add startup service on 16.04

Solution 1:

In the simplest for using systemd service:

1. Install forever:

   [sudo] npm install forever -g
   

2. Write and store the script to run in preferred location.

3. Write the Systemd service:

   [Unit]
   Description=forever service
   After=network.target
   
   
   [Service]
   ExecStart=/home/george/.npm-global/bin/forever start /root/node/node_modules/.bin/www
   ExecStop=/home/george/.npm-global/bin/forever stop /root/node/node_modules/.bin/www
   Restart=always
   RestartSec=10                       # Restart service after 10 seconds if node service crashes
   StandardOutput=syslog               # Output to syslog
   StandardError=syslog                # Output to syslog
   SyslogIdentifier=nodejs-example
   
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

4. Save the systemd service file in /etc/systemd/system as myforever.service ( or with whatever name you like ).

5. Start the service and enable at start up.

   sudo systemctl start myforever.service
   sudo systemctl enable myforever.service
   

6. Check if it's running:

   sudo systemctl status myforever.service
   

7. To stop and disable it any time:

   sudo systemctl stop myforever.service
   sudo systemctl disable myforever.service
   

NOTE:

1. This is a simplified version of a systemd service many options are available
2. The service can also be called myforever without the .service extension, systemd will pick the right file
3. This /home/george/.npm-global/bin/forever is where my node modules are kept, yours will be different. Find it with which forever

Additional Information:

https://www.axllent.org/docs/view/nodejs-service-with-systemd/