '0.0.0.0';
const port = 3000;

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.statusCode = 200;
  res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
  res.end('Hello World\n');
});

server.listen(port, hostname, () => {
  console.log(`Server running at http://${hostname}:${port}/`);
});

Here is just a hello world to illustrate the tutorial that you can run using this command node /home/pi/dev/node/app.js

To run it as a service, we are firstly going to create a file in the /etc/init.d/ folder to have our own service. Let’s create a node file:

$ sudo nano /etc/init.d/node

And put the following content:

#!/bin/sh
# /etc/init.d/node

if [ true != "$INIT_D_SCRIPT_SOURCED" ] ; then
    set "$0" "$@"; INIT_D_SCRIPT_SOURCED=true . /lib/init/init-d-script
fi

### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          node
# Required-Start:    $all
# Required-Stop:     $all
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Starts the DAEMON_PATH/DAEMONOPTS server
# Description:       Starts the DAEMON_PATH/DAEMONOPTS server
### END INIT INFO

export PATH=$PATH:/opt/node/bin

DAEMON_PATH="/home/pi/dev/node"

DAEMON=node
DAEMONOPTS="app.js"
NAME=node
DESC="myprogram"
PIDFILE=/var/run/$NAME.pid
SCRIPTNAME=/etc/init.d/$NAME

case "$1" in
start)
    printf "%-50s" "Starting $NAME..."
    cd $DAEMON_PATH
    PID=`$DAEMON $DAEMONOPTS > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!`
    #echo "Saving PID" $PID " to " $PIDFILE
    if [ -z $PID ]; then
        printf "%s\n" "Fail"
    else
        echo $PID > $PIDFILE
        printf "%s\n" "Ok"
    fi
;;
status)
    printf "%-50s" "Checking $NAME..."
    if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
        PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
        if [ -z "`ps axf | grep ${PID} | grep -v grep`" ]; then
            printf "%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"
        else
            echo "Running"
        fi
    else
        printf "%s\n" "Service not running"
    fi
;;
stop)
    printf "%-50s" "Stopping $NAME"
    PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
    cd $DAEMON_PATH
    if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
        kill -HUP $PID
        printf "%s\n" "Ok"
        rm -f $PIDFILE
    else
        printf "%s\n" "pidfile not found"
    fi
;;
restart)
    $0 stop
    $0 start
;;

*)
    echo "Usage: $0 {status|start|stop|restart}"
    exit 1
esac

exit 0                                

This file simply describes how to service should start or stop. Then you can start your custom service using this command:

$ sudo service node start

You just have to restart your raspberry pi 2 and everything should be ok. If not try this command line sudo update-rc.d node defaults

Conclusion

The installation of MongoDB and Node.js is pretty simple. If you have some troubles or questions don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

References

• Installer MongoDB sur sa Raspberry Pi (in french)
• Install MongoDB on Linux
• Tuto Raspberry Pi : Configurer le wifi et installer node.js (in french)
• Installing Node.js v4.0.0 on a Raspberry Pi

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