grunt-contrib-connect
Advanced tools
grunt-contrib-connect is a Grunt plugin that provides a simple web server for serving static files. It is commonly used in development workflows to serve files, enable live reloading, and proxy requests to other servers.
Serve Static Files
This feature allows you to serve static files from a specified directory. In this example, the server runs on port 9000 and serves files from the 'public' directory.
json
{
"connect": {
"server": {
"options": {
"port": 9000,
"base": "public"
}
}
}
}
Live Reload
This feature enables live reloading of the web page when files change. The server is configured to use live reload, and the watch task monitors changes in the 'public' directory.
json
{
"connect": {
"server": {
"options": {
"port": 9000,
"base": "public",
"livereload": true
}
}
},
"watch": {
"options": {
"livereload": true
},
"files": [
"public/**/*"
]
}
}
Proxy Requests
This feature allows you to proxy requests to another server. In this example, requests to '/api' are proxied to 'api.example.com' on port 80.
json
{
"connect": {
"server": {
"options": {
"port": 9000,
"base": "public",
"middleware": function(connect, options, middlewares) {
middlewares.unshift(require('grunt-connect-proxy/lib/utils').proxyRequest);
return middlewares;
}
},
"proxies": [
{
"context": "/api",
"host": "api.example.com",
"port": 80
}
]
}
}
}
http-server is a simple, zero-configuration command-line HTTP server. It is similar to grunt-contrib-connect in that it serves static files, but it is a standalone tool and does not require Grunt.
live-server is a simple development HTTP server with live reload capability. It is similar to grunt-contrib-connect's live reload feature but is a standalone tool that does not require Grunt.
browser-sync is a powerful tool for synchronizing browser testing. It provides live reloading, CSS injection, and synchronized browser testing. It offers more features compared to grunt-contrib-connect but can be used alongside Grunt.
Start a connect web server
If you haven't used Grunt before, be sure to check out the Getting Started guide, as it explains how to create a Gruntfile as well as install and use Grunt plugins. Once you're familiar with that process, you may install this plugin with this command:
npm install grunt-contrib-connect --save-dev
Once the plugin has been installed, it may be enabled inside your Gruntfile with this line of JavaScript:
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-connect');
Run this task with the grunt connect command.
Note that this server only runs as long as grunt is running. Once grunt's tasks have completed, the web server stops. This behavior can be changed with the keepalive option, and can be enabled ad-hoc by running the task like grunt connect:keepalive.
This task was designed to be used in conjunction with another task that is run immediately afterwards, like the grunt-contrib-qunit plugin qunit task.
Type: Integer
Default: 8000
The port on which the webserver will respond. The task will fail if the specified port is already in use (unless useAvailablePort is set). You can use the special values 0 or '?' to use a system-assigned port.
Type: String
Default: 'http'
May be 'http', 'http2' or 'https'.
Type: String
Default: '0.0.0.0'
The hostname on which the webserver can be accessed.
Setting it to '*', like '0.0.0.0', will make the server accessible from any local IPv4 address like '127.0.0.1' and the IP assigned to an ethernet or wireless interface (like '192.168.0.x' or '10.0.0.x'). More info
If open is set to true, the hostname setting will be used to generate the URL that is opened by the browser, defaulting to localhost if a wildcard hostname was specified.
Type: String or Array or Object
Default: '.'
| Type | Result | Example |
|---|---|---|
| String | The base (or root) directory from which files will be served. Defaults to the project Gruntfile's directory. | 'public' |
| Array | Array of String (or Object) bases to serve multiple directories. The last base given will be the [directory][] to become browse-able. | ['public','www-root'] |
| Object | Map containing path and options keys. options are passed on to the serve-static module. | { path: 'public', options: { maxAge: 1000*60*5 } } |
Type: String
Default: null
Set to the directory you wish to be browse-able. Used to override the base option browse-able directory.
See https://www.npmjs.com/package/serve-index for details.
