nserve-cli

A command-line tool for serving static files with PM2 background persistence. This tool makes it easy to serve multiple static sites and manage them with simple commands.

Features

• Serve static websites with Express
• Run servers in the background using PM2
• Support for multiple static servers on different ports
• SPA mode with fallback to index.html for client-side routing
• Easy management with simple CLI commands
• Auto-restart on system reboot (with PM2)

Installation

# Install globally
npm install -g nserve-cli

Usage

The CLI tool can be used with the following commands:

nserve [options]           # Start a new static server
nserve list                # List all running servers
nserve start <name|all>    # Start stopped servers
nserve stop <name|all>     # Stop running servers
nserve restart <name|all>  # Restart servers
nserve delete <name|all>   # Delete servers
nserve save                # Save the current process list

Options

When starting a new server, you can specify the following options:

• -d, --dir <path> - Directory to serve (defaults to current directory)
• -p, --port <number> - Server port (defaults to 3000)
• -n, --name <string> - Process name (defaults to a generated name)

Command Details

Starting a new server

To start a new static server:

nserve --dir ./build --port 3001 --name my-website

This will start a static file server in the background using PM2.

Listing all servers

nserve list

Shows a table with all running static servers, including:

• Name
• Status (online/stopped)
• Port
• Directory being served
• Uptime
• Number of restarts

Starting a server

nserve start my-website  # Start a specific server
nserve start all         # Start all stopped servers

Starts a stopped server or all stopped servers.

Stopping a server

nserve stop my-website   # Stop a specific server
nserve stop all          # Stop all running servers

Stops a server or all running servers without removing them from PM2.

Restarting a server

nserve restart my-website   # Restart a specific server
nserve restart all          # Restart all servers

Restarts one or all servers.

Deleting a server

nserve delete my-website   # Delete a specific server
nserve delete all          # Delete all servers

Completely removes a server or all servers from PM2.

Saving the process list

nserve save

Saves the current process list so that it can be restored when PM2 restarts.

Configuring autostart

nserve autostart

Configures PM2 to start on system boot, ensuring your servers restart automatically. You may need to run the provided sudo command to complete the setup.

Examples

Serving a React build folder

# From the project directory
npm run build
nserve --dir ./build --port 3000 --name my-react-app

Serving multiple websites

# Start multiple websites on different ports
nserve --dir ./site1 --port 3001 --name site1
nserve --dir ./site2 --port 3002 --name site2

# List all running websites
nserve list

# Stop all websites
nserve stop all

# Start all websites again
nserve start all

Auto-starting on system boot

# Save current process list
nserve save

# Configure PM2 to start on boot
nserve autostart
# Follow the instructions to run the sudo command

License

ISC