Process management with PM2

It is recommended to set up an additional process management tool to run a blockchain client. Any process management tool can be used to manage the blockchain client. However, we recommend using PM2 to manage the instance.

Setup

Install PM2 globally:

npm i -g pm2

Once PM2 is installed, you can start your blockchain client via the following two methods:

  1. Using a bash script

  2. Using a JSON config file

Running a blockchain client

Using a bash script

A script containing the ./bin/run start command can be passed to PM2 to initiate the blockchain client on a sidechain node. Similarly, the blockchain client of the mainchain can be run via lisk-core start --network mainnet.

Let’s create a script for the blockchain node. Create a run_blockchain_client.sh file inside the blockchain client’s root directory and then copy and paste the following command into it.

  • Sidechain

  • Mainchain

./bin/run start --config=config/custom_config.json
lisk-core start --network mainnet

Now, execute the PM2 start command by passing the run_blockchain_client.sh script to it.

pm2 start run_blockchain_client.sh
Response
┌---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┐
│ id  │ name                  │ namespace   │ version │ mode    │ pid      │ uptime │ ↺    │ status    │ cpu    │ mem    │ user   │ watching│
├---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┤
│ 0   │ run_blockchain_client │ default     │ 0.1.0   │ fork    │ 55569    │ 21s    │ 30   │ online    │ 0%     │ 1.7mb  │ XYZ    │ disabled│
└---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┘

Using a JSON config file

For advanced node operators, PM2 also accepts a configuration file that can have a range of options for various blockchain clients.

Create a PM2 config in the sidechain client’s root directory, for example as shown below:

  • Sidechain

  • Mainchain

pm2.conf.json
{
  "apps": [
    {
      "name": "hello_client",
      "script": "./bin/run start --config=config/custom_config.json"
    }
  ]
}
pm2.conf.json
{
  "apps": [
    {
      "name": "lisk-core",
      "script": "lisk-core start --network mainnet"
    }
  ]
}
All available options for script and other PM2 commands can be found in pm2 --help. For more information on using JSON files for PM2, see the PM2 — Advanced App Configuration with JSON File.

To add the process to PM2 and start it directly, execute the following command:

pm2 start pm2.conf.json

  • Sidechain

  • Mainchain

Response
┌------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┐
│ id  │ name             │ namespace   │ version │ mode    │ pid      │ uptime │ ↺    │ status    │ cpu    │ mem     │ user  │ watching  │
├------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┤
│ 0   │ hello_client     │ default     │ N/A     │ fork    │ 55594    │ 0 s    │ 0    │ online    │ 0%     │ 640.0kb │ XYZ   │ disabled  │
└------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┘
Response
┌------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┐
│ id  │ name             │ namespace   │ version │ mode    │ pid      │ uptime │ ↺    │ status    │ cpu    │ mem     │ user  │ watching  │
├------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┤
│ 0   │ lisk-core        │ default     │ N/A     │ fork    │ 55594    │ 0 s    │ 0    │ online    │ 0%     │ 640.0kb │ XYZ   │ disabled  │
└------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┘
You can create the pm2.conf.json or run_blockchain_client.sh files anywhere on the disk and point it to the start command using an absolute path.

Various PM2 commands

A few important PM2 commands are covered in this section, for more information please refer to PM2 docs.

Show status

View the status of the blockchain client in the list of PM2 processes:

pm2 ls
┌-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┐
│ id  │ name                   │ namespace   │ version │ mode    │ pid      │ uptime │ ↺    │ status    │ cpu      │ mem      │ user     │ watching │
├-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┤
│ 1   │ hello_client           │ default     │ N/A     │ fork    │ 55594    │ 0s     │ 0    │ online    │ 0%       │ 640.0kb  │ XYZ      │ disabled │
│ 0   │ run_blockchain_client  │ default     │ 0.1.0   │ fork    │ 0        │ 0      │ 30   │ stopped   │ 0%       │ 0b       │ XYZ      │ disabled │
└-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┘

View logs

You can view the logs generated by a running blockchain client using PM2.

pm2 logs run_blockchain_client

Saving the app list to be restored at reboot

Once a blockchain client has started, it is convenient to save the app list so it will respawn after rebooting:

pm2 save
You can set up a start script for PM2 so that the process list stays intact in case of expected or unexpected restarts. For more information, see Persistent applications: Startup Script Generator.

Stopping a blockchain client

Execute the following command to stop a blockchain client node:

pm2 stop run_blockchain_client

Refreshing a node

To refresh a node after changing the configuration, delete the existing process with PM2, and then use the PM2 script/config file to restart the process.

Delete the existing process
pm2 delete run_blockchain_client
Start a new process
pm2 start run_blockchain_client

Restarting a node

Execute the following command to restart a blockchain client:

pm2 restart run_blockchain_client