Install MongoDB and Node.js on a Raspberry Pi

April 24 by
Yannick Loriot
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This tutorial is the second part of the series on
raspberry pi. In this part we will focus on the installation of MongoDB and Node.js that will run at startup. MongoDB is a popular NOSQL database that is often used with Node.js which is a JavaScript runtime mainly used to build
server-side applications.

MongoDB
Let’s get started with the MongoDB installation which is pretty simple:
$ sudo
apt-get update
$ sudo
apt-get upgrade
$ sudo
apt-get install mongodb-server
And to start it as a service when the raspberry pi starts just have to enter this command:
$ sudo
service mongod start
The binaries are stored in the /usr/bin/ folder while the datas are in the
/var/lib/mongodb/ folder. You can check everything is ok by using the mongo shell:
$ mongo
Node.js
Now we are going to install the Node.js server on our raspberry pi and put it as a service. Firstly download the latest version:
$ wget https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v5.x/node-v5.11.0-linux-armv7l.tar.gz You can download another version here but be careful to take the linux-armv7l distribution.
Once the archive downloaded, extract the package, move it in the
/opt/node folder and create the symbolic links:
$ tar -xvzf node-v5.11.0-linux-armv7l.tar.gz
$ sudo
mv node-v5.11.0-linux-armv7l /opt/node

$ sudo mkdir /opt/bin

$ sudo
ln -s /opt/node/bin/* /opt/bin/
To finish the installation, let’s add the binaries in the
PATH:
$ sudo
nano /etc/profile

PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/opt/bin"
Press CTRL+O then
CTRL+X to save the file. Voilà! The installation is done, check that everything is ok by taping these commands:
$ npm --version
3.7.3
$ node -v
v5.9.1
Run your web server as a service
Now that you have node and npm installed on your raspberry pi 2 you can work with your web server. Imagine you have a really simple on the
/home/pi/dev/node folder named
app.js with this code:
const http = require('http');

const hostname = '0.0.0.0';
const port = 3000;

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.statusCode = 200;
  res.setHeader('Content-Type',
'text/plain');
  res.end('Hello World\n');
});

server.listen(port, hostname, () => {
  console.log(`Server running at http://${hostname}:${port}/`); });
Here is just a hello world to illustrate the tutorial that you can run using this command
node /home/pi/dev/node/app.js
To run it as a service, we are firstly going to create a file in the
/etc/init.d/ folder to have our own service. Let’s create a
node file:
$ sudo
nano /etc/init.d/node
And put the following content:
#!/bin/sh
# /etc/init.d/node

if [ true !=
"$INIT_D_SCRIPT_SOURCED" ] ;
then
    set
"$0"
"$@"; INIT_D_SCRIPT_SOURCED=true
. /lib/init/init-d-script
fi

### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          node
# Required-Start:    $all
# Required-Stop:     $all
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Starts the DAEMON_PATH/DAEMONOPTS server
# Description:       Starts the DAEMON_PATH/DAEMONOPTS server
### END INIT INFO

export PATH=$PATH:/opt/node/bin

DAEMON_PATH="/home/pi/dev/node"

DAEMON=node
DAEMONOPTS="app.js”
NAME=node
DESC="myprogram"
PIDFILE=/var/run/$NAME.pid
SCRIPTNAME=/etc/init.d/$NAME

case "$1" in
start)
    printf "%-50s" "Starting $NAME..."
    cd $DAEMON_PATH
    PID=`$DAEMON $DAEMONOPTS > /dev/null 2>&1 &
echo $!`
    #echo "Saving PID" $PID " to " $PIDFILE
    if [ -z $PID ];
then
        printf
"%s\n" "Fail"
    else
        echo $PID > $PIDFILE
        printf
"%s\n" "Ok"
    fi
;;
status)
    printf
"%-50s" "Checking
$NAME..."
    if [ -f $PIDFILE ];
then
        PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
        if [ -z
"`ps axf |
grep ${PID} | grep -v
grep`" ];
then
            printf
"%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"
        else
            echo
"Running"
        fi
    else
        printf
"%s\n" "Service not running"
    fi
;;
stop)
    printf
"%-50s" "Stopping
$NAME"
    PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
    cd $DAEMON_PATH
    if [ -f $PIDFILE ];
then
        kill -HUP $PID
        printf
"%s\n" "Ok"
        rm -f $PIDFILE
    else
        printf
"%s\n" "pidfile not found"
    fi
;;
restart)
    $0 stop
    $0 start
;;

*)
    echo
"Usage: $0 {status|start|stop|restart}"
    exit 1
esac

exit 0                                
This file simply describes how to service should start or stop. Then you can start your custom service using this command:
$ sudo
service node start
You just have to restart your raspberry pi 2 and everything should be ok.
Conclusion
The installation of MongoDB and Node.js is pretty simple. If you have some troubles or questions don’t hesitate to leave a comment.
References
Installer MongoDB sur sa Raspberry Pi (in french)
Install MongoDB on Linux
Tuto Raspberry Pi : Configurer le wifi et installer node.js
(in french)
Installing Node.js v4.0.0 on a Raspberry Pi