loop-server-fast

loop-server-fast

A faster NodeJS reader plugin to complement the AtomJump Loop Server (see http://atomjump.com). This speeds up the core of the AtomJump Loop Server PHP scripts, to allow for a large increase in the number of simultaneous users, with the same hardware.

Requirements

• NodeJS >= 4.x
• AtomJump Loop Server >= 0.5.22
• Linux server (or any machine with NodeJS)

Server Setup

Follow the instructions to set up the Loop Server as a PHP script.

Then to install the daemon:

sudo npm install pm2@latest -g
sudo npm install loop-server-fast -g
npm config set loop-server-fast:configFile /path/to/your/loop-server/config/config.json
npm config set loop-server-fast:messagesFile /path/to/your/loop-server/config/messages.json

To your Loop Server's config/config.json, add the following

{
   "staging": {
	  ...
	  "readPort" : "3277",								[you can choose a port number here]
      "httpsKey" : "/path/to/your/https.key",			[optional, for https only]
      "httpsCert": "/path/to/your/https.crt",			[optional, for https only]
	  ...	  
	}
}

(note, remove the [comments in square brackets above])

Now run and set up the script to run after a server reboot.

pm2 start "$(npm prefix -global)/lib/node_modules/loop-server-fast/loop-server-fast.sh"
pm2 save
pm2 startup     	#and run the command it outputs, to get autostart at boot-up.

Open your firewall e.g. on Ubuntu (also see further details at https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-setup-a-firewall-with-ufw-on-an-ubuntu-and-debian-cloud-server)

sudo ufw allow 3277/tcp

Now run your staging installation interface in a browser. It should continue as normal, but your NodeJS server is handling most read requests.

Starting and stopping

pm2 start loop-server-fast
pm2 stop loop-server-fast

Going live

Then, to your Loop Server's config/config.json, add the following

{
   "production": {
	  ...
	  "readPort" : "3277",								[you can choose a port number here]
      "httpsKey" : "/path/to/your/https.key",			[optional, for https only]
      "httpsCert": "/path/to/your/https.crt",			[optional, for https only]
	  ...	  
	}
}

(note, remove the [comments in square brackets above])

Switch the NodeJS server to the Loop Server's production settings with:

npm config set loop-server-fast:production true
pm2 restart loop-server-fast

(or back to staging with 'false')

Troubleshooting

You can track logs with

pm2 logs

To switch on verbose messages

npm config set loop-server-fast:verbose true
pm2 restart loop-server-fast

and to switch back off again

npm config set loop-server-fast:verbose false
pm2 restart loop-server-fast

If, you are on a small machine (e.g. 512MB RAM), and the install fails, try this

sudo npm install loop-server-fast -g -production 

Upgrading

One convenient line, to minimise downtime (although you will have a few seconds down):

pm2 stop loop-server-fast; sudo npm install loop-server-fast -g; pm2 start "$(npm prefix -global)/lib/node_modules/loop-server-fast/loop-server-fast.sh"