Jared Allard
178 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
178 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
### Nexe
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[](https://gitter.im/crcn/nexe?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge) [](https://david-dm.org/crcn/nexe)
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[](http://waffle.io/crcn/nexe)
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Nexe is a command-line utility that compiles your Node.js application into a single executable file.
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### Motivation
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- Ability to run multiple applications with *different* node.js runtimes.
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- Distributable binaries without needing node / npm.
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- Starts faster.
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- Lockdown specific application versions, and easily rollback.
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- Faster deployments.
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## Building Requirements
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- Linux / Mac / BSD / Windows
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- Python 2.6 or 2.7 (use --python if not in PATH)
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- Windows: Visual Studio 2010+
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## Caveats
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### Doesn't support native modules
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- Use the techniques below for working around dynamic require statements to exclude the module from the bundling, and deploy along side the executable in a node_module folder so your app can find it. Note: On windows you may need to have your app be named node.exe if .node file depends on node.
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### Doesn't support dynamic require statements
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Such As:
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```javascript
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var x = require(someVar);
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```
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In this case nexe won't bundle the file
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```javascript
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var x;
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if (someCheck) {
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x = require("./ver1.js");
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} else {
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x = require("./var2.js");
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}
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```
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In this case nexe will bundle both files.
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Workarounds:
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1) for dynamic requires that you want bundled add the following into your project
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```javascript
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var dummyToForceIncludeForBundle = false;
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if (dummyToForceIncludeForBundle) {
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require("./loadedDynamicallyLater.js");
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// ...
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}
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```
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this will trick the bundler into including them.
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2) for dynamic files getting included that you don't want to be
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```javascript
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var moduleName = "./ver2.js";
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if (someCheck) {
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moduleName = "./ver1.js";
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}
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var x = require(moduleName);
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```
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Note: neither file will be bundled.
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Using these two techniques you can change your application code so modules are not bundles, and generate a includes.js file as part of your build process so that the right files get bundled for your build configuration.
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### __dirname
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Once the module is bundled it is part of the executable. __dirname is therefore the executable dir (process.execPath). Thus if you put resources on a relative path from the the executable your app will be able to access them.
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If you had a data file at `/dev/myNodeApp/stateManager/handler/data/some.csv`
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and a file at `/dev/myNodeApp/stateManager/handler/loader.js`
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```javascript
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module.exports = fw.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, "./data/some.csv"));
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```
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You would need to deploy some.csv in a sub dir `data/` along side your executable
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There are potential use cases for __dirname where the executable path is not the correct substitution, and could result in a silent error (possibly even in a dependency that you are unaware of).
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Note: __filename will be 'undefined'
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### child_process.fork
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child_process.spawn works is unmodified, but child_process.fork will make an attempt to launch a new instance of your executable and run the bundled module.
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## Installation
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Via NPM:
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```bash
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npm install nexe [-g]
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```
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Or git:
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```bash
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git clone https://github.com/crcn/nexe.git
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```
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### CLI Usage
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```text
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Usage: nexe -i [sources] -o [binary] [options]
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Options:
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-i, --input The entry javascript files [default: cwd]
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-o, --output The output binary [default: out.nex]
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-r, --runtime The node.js runtime to use [default: "latest"]
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-t, --temp The path to store node.js sources [default: ./tmp/nexe]
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-f, --flags Don't parse node and v8 flags, pass through app flags [default: false]
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-v, --version Display version number
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-p, --python Set path of python to use. [default: "python"]
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-F, --framework Set the framework to use. [default: "nodejs"]
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```
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### Code Usage
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```javascript
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var nexe = require('nexe');
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nexe.compile({
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input: 'input.js',
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output: 'path/to/bin',
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nodeVersion: '0.12.5',
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nodeTempDir: 'src',
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python: 'path/to/python',
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resourceFiles: [ 'path/to/a/file' ],
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flags: true,
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framework: "nodejs"
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}, function(err) {
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console.log(err);
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});
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```
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### package.json inclusion
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As of 0.4.0 you can now embed nexe options into package.json. Note that this Format
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is still in works, so it is likely to change.
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```
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"nexe": {
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"input": "./bin/nexe",
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"output": "nexe^$",
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"temp": "src",
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"runtime": {
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"framework": "iojs",
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"version": "2.3.1",
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"ignoreFlags": true
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}
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}
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```
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Notes:
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* output: can use ^$ for platform specific file extension
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## Maintainers
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* __Jared Allard__ ([@jaredallard](https://github.com/jaredallard)) <[jaredallard@outlook.com](mailto:jaredallard@outlook.com)> (Active)
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* __Christopher Karper__ ([@ckarper](https://github.com/CKarper)) <[Christopher.Karper@gmail.com](mailto:Christopher.Karper@gmail.com)> (Active)
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* __Craig Jefferds__ ([@crcn](https://github.com/crcn)) <[craig.j.condon@gmail.com](mailto:craig.j.condon@gmail.com)> (Not Active)
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