Type: Boolean
Default: false
Keep the server alive indefinitely. Note that if this option is enabled, any tasks specified after this task will never run. By default, once grunt's tasks have completed, the web server stops. This option changes that behavior.
This option can also be enabled ad-hoc by running the task like grunt connect:targetname:keepalive
Type: Boolean
Default: false
Set the debug option to true to enable logging instead of using the --debug flag.
Type: Boolean, Number, or Object
Default: false
Set to anything but false to inject a live reload script tag into your page using connect-livereload.
If you set to true, defaults are used. If you set to a number, that number is used as a port number, together with the hostname you configured. If you set this to an object, that object is passed to connect-livereload unchanged as its configuration.
This does not by itself perform live reloading. It is intended to be used in tandem with grunt-contrib-watch or another task that will trigger a live reload server upon files changing.
Type: Boolean or String or Object
Default: false
Open the served page in your default browser.
This can be one of the following:
Specifying true opens the default server URL (generated from the protocol, hostname and port settings)
Specifying a URL opens that URL
Specify an object with the following keys to configure opn directly:
{
target: 'http://localhost:8000', // target url to open
appName: 'open', // name of the app that opens, ie: open, start, xdg-open
callback: function() {} // called when the app has opened
}
Note that in v0.9.0 open was replaced with opn but the configuration remained the same for backwards compatibility. target, appName and callback are the only supported keys in the config object.
Type: Boolean
Default: false
If true the task will look for the next available port after the set port option.
Type: Function or Array
Default: null
A function to be called after the server object is created, to allow integrating libraries that need access to connect's server object. A Socket.IO example:
grunt.initConfig({
connect: {
server: {
options: {
port: 8000,
hostname: '*',
onCreateServer: function(server, connect, options) {
var io = require('socket.io').listen(server);
io.sockets.on('connection', function(socket) {
// do something with socket
});
}
}
}
}
});
Type: Function or Array
Default: Array of connect middlewares that use options.base for static files and directory browsing
As an Array:
grunt.initConfig({
connect: {
server: {
options: {
middleware: [
function myMiddleware(req, res, next) {
res.end('Hello, world!');
}
],
},
},
},
});
As a function:
grunt.initConfig({
connect: {
server: {
options: {
middleware: function(connect, options, middlewares) {
// inject a custom middleware into the array of default middlewares
middlewares.unshift(function(req, res, next) {
if (req.url !== '/hello/world') return next();
res.end('Hello, world from port #' + options.port + '!');
});
return middlewares;
},
},
},
},
});
Lets you add in your own Connect middlewares. This option expects a function that returns an array of middlewares. See the project Gruntfile and project unit tests for a usage example.
In this example, grunt connect (or more verbosely, grunt connect:server) will start a static web server at http://localhost:9001/, with its base path set to the www-root directory relative to the gruntfile, and any tasks run afterwards will be able to access it.
// Project configuration.
grunt.initConfig({
connect: {
server: {
options: {
port: 9001,
base: 'www-root'
}
}
}
});
If you want your web server to use the default options, just omit the options object. You still need to specify a target (uses_defaults in this example), but the target's configuration object can otherwise be empty or nonexistent. In this example, grunt connect (or more verbosely, grunt connect:uses_defaults) will start a static web server using the default options.
// Project configuration.
grunt.initConfig({
connect: {
uses_defaults: {}
}
});
You can specify multiple servers to be run alone or simultaneously by creating a target for each server. In this example, running either grunt connect:site1 or grunt connect:site2 will start the appropriate web server, but running grunt connect will run both. Note that any server for which the keepalive option is specified will prevent any task or target from running after it.
// Project configuration.
grunt.initConfig({
connect: {
site1: {
options: {
port: 9000,
base: 'www-roots/site1'
}
},
site2: {
options: {
port: 9001,
base: 'www-roots/site2'
}
}
}
});
Options for the serve-static module. See serve-static:
grunt.initConfig({
connect: {
server: {
options: {
port: 8000,
base: {
path: 'www-root',
options: {
index: 'somedoc.html',
maxAge: 300000
}
}
}
}
}
});
Like the Basic Use example, this example will start a static web server at http://localhost:9001/, with its base path set to the www-root directory relative to the gruntfile. Unlike the other example, this is done by creating a brand new task. in fact, this plugin isn't even installed!
