Node.js app

Running Butler as a Node.js app.

Running Butler as Node.js app

If the Butler source code has been installed in d:\tools\butler, starting Butler as a Node.js app on Windows could look like this:

d:
cd \tools\butler\src
node butler.js -c .\config\dev.yaml

It is of course also possible to put those commands in a command file (.bat or .ps1 on Windows) file and execute that file instead.

WARNING

The -c/--configfile option is now mandatory in all run modes (standalone binary, Docker, and Node.js). You must point to a valid YAML config file, for example -c .\config\dev.yaml.

The commands above assume there is a d:\tools\butler\src\config directory in which there is a YAML config file.

The command line options introduced in Butler 7.2 are available also when running Butler as a Node.js app.
Use the --help command line option to show what options are available:

PS D:\tools\butler\src> node butler.js --help
Running in non-packaged environment. Executable path: /Users/goran/code/butler
Usage: butler [options]

Butler gives superpowers to client-managed Qlik Sense!
Advanced reload failure alerts, task scheduler, key-value store, file system access and much more.

Options:
  -V, --version                        output the version number
  -c, --configfile <file>              path to config file (REQUIRED)
  -l, --loglevel <level>               log level (choices: "error", "warn", "info", "verbose", "debug", "silly")
  --new-relic-account-name  <name...>  New Relic account name. Used within Butler to differentiate between different target New Relic accounts
  --new-relic-api-key <key...>         insert API key to use with New Relic
  --new-relic-account-id <id...>       New Relic account ID
  --test-email-address <address>       send test email to this address. Used to verify email settings in the config file.
  --test-email-from-address <address>  send test email from this address. Only relevant when SMTP server allows from address to be set.
  --no-qs-connection                   don't connect to Qlik Sense server at all. Run in isolated mode
  --api-rate-limit                     set the API rate limit, per minute. Default is 100 calls/minute. Set to 0 to disable rate limiting.
  --skip-config-verification           Disable config file verification (default: false)
  -h, --help                           display help for command

Configuration File:
  Butler requires a configuration file to run. You must specify one using the -c option.

  Example config files are included in the distribution ZIP file, as well as online at:
    https://github.com/ptarmiganlabs/butler/tree/master/src/config


  For more information visit: https://butler.ptarmiganlabs.com

Looking at the above, you must use --configfile to specify which config file to use.

Similarly the --loglevel option can be used to control Butler's logging.

TIP

Any option given on the command line will override the same setting in the config file

Windows services

On Windows you can use the excellent Nssm tool to make Node.js (and also the Butler app) run as a Windows Service, with all the benefits that follow (can be monitored using operations tools, automatic restarts etc).

But - as there are also binaries available for Windows - running the Node.js version of Butler as a Windows service using Nssm is not really needed.