lockfile

What is lockfile?

The lockfile npm package is used to create and manage lock files, which are useful for ensuring that only one instance of a process is running at a time. This can be particularly useful in scenarios where you want to prevent race conditions or ensure that a resource is not accessed concurrently by multiple processes.

What are lockfile's main functionalities?

Creating a Lockfile

This feature allows you to create a lockfile to ensure that only one instance of a process is running. The code sample demonstrates how to acquire a lock with specific options and release it after the work is done.

const lockFile = require('lockfile');

const options = {
  wait: 10000, // Wait for 10 seconds
  pollPeriod: 100, // Check every 100ms
  stale: 30000, // Consider the lock stale after 30 seconds
  retries: 3, // Retry 3 times
  retryWait: 100 // Wait 100ms between retries
};

lockFile.lock('path/to/file.lock', options, function (err) {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Failed to acquire lock:', err);
  } else {
    console.log('Lock acquired');
    // Do some work
    lockFile.unlock('path/to/file.lock', function (err) {
      if (err) {
        console.error('Failed to release lock:', err);
      } else {
        console.log('Lock released');
      }
    });
  }
});

Checking Lockfile Status

This feature allows you to check if a lockfile is currently active. The code sample demonstrates how to check the status of a lockfile and handle the result.

const lockFile = require('lockfile');

lockFile.check('path/to/file.lock', function (err, isLocked) {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Error checking lock status:', err);
  } else if (isLocked) {
    console.log('File is locked');
  } else {
    console.log('File is not locked');
  }
});

Updating Lockfile Options

This feature allows you to update the options for a lockfile, such as the stale time. The code sample demonstrates how to acquire a lock with updated options and release it after the work is done.

const lockFile = require('lockfile');

const options = {
  stale: 60000 // Consider the lock stale after 60 seconds
};

lockFile.lock('path/to/file.lock', options, function (err) {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Failed to acquire lock:', err);
  } else {
    console.log('Lock acquired with updated options');
    // Do some work
    lockFile.unlock('path/to/file.lock', function (err) {
      if (err) {
        console.error('Failed to release lock:', err);
      } else {
        console.log('Lock released');
      }
    });
  }
});

Other packages similar to lockfile

proper-lockfile

The proper-lockfile package provides similar functionality to lockfile, allowing you to create and manage lock files. It offers additional features such as automatic lock renewal and customizable lockfile paths. Compared to lockfile, proper-lockfile provides a more modern API and additional configuration options.

async-lock

The async-lock package is another alternative that provides locking mechanisms for asynchronous code. It allows you to create locks for specific keys and ensures that only one function can execute for a given key at a time. While it does not create physical lock files, it provides a similar functionality for managing concurrency in asynchronous code.

redlock

The redlock package is a distributed lock manager for Redis. It allows you to create and manage locks across multiple Redis instances, providing high availability and fault tolerance. Compared to lockfile, redlock is designed for distributed systems and offers more robust locking mechanisms for distributed environments.

README

lockfile

A very polite lock file utility, which endeavors to not litter, and to wait patiently for others.

Usage

var lockFile = require('lockfile')

// opts is optional, and defaults to {}
lockFile.lock('some-file.lock', opts, function (er) {
  // if the er happens, then it failed to acquire a lock.
  // if there was not an error, then the file was created,
  // and won't be deleted until we unlock it.

  // do my stuff, free of interruptions
  // then, some time later, do:
  lockFile.unlock('some-file.lock', function (er) {
    // er means that an error happened, and is probably bad.
  })
})

Methods

Sync methods return the value/throw the error, others don't. Standard node fs stuff.

All known locks are removed when the process exits. Of course, it's possible for certain types of failures to cause this to fail, but a best effort is made to not be a litterbug.

lockFile.lock(path, [opts], cb)

Acquire a file lock on the specified path

lockFile.lockSync(path, [opts])

Acquire a file lock on the specified path

lockFile.unlock(path, cb)

Close and unlink the lockfile.

lockFile.unlockSync(path)

Close and unlink the lockfile.

lockFile.check(path, [opts], cb)

Check if the lockfile is locked and not stale.

Returns boolean.

lockFile.checkSync(path, [opts], cb)

Check if the lockfile is locked and not stale.

Callback is called with cb(error, isLocked).

Options

opts.wait

A number of milliseconds to wait for locks to expire before giving up. Only used by lockFile.lock. Relies on fs.watch. If the lock is not cleared by the time the wait expires, then it returns with the original error.

opts.stale

A number of milliseconds before locks are considered to have expired.

opts.retries

Used by lock and lockSync. Retry n number of times before giving up.

opts.retryWait

Used by lock. Wait n milliseconds before retrying.