// Project configuration.
grunt.initConfig({ /* Nothing needed here! */ });
// After running "npm install connect serve-static --save-dev" to add connect as a dev
// dependency of your project, you can require it in your gruntfile with:
var connect = require('connect');
var serveStatic = require('serve-static');
connect(serveStatic('www-root')).listen(9001);
// Now you can define a "connect" task that starts a webserver, using the
// connect lib, with whatever options and configuration you need:
grunt.registerTask('connect', 'Start a custom static web server.', function() {
grunt.log.writeln('Starting static web server in "www-root" on port 9001.');
connect(serveStatic('www-root')).listen(9001);
});
A default certificate authority, certificate and key file are provided and pre-
configured for use when protocol has been set to https.
NOTE: No passphrase set for the certificate. If you are getting warnings in Google Chrome, add 'server.crt' (from 'node_modules/tasks/certs') to your keychain. In OS X, after you add 'server.crt', right click on the certificate, select 'Get Info' - 'Trust' - 'Always Trust', close window, restart Chrome.
For HTTPS / HTTP2 livereload with grunt-contrib-watch see the last example here.
If the default certificate setup is unsuitable for your environment, OpenSSL can be used to create a set of self-signed certificates with a local ca root.
### Create ca.key, use a password phrase when asked
### When asked 'Common Name (e.g. server FQDN or YOUR name) []:' use your hostname, i.e 'mysite.dev'
openssl genrsa -des3 -out ca.key 1024
openssl req -new -key ca.key -out ca.csr
openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in ca.csr -out ca.crt -signkey ca.key
### Create server certificate
openssl genrsa -des3 -out server.key 1024
openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr
### Remove password from the certificate
cp server.key server.key.org
openssl rsa -in server.key.org -out server.key
### Generate self-siged certificate
openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt
For more details on the various options that can be set when configuring SSL, please see the Node documentation for TLS.
Grunt configuration would become
// Project configuration.
grunt.initConfig({
connect: {
server: {
options: {
protocol: 'https', // or 'http2'
port: 8443,
key: grunt.file.read('server.key').toString(),
cert: grunt.file.read('server.crt').toString(),
ca: grunt.file.read('ca.crt').toString()
},
},
},
});
The connect plugin will emit a grunt event, connect.{taskName}.listening, once the server has started. You can listen for this event to run things against a keepalive server, for example:
grunt.registerTask('jasmine-server', 'start web server for jasmine tests in browser', function() {
grunt.task.run('jasmine:tests:build');
grunt.event.once('connect.tests.listening', function(host, port) {
var specRunnerUrl = 'http://' + host + ':' + port + '/_SpecRunner.html';
grunt.log.writeln('Jasmine specs available at: ' + specRunnerUrl);
require('open')(specRunnerUrl);
});
grunt.task.run('connect:tests:keepalive');
});
node-http2. Add secureProtocol in httpsOptions. Fix open.appName. Allow passing serve-index options.opn as it fixes some Linux issues. Add support for connect.static instance options.hostname option.0.0.0.0. Modified options.middleware to accept an array or a function.options.hostname if provided. Update connect-livereload to ~0.3.0. Update connect to ~2.12.0. Use well-formed SSL certificates. Support all options of open. Make directory browseable when base is a string.open option.options.base as it should be a string or an array as the user has set. Fix setting target hostname option.debug option added to display debug logging like the --debug flag. livereload option added to inject a livereload snippet into the page.Task submitted by "Cowboy" Ben Alman
This file was generated on Thu Jul 16 2020 10:58:04.
FAQs
Start a connect web server
The npm package grunt-contrib-connect receives a total of 0 weekly downloads. As such, grunt-contrib-connect popularity was classified as not popular.
We found that grunt-contrib-connect demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 6 open source maintainers collaborating on the project.
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