install_ubuntu_node

• Introduction
• Installing Node.js and dependencies
• Add start-up script
• Test the Node.js server
• Things to remember

Introduction

• Node.js is part of the next generation web servers that is small; fast and super efficient.
• Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.
• You can read more about Node.js on their website. http://nodejs.org/
• The reason we are interested in Node.js is because it supports Websocket. Websocket is a reasonably new technology that is supported by the latest versions of all the major browsers which allows you to display data in real-time.
• You can read more about Websocket on their website. http://www.websocket.org/
• We will make use of Socket.IO as a wrapper to Websocket which runs on Node.js to read the log file and debug output of FreeRADIUS in real-time.
• You can read more about Socket.IO on their website. http://socket.io/
• So to summarise : Node.js->Websocket->Soket.IO->Client.

Installing Node.js and dependencies

• Install the latest Node.js. This package will also include the npm package manager for Node.js.

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install python-software-properties python g++ make
  sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chris-lea/node.js
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install nodejs
  

• We need to install the following Node.js packages globally.

  sudo npm -g install tail
  sudo npm -g install socket.io
  sudo npm -g install connect
  sudo npm -g install mysql
  sudo npm -g install forever
  

Add start-up script

• Everything is now installed that we will need to enable us to serve the FreeRADIUS log file in real-time using Node.js, Websocket and Socet.IO.

• We need to install a start-up file, start the Node.js server up and confirm that it works.

  • If you are running Nginx; the sample start-up script is found under /usr/share/nginx/www/cake2/rd_cake/Setup/Node.js/nodejs-socket-io

    sudo cp /usr/share/nginx/www/cake2/rd_cake/Setup/Node.js/nodejs-socket-io /etc/init.d
    sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/nodejs-socket-io
    sudo update-rc.d nodejs-socket-io start 80 2 3 4 5 . stop 20 0 1 6 .
    

  • If you are running Apache; the sample start-up script is found under /var/www/cake2/rd_cake/Setup/Node.js/nodejs-socket-io

    sudo cp /var/www/cake2/rd_cake/Setup/Node.js/nodejs-socket-io /etc/init.d
    sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/nodejs-socket-io
    sudo update-rc.d nodejs-socket-io defaults
    

Test the Node.js server

• Start the server and confirms that it is running on port 8000 by requesting the client side Socket.io library.

  sudo /etc/init.d/nodejs-socket-io start
  

• Confirm it is running by checking the log file output:

  sudo cat /var/log/nodejs-socket-io.log
  #Result in....
  info: socket.io started
  Up and running on port 8000
  

• Request the following URL and ensure that you are served with some JavaScript. (Replace the IP Address to that of the RADIUSdesk server) http://127.0.0.1:8000/socket.io/socket.io.js

Things to remember

• Websocket is not supported in IE version 9 and below.
• Remember that this is running on port 8000 and some firewalls may block it.
• You are welcome to alter the port on which Node.js serve by editing the /rd_cake/Setup/Node.js/Logfile.node.js file.
• The start-up script calls Logfile.node.js during start-up. Depending on the web server you run; the absolute path of this script will change accordingly. Be sure to update this script as well if you change servers (Nginx VS Apache).
• Although this Node.js server serves the FreeRADIUS log file; it will only be visible if the requester provides the token belonging to root. All other users will not be allowed to see this log file through the Node.js server.