Nexe is a command-line utility that compiles your Node.js application into a single executable file.
 ## Supporting nexe nexe is a MIT license project. Please consider joining our [backers](https://github.com/nexe/nexe/BACKERS.md) by contributing to [nexe's Patreon](https://patreon.com/user?u=5264722). ### Motivation - Ability to run multiple applications with *different* node.js runtimes. - Distributable binaries without needing node / npm. - Starts faster. - Lockdown specific application versions, and easily rollback. - Faster deployments. ## Building Requirements - Linux / Mac / BSD / Windows - Python 2.6 or 2.7 (use --python if not in PATH) - Windows: Visual Studio 2010+ ## Caveats ### Doesn't support native modules - Use the techniques below for working around dynamic require statements to exclude the module from the bundling, and deploy along side the executable in a node_module folder so your app can find it. Note: On windows you may need to have your app be named node.exe if .node file depends on node. ### Doesn't support dynamic require statements Such As: ```javascript var x = require(someVar); ``` In this case nexe won't bundle the file ```javascript var x; if (someCheck) { x = require("./ver1.js"); } else { x = require("./ver2.js"); } ``` In this case nexe will bundle both files. Workarounds: 1) for dynamic requires that you want bundled add the following into your project ```javascript var dummyToForceIncludeForBundle = false; if (dummyToForceIncludeForBundle) { require("./loadedDynamicallyLater.js"); // ... } ``` this will trick the bundler into including them. 2) for dynamic files getting included that you don't want to be ```javascript var moduleName = "./ver2.js"; if (someCheck) { moduleName = "./ver1.js"; } var x = require(moduleName); ``` Note: neither file will be bundled. Using these two techniques you can change your application code so modules are not bundles, and generate a includes.js file as part of your build process so that the right files get bundled for your build configuration. ### __dirname Once the module is bundled it is part of the executable. __dirname is therefore the executable dir (process.execPath). Thus if you put resources on a relative path from the the executable your app will be able to access them. If you had a data file at `/dev/myNodeApp/stateManager/handler/data/some.csv` and a file at `/dev/myNodeApp/stateManager/handler/loader.js` ```javascript module.exports = fw.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, "./data/some.csv")); ``` You would need to deploy some.csv in a sub dir `data/` along side your executable There are potential use cases for __dirname where the executable path is not the correct substitution, and could result in a silent error (possibly even in a dependency that you are unaware of). Note: __filename will be 'undefined' ### child_process.fork child_process.spawn works is unmodified, but child_process.fork will make an attempt to launch a new instance of your executable and run the bundled module. ## Installation Via NPM: ```bash npm install nexe [-g] ``` Or git: ```bash git clone https://github.com/jaredallard/nexe.git ``` ### CLI Usage ```text Usage: nexe -i [sources] -o [binary] [options] Options: -i, --input The entry javascript files [default: cwd] -o, --output The output binary [default: out.nex] -r, --runtime The node.js runtime to use [default: "latest"] -t, --temp The path to store node.js sources [default: ./tmp/nexe] -f, --flags Don't parse node and v8 flags, pass through app flags [default: false] -v, --version Display version number -p, --python Set path of python to use. [default: "python"] -F, --framework Set the framework to use. [default: "nodejs"] ``` ### Code Usage ```javascript var nexe = require('nexe'); nexe.compile({ input: 'input.js', // where the input file is output: 'path/to/bin', // where to output the compiled binary nodeVersion: '5.5.0', // node version nodeTempDir: 'src', // where to store node source. nodeConfigureArgs: ['opt', 'val'], // for all your configure arg needs. nodeMakeArgs: ["-j", "4"], // when you want to control the make process. nodeVCBuildArgs: ["nosign", "x64"], // when you want to control the make process for windows. // By default "nosign" option will be specified // You can check all available options and its default values here: // https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/master/vcbuild.bat python: 'path/to/python', // for non-standard python setups. Or python 3.x forced ones. resourceFiles: [ 'path/to/a/file' ], // array of files to embed. resourceRoot: [ 'path/' ], // where to embed the resourceFiles. flags: true, // use this for applications that need command line flags. jsFlags: "--use_strict", // v8 flags startupSnapshot: 'path/to/snapshot.js', // when you want to specify a script to be // added to V8's startup snapshot. This V8 // feature deserializes a heap to save startup time. // More information in this blog post: // http://v8project.blogspot.de/2015/09/custom-startup-snapshots.html framework: "node" // node, nodejs, or iojs }, function(err) { if(err) { return console.log(err); } // do whatever }); ``` ### package.json inclusion As of 0.4.0 you can now embed nexe options into package.json. Note that this Format is still in works, so it is likely to change. ```json "nexe": { "input": "./bin/nexe", "output": "nexe^$", "temp": "src", "browserify": { "requires": [], "excludes": [], "paths": [] }, "runtime": { "framework": "node", "version": "5.6.0", "js-flags": "--use_strict", "ignoreFlags": true } } ``` Notes: * output: can use ^$ for platform specific file extension * js-flags: this is also known as v8 flags, and supports *all* v8 flags. ### Browserify Require Issues If you have requires that aren't resolving well, you can do two things. Try adding it to `nexe.browserify.requires` in your `package.json` ```json "nexe": { ....... "browserify": { "requires": [ { "file": "myfile.js", "expose": "mymodule" }, "mymodule.js" ], "excludes": [], "paths": [] }, ....... } ``` Or, if that doesn't work (it tends to not work sometimes), you can try altering browserify.paths like so: ```json "nexe": { ....... "browserify": { "requires": [] "excludes": [], "paths": ["/path/to/my/loc"] }, ....... } ``` If it *still* doesn't work, file a bug with what you tried! (also try using `nexe@0.4.2`) ## Maintainers * __Jared Allard__ ([@jaredallard](https://github.com/jaredallard)) <[jaredallard@outlook.com](mailto:jaredallard@outlook.com)> (Active) * __Christopher Karper__ ([@ckarper](https://github.com/CKarper)) <[Christopher.Karper@gmail.com](mailto:Christopher.Karper@gmail.com)> (Active) * __Craig Condon__ ([@crcn](https://github.com/crcn)) <[craig.j.condon@gmail.com](mailto:craig.j.condon@gmail.com)> (Old Project Owner)