sssnap Server

The sssnap webserver

Installation

npm install

First steps

IMPORTANT: You have to do this before you start the server the first time because you need to specify a Google OAuth2 Client ID and secret.

1. Copy the file launch.sample.sh and rename it to launch.sh.
2. Visit the Google Developers Console and create a new project.
3. Go to APIs & auth > Credentials and Create a new Client ID. Make it a Web application.
4. In the first field "Authorized JavaScript origins" insert:
   https://localhost:4000
5. In the second field "Authorized redirect URIs" insert:
   https://localhost:4000/auth/google/callback
6. Click Create Client ID.
7. Insert the Client ID and Client secret in launch.sh.
8. Done.

Starting the server

Be sure MongoDB is running. Then type:

npm start

You can start the server in different environments and/or with a different port.

npm start NODE_ENV=production PORT=3000

NODE_ENV defaults to development
PORT defaults to 4000

Note: Currently only NODE_ENV and PORT are supported as cli-arguments.

Under the hood

When executing npm start the launch.sh bash file will be executed. This is necessary for storing and accessing Client IDs and secrets in a safe place. The bash script will set all environment variables and run the server.

Also, while the server starts, a script will check the availability of the environment variables. If they're not specified the server terminates itself.

Help!

I'm starting the server and get "error: MongoDB connection error" together with a huge gibberish ErrorStack.
Answer: Dude, "Be sure MongoDB is running."

The page is loading an eternity and I don't get a response.
Answer: Are you sure you're calling the server over https? http is not supported.

Why isn't http supported?
Answer: In a production environment node will always be behind a proxy. The proxy will take care of redirecting http to https.

I get an error "Cannot start Server due to missing * credentials."
Answer: You can't simply run server.js. Use npm start or the provided bash file, it really doesn't matter.

Everytime I start the server a directory named incoming is created in the project.
Answer: That's fine. The uploaded and not-yet processed images will be stored there temporarily. This way your temp-filesystem won't be spammed and it's better for development/debugging purposes.

I'm using Windows and can't execute the bash script!
Answer: Who are you?