Usage example at http://sibox.isgoodness.com

var pstarter = require('pstarter');

pstarter.startMaster(__dirname + '/config/configs.js', {}, function() {
    var config = require('./config/configs.js');
    pstarter.statServer(config.http.statPort, config.http.statHost);
    if (process.env['NODE_ENV'] && process.env['NODE_ENV'] == 'development') {
        pstarter.startWatch(__dirname, [__dirname +'/node_modules'], ['.js', '.json', '.html', '.css']);
    }
}).startWorker(function() {
    var config = require('./config/configs.js');

    var express = require('express');
    var bootstrap = require('./app/bootstrap.js');
    var app = express.createServer();

    bootstrap.setupApp(app, __dirname);
    bootstrap.bootstrap(app);
    bootstrap.postrun();
    app.listen(config.http.port, config.http.ip);
});

Or run separate worker file

master.js

var pstarter = require('pstarter');

pstarter.startMaster({}, {exec: './worker.js'});

worker.js

var pstarter = require('pstarter');
pstarter.startWorker(function() {
    console.log('Hello world!');
});

Methods

startMaster(confFile, masterSettings, callback)

confFile - configuration file or object. Only PID_FILE and http.numWorkers are used at the moment
masterSettings - See http://nodejs.org/api/cluster.html#cluster_cluster_setupmaster_settings
callback - function which will be called when master has forked workers

startWorker(callback, cleanupCallback)

callback - will call when worker has attached listener on exit signal
cleanupCallback - will call when worker receives exit signal. It pass a function for terminating process (or you can choose to exit).

startWatch(root, skipFolders, exts)

root top folder to watch, all subfolder will also be watched
skipFolders Array of folders you want to skip, absolute path
exts Array of extension to listen on changes, including "."

statServer(port, host)

port port to run stat server
host host to run stat server

Start with init script on Ubuntu

You need to create a symbolic link /etc/init.d/pstarter to pstarter/etc/init.d/pstarter and make pstarter executable. You need also specify NODE_BIN, SERVER, PID_FILE, AS_USER, NODEJS and NODE_ENV if your application uses it:

NODE_BIN folder which contains SERVER
SERVER application/server file to execute
PID_FILE should be /var/run/pstarter.pid in production linux
AS_USER the username or uid that you want to run your app (worker) with
NODEJS executable nodejs
NODE_ENV for your own application; normally development/production

Start workers

sudo /etc/init.d/pstarter start

Old workers will exit directly and new workers created

sudo /etc/init.d/pstarter restart

Old workers will exit graceful one at the time and replaced with a new one

sudo /etc/init.d/pstarter graceful

Run stop (bellow) and start command will be executed

sudo /etc/init.d/pstarter force-restart

Old workers exit directly; parent exits

sudo /etc/init.d/pstarter stop

Register init script for startup at reboot in Ubuntu

cd /etc/init.d/
sudo update-rc.d pstarter defaults

Package detail

pstarter

readme