A NodeJS based webservices

This is a simple NodeJS based application that allows external applications execute programs in the server via URL. This is a kind of webservice developed in javascript that uses a configuration file or a MySQL database with the programs to be executed.

The MySQL is disable by default.

The file in ./config/config.js is used to setup all the configurations.

The default page ("/") shows the list of programs available.

The page "/prog/:id", where :id is the program's id in the MySQL database, shown the data for that specific program.

The page "/exec" execute the program with the arguments. The server use GET to pass the program's id and arguments. For example to execute ls -l in /tmp directory the URL should be: /exec?id=1&arg=-l%20/tmp

The exec service include three more options. The first one is async=true to send the program and return immediately without wait for the result. The second option is text=true to send the program's output in text format and the last option is rel=5, just for the html output, and will reload the page after 5 seconds

The exec full format is:

/exec?id=1&dir=-l%20/tmp&async=false&text=false&rel=5

The reload option is useful for programs like ps to have an update of the page every 5 seconds.

For complex programs with multiple arguments you should create scripts

EXAMPLES

From the linux console

You can get the command output in text format in the linux console using wget like this:

ls /tmp

#> wget -qO- "http://localhost:8081/exec?id=0&arg=-lh%20/tmp&text=true"

ps aux | grep username and reload after 5 seconds

#> wget -qO- "http://localhost:8081/exec?id=5&arg=aux|grep username&text=true&rel=5"

NOTES

Please, be careful with the programs included to be executed and the user who will runs this application. I recommend the creation of a user with limited permissions. Also, the application should be executed in a protected port.

INSTALATION

Application source code and NodeJS dependencies

Getting the source code, and download the NodeJS dependencies:

#> cd  nCService
#> npm install

Config file

By default the programs are specified in the ./config/config.js file.

/*
 * Programs in a text file
 * 
 * This is recommended for small list of programs
 */
config.progs = {};
config.progs.enable = 'true';
config.progs.list = new Array();

/*
 * ls
 */
config.progs.list[0] = {};
config.progs.list[0].Id = 0;
config.progs.list[0].Name = 'ls';
config.progs.list[0].Script = '/usr/bin/ls';
config.progs.list[0].Comment = 'Run ls command';

MySQL (Optional)

Create a database named 'nCService' and a mysql user named 'ncservice'

#> mysql -p -u root
mysql> CREATE DATABASE nCService;
mysql> CREATE USER 'ncservice'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mypass';
mysql> GRANT ALL ON nCService.* TO 'ncservice'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mypass';
#> mysql -p -u ncservice nCService < ./mysql/nCService.sql

RUN

Run this command to execute the application:

#> node nCService.js
 Express nCService server listening on port 8081

r78v10a07/ncservice