Setting up a simple Node.js Server

You can try Node.js by using your Port Allocation on the The MetaArray to run your own Node.js server. What follows is a bare-bones ‘Hello, World’ example tailored for the metaarray:

1. go to a project folder in your user folder, say ~/projects/nodejstest
2. use your favorite editor to open a new file called app.js
   • paste the following code into the file:

     const http = require('http');
          //const hostname = '*put your mkhomepg-selected meta-array domain name here, remove the // at the beginning and delete next line*'; 
          const hostname = 'username.sdf.org';
          //const port = *replace this with your UID as port number, uncomment this line, then delete the line below*;
          const port = 8388;
     
          const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
          res.statusCode = 200;
          res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
          res.end('Hello World, this is node');
          });
     
           server.listen(port, hostname, () => {
             console.log(`Server running at http://${hostname}:${port}/`);
             });

3. run the server with node app.js
4. OMG that was so easy, right? Check it out with a browser pointed to your metaarray website but at your UID port, for example http://me.sdf.org:30099
   • it should look like the image to the right
5. quit the server with ctl-c
6. knock yourself out doing more cool stuff with javascript on the server!