pult

Pult

Access local servers on .dev domains.

Pult makes local app servers available on .dev domains by running a local DNS server and HTTP reverse-proxy.

Install

npm install -g pult

Usage

node-project $ pult npm start # http://node-project.dev
ruby-project $ pult rackup # http://ruby-project.dev
jekyll-site $ pult -P jekyll serve # http://jekyll-site.dev
static-site $ pult -s # http://static-site.dev

Pult will first launch its server if it is not already running, then launch the app server.

By default, Pult passes the port to the server process through the PORT environment variable. Passing --port, -p or -P passes the port through the corresponding option (required for Jekyll).

For static sites, the -s option starts a static HTTP server in the current directory.

Domains

Pult by default serves the app from a .dev domain of the current directory. This can be changed with the -n option:

pult -n example # http://example.dev

Pult also serves the app on any subdomain of the .dev domain. To serve different apps on subdomains, pass the subdomain with -n.

Configuration

Command line options can be saved in .pultrc files that will be read from the current directory.

echo "-n example npm start" > .pultrc
pult # http://example.dev

Status

Invoking pult with no arguments lists the domains Pult is serving and the local ports they are being forwarded to.

[pult] next: 7003
[pult] http://example.dev --> http://localhost:7001
[pult] http://static.dev --> http://localhost:7002

Server

The Pult Server consists of a DNS server for resolving .dev domains and an HTTP server to reverse-proxy the .dev domains to app servers.

pult will launch pult-server automatically, but it can also be run manually.

The default behavior is for pult-server to respawn itself with sudo, then fork to the background. To run pult-server in the foreground, pass -f.

pult-server -f

To stop pult-server while it is in the background, pass -k to pult.

pult-server
pult -k

The default first port that pult-server assigns is 7001. This can be changed by passing -p.

pult-server -p 8081

The default bind address of pult-server for both DNS (port 53) and HTTP (port 80) is 127.0.0.1. A different address can be passed with the -l option.

pult-server -l 127.1.1.1

Library

Pult can be used as a Node.js library. See the documentation.

Compatibility

• Linux, through /etc/resolv.conf
• OS X, through /etc/resolver

Similar projects

• Pow
  • Advantages:
    • No sudo required
    • Serves the same app on multiple domains
  • Disadvantages:
    • OS X-specific
    • Rack-specific
    • Explicit setup (through symlinks)
    • No control over app server processes

License

Copyright © 2014, Curtis McEnroe [e-mail]

Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.