Run node app in background (Linux)
There are different tools to run a node.js script in the background. In my experience I have used nohup, Forever, and PM2.
nohup
Running a script in the background in linux can be done using nohup, using nohup we can run node application in the background.
$ nohup node /nodeapp/index.js &
Kill Process
You can stop the process using the kill command as well:
First you need to know which process ID to kill, list all the process running node by running:
ps axl | grep node
The second column of your result is probably the PID, take that number and run the command below:
kill -9 [PID]
Forever
Forever is another solution for Node.js scripts.
Installation
$ npm install forever -g
Usage
$ forever start /nodeapp/index.js
$ forever restart /nodeapp/index.js
$ forever stop /nodeapp/index.js
$ forever list
PM2
Another tool I found is PM2, it has a lot of extras features that I have not used, except process management.
Installation
$ npm install pm2 -g
Usage
$ pm2 start /nodeapp/index.js
$ pm2 restart /nodeapp/index.js
$ pm2 reload /nodeapp/index.js
$ pm2 stop /nodeapp/index.js
$ pm2 delete /nodeapp/index.js
$ pm2 list