Node.js Ansible Role

This role assists with deploying a Node.js application on Fedora, CentOS 7, or a Docker container (based on CentOS/Fedora).

It currently performs the following tasks:

Installs Node.js (from a limited set of supported versions), npm, git, grunt-cli and any other additional npm/RPM package required by the application.
Creates a user account and group used by the application
Clones the application's Git repository
Runs npm install in the Git working directory or specific commands requested by the user
Manages the application process using Systemd in a VM or physical machine, or using Supervisor in a Docker container
Optionally checks a user provided HTTP endpoint for a test string to confirm the application has been deployed correctly

The role uses the following Ansible tags to control the provisioning process:

install - install software using package managers and (not recommended) using source
configure - add user accounts, groups, make filesystem related changes, clone git repositories, run application commands, etc.
deploy - enable and restart a Systemd unit if a VM or physical machine is being used or in the case of Docker, add a Supervisor config
test - check the application's HTTP endpoint for a response to confirm it is working

Role Variables

Please refer to the defaults/main.yml file for a list of variables along with additional documentation.

It's important to note that developers are expected to keep listing their dependencies in package.json as usual. However, this role offers the variable nodejs_app_npm_packages which has similar functionality but should only be used when certain packages need to be installed globally, in special cases.

Warning about Vagrant and VirtualBox Shared Folders

While working with npm (2.x and 3.x) various issues were uncorevered when using VirtualBox Shared Folders that would prevent npm install or other operations from completeting successfully.

To avoid these issues while still making use of VirtualBox Shared Folders to keep the target application's code synchronized between host and VM, we make use of bind mounts that "shadow" the VM's node_modules directory by mounting it outside the VirtualBox Shared Folder area. This creates a situation where the node_modules directory inside the VM is completely separated from the one on the host. Besides working around issues in npm/VirtualBox, it also helps in situations where the host and guest operating systems are different (since npm native modules will not work in that situation).

This behavior is controlled by the nodejs_app_shadow_node_modules (default=true). If you want to disable his, set the variable to 'false' (or 'no').

Requirements

The following roles are required:

facts

Example

Here is an example playbook that uses this role:

- hosts: localhost
  become: yes
  become_user: root

  vars:
    nodejs_app_name: preferences-server
    nodejs_app_git_repo: https://github.com/gpii/universal.git
    nodejs_app_git_branch: master
    nodejs_app_commands:
      - npm install
      - grunt dedupe-infusion
    nodejs_app_start_script: gpii.js
    nodejs_app_env_vars:
      - NODE_ENV=development.all.local
    nodejs_app_host_address: 127.0.0.1
    nodejs_app_tcp_port: 8081
    nodejs_app_test_http_endpoint: /preferences/carla
    nodejs_app_test_http_status_code: 200
    nodejs_app_test_string: registry.gpii.net

  roles:
    - facts
    - nodejs

idi-ops/ansible-nodejs

Node.js Ansible Role

Role Variables

Warning about Vagrant and VirtualBox Shared Folders

Requirements

Example