Setting up your Node.js development environment

Set up a Node.js development environment to test your application locally prior to deploying it to AWS Elastic Beanstalk. This topic outlines development environment setup steps and links to installation pages for useful tools.

For common setup steps and tools that apply to all languages, see Configuring your development machine for use with Elastic Beanstalk.

Install Node.js

Install Node.js to run Node.js applications locally. If you don't have a preference, get the latest version supported by Elastic Beanstalk. See Node.js in the AWS Elastic Beanstalk Platforms document for a list of supported versions.

Download Node.js at nodejs.org.

Confirm npm installation

Node.js uses the npm package manager to help you install tools and frameworks for use in your application. Since npm is distributed with Node.js, you will automatically install it when you download and install Node.js. To confirm you have npm installed you can run the following command:

$ npm -v

For more information on npm, visit the npmjs website.

Install the AWS SDK for Node.js

If you need to manage AWS resources from within your application, install the AWS SDK for JavaScript in Node.js. Install the SDK with npm:

$ npm install aws-sdk

Visit the AWS SDK for JavaScript in Node.js homepage for more information.

Install Express

Express is a web application framework that runs on Node.js. To use it, set up Express and create the project structure. The following walks you through setting up Express on a Linux operating system.

Note

Depending on your permission level to system directories, you might need to prefix some of these commands with sudo.

To set up your Express development environment on your local computer

1. Create a directory for your Express application.

   ~$ mkdir node-express
   ~$ cd node-express

2. Install Express globally so that you have access to the express command.

   ~/node-express$ npm install -g express-generator

3. Depending on your operating system, you may need to set your path to run the express command. If you need to set your path, use the output from the previous step when you installed Express. The following is an example.

   ~/node-express$ export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/share/npm/bin/express

4. Run the express command. This generates package.json, app.js, and a few directories.

   ~/node-express$ express

   When prompted if you want to continue, type y.

5. Set up local dependencies.

   ~/node-express$ npm install

6. Verify it works.

   ~/node-express$ npm start

   You should see output similar to the following:

   > nodejs@0.0.0 start /home/local/user/node-express
   > node ./bin/www

   The server runs on port 3000 by default. To test it, run curl http://localhost:3000 in another terminal, or open a browser on the local computer and go to http://localhost:3000.

   Press Ctrl+C to stop the server.