Install Nodel as a serviced (Ubuntu post 15.04) process

Please note: a bug in Ubuntu 16.04 kernel is affecting JSVC (17/7/17). Details here

The workaround is to use this extra flag in the JSVC configuration: -Xss1280k

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The latest Nodel JAR contains entry-points to allow use with JSVC.

There are two options to install Nodel. The first is to use this installer script, which also installs a basic node on the machine:

https://gist.github.com/rhulse/d292fe7b349b9a49131d14d6961bd630

Or you can do it manually:

Copy Nodel files into place. Replace with your nodel version.

sudo mkdir /opt/nodel
sudo cp nodelHost-<nodelversion>.jar /opt/nodel/nodel.jar

Test for installation of Java

java -version

If you do not see the Java version number, or the Java version is not 8 (1.8), install Java.

sudo apt-get install openjdk-8-jre-headless

Repeat the test above to verify installation.

If required, change the default Java version to 8.

sudo update-alternatives --config java

Run on the console (for testing):

cd /opt/nodel
sudo java -jar nodel.jar

After running this test, you should be able to view Nodel in a browser.

Install JSVC

sudo apt-get install jsvc

Run on the console using jsvc (for testing):

sudo /usr/bin/jsvc -cwd /opt/nodel -home  /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8.0-openjdk-amd64 -pidfile /var/run/jsvc.pid -cp /opt/nodel/nodel.jar:/usr/share/java/commons-daemon.jar org.nodel.nodelhost.Service

After running this test, you should be able to view Nodel in a browser.

If the computer is multi-homed (has two or more active network interfaces) then you will need to create a bootstrap.json file before proceeding. Check _example_bootstrap.json for details. NOTE: fixed in new releases.

Be sure to have a 'nodel' user with a home directory (for pulseaudio to work), network access and audio controls. Optionally adding to the sudo group to grant administrative privilieges, which is required for some functionality.

sudo adduser nodel
sudo usermod -aG sudo nodel
sudo useradd -G netdev,audio,pulse,pulse-access -m -s /bin/bash nodel

Create daemon startup script:

sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/nodel.service 

Copy and paste the following code into the editor. You may want to modify the 'user' parameter to run Nodel as a different user ('nodel' by default).

[Unit]
Description=Nodel
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=forking
Environment=JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8.0-openjdk-amd64
RestartSec=30
Restart=on-failure
User=nodel
ExecStart=/usr/bin/jsvc \
            -cp /usr/share/java/commons-daemon.jar:/opt/nodel/nodel.jar \
            -cwd /opt/nodel \
            -user nodel \
            -java-home ${JAVA_HOME} \
            -pidfile /var/run/nodel/nodel.pid \
            -errfile SYSLOG \
            -outfile SYSLOG \
            org.nodel.nodelhost.Service

ExecStop=/usr/bin/jsvc \
            -pidfile /var/run/nodel/nodel.pid \
            -stop \
            org.nodel.nodelhost.Service

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Press ctrl-x to exit and save the file

Configure Ubuntu to automatically create the folder for .pid on startup

sudo sh -c "echo 'd /var/run/nodel 0755 nodel nodel' > /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/nodel.conf"

Set user permissions for Nodel directory

sudo chown -R nodel.nodel /opt/nodel

Add to startup

sudo systemctl enable nodel.service

Reboot and Nodel should start automatically

sudo shutdown -r now