How to Download and Install Node-RED on Ubuntu
Node-RED is a programming tool for wiring together hardware devices, APIs and online services in new and interesting ways. It provides a browser-based editor that makes it easy to wire together flows using the wide range of nodes in the palette that can be deployed to its runtime in a single-click.
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In this article, I will show you how to download and install Node-RED on Ubuntu, a popular Linux operating system. I will also explain some of the features and benefits of Node-RED, and provide some examples of how to use it.
What is Node-RED?
Node-RED is a low-code programming tool that allows you to create applications by connecting nodes that represent different functions or services. Nodes can be hardware devices, APIs, online services, or logic functions. You can drag and drop nodes from the palette onto the workspace, and connect them with wires to create flows. Flows are stored using JSON, which can be easily imported and exported for sharing with others.
Node-RED is built on Node.js, which is a JavaScript runtime that boasts the largest ecosystem of open source components in the world. This means that you can easily extend the range of nodes available in Node-RED by installing modules from the npm repository. You can also create your own custom nodes using JavaScript.
Node-RED is ideal for creating applications for the Internet of Things (IoT), as it can run on low-cost hardware such as the Raspberry Pi, as well as in the cloud. It can also interact with a variety of protocols and platforms, such as MQTT, HTTP, WebSocket, TCP, UDP, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, IBM Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and more.
Why use Node-RED?
Some of the benefits of using Node-RED include:
No reinventing the wheel - tons of pre-built functionality
Huge community with solutions to many common problems available
Easy to extend with custom functionality for your use case
Simplification - you can focus on the logic rather than the syntax
Efficiency - you can create applications faster and easier
Common - you can use the same tool for different platforms and protocols
High quality - you can leverage the robustness and performance of Node.js
Open source - you can use it for free and contribute to its development
Node-RED library - you can browse and import flows from an online repository
Various platforms - you can run it locally or in the cloud
How to install Node-RED on Ubuntu
Prerequisites
To install Node-RED on Ubuntu, you will need:
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A computer running Ubuntu 20.04 or later
An internet connection
A terminal window
A web browser
Installing Node.js
Node.js is the runtime environment that Node-RED is built on. It is a JavaScript engine that allows you to run JavaScript code on the server side. To install Node.js on Ubuntu, you have two main options: using apt or using nvm.
Using apt, you can install Node.js from Ubuntu's default or an alternate software repository. This is easy but might have an older version. Using nvm, you can install and manage multiple versions of Node.js. This is slightly more complicated but you can choose which version to install, including the latest release.
In this tutorial, we will use nvm to install Node.js 14, which is the latest LTS (long-term support) version at the time of writing. LTS versions are recommended for stability and security reasons.
To install nvm, you need to run the following commands in your terminal:
curl -o- [17]( bash source /.bashrc
The first command downloads and runs the nvm installation script from its official GitHub repository. The second command reloads your bash profile to make nvm available in your current session.
To verify that nvm is installed correctly, you can run:
nvm --version
You should see the version number of nvm printed on the screen, such as:
0.39.1
Now that you have nvm installed, you can use it to install Node.js 14 by running:
nvm install 14
This will download and install Node.js 14 and its associated npm package manager. It will also set it as the default version to use in your terminal.
To check that Node.js and npm are installed correctly, you can run:
node -v npm -v
You should see the version numbers of Node.js and npm printed on the screen, such as:
v14.18.2 6.14.15
Congratulations, you have successfully installed Node.js and npm using nvm on Ubuntu. Installing Node-RED
Node-RED is a Node.js module that can be installed using npm, the package manager that comes with Node.js. To install Node-RED as a global module, you need to run the following command in your terminal:
sudo npm install -g --unsafe-perm node-red
The -g flag means that the module will be installed globally, so that you can access it from any directory. The --unsafe-perm flag is required to avoid permission errors when installing some of the dependencies of Node-RED.
This command will download and install Node-RED and its required modules. It will also create a node-red command that you can use to start and stop Node-RED.
To verify that Node-RED is installed correctly, you can run:
node-red --version
You should see the version number of Node-RED printed on the screen, such as:
2.1.4
Congratulations, you have successfully installed Node-RED using npm on Ubuntu.
How to run Node-RED on Ubuntu
Starting Node-RED
To start Node-RED, you need to run the following command in your terminal:
node-red
This will launch Node-RED and display some information on the screen, such as:
Welcome to Node-RED =================== 21 Jun 12:30:17 - [info] Node-RED version: v2.1.4 21 Jun 12:30:17 - [info] Node.js version: v14.18.2 21 Jun 12:30:17 - [info] Linux 5.11.0-18-generic x64 LE 21 Jun 12:30:18 - [info] Loading palette nodes 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [info] Settings file : /home/user/.node-red/settings.js 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [info] Context store : 'default' [module=memory] 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [info] User directory : /home/user/.node-red 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [warn] Projects disabled : editorTheme.projects.enabled=false 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [info] Flows file : /home/user/.node-red/flows_ubuntu.json 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [info] Creating new flow file 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [warn] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Your flow credentials file is encrypted using a system-generated key. If the system-generated key is lost for any reason, your credentials file will not be recoverable, you will have to delete it and re-enter your credentials. You should set your own key using the 'credentialSecret' option in your settings file. Node-RED will then re-encrypt your credentials file using your chosen key the next time you deploy a change. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [info] Starting flows 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [info] Started flows 21 Jun 12:30:20 - [info] Server now running at
The last line indicates that Node-RED is running and listening on port 1880 of your local machine. You can access the Node-RED editor by opening your web browser and navigating to
Stopping Node-RED
To stop Node-RED, you need to press Ctrl-C in your terminal where you started it. This will terminate the process and display a message such as:
21 Jun 12:35:22 - [info] Stopping flows 21 Jun 12:35:22 - [info] Stopped flows How to use Node-RED on Ubuntu
The Node-RED editor
The Node-RED editor is a browser-based graphical interface that allows you to create and manage your flows. You can access it by opening in your web browser, as mentioned before.
The editor consists of three main parts:
The palette - the left sidebar that contains the nodes that you can use in your flows. You can search for nodes by name or category, and drag and drop them onto the workspace.
The workspace - the central area where you can wire together nodes to create flows. You can zoom in and out, pan around, and select multiple nodes using the mouse or keyboard shortcuts.
The sidebar - the right sidebar that contains tabs for different functions, such as info, debug, dashboard, config, and context. You can use these tabs to view and edit the properties of nodes, see the output of nodes, create user interfaces, manage global and flow variables, and more.
You can also access the menu by clicking on the hamburger icon at the top right corner of the editor. The menu allows you to perform various actions, such as importing and exporting flows, managing projects, accessing settings, viewing documentation, and more.
Creating flows
To create a flow, you need to drag and drop nodes from the palette onto the workspace, and connect them with wires. Each node has one or more inputs and outputs that define how data flows through it. You can double-click on a node to edit its properties, such as its name, label, configuration, and parameters.
As an example, let's create a simple flow that injects a timestamp every second and displays it on the debug tab. To do this, you need to follow these steps:
Drag an inject node from the input category onto the workspace.
Double-click on the inject node to open its edit dialog.
Change the payload type to timestamp.
Change the repeat option to interval and set it to 1 second.
Click done to close the dialog.
Drag a debug node from the output category onto the workspace.
Connect the output of the inject node to the input of the debug node by clicking and dragging a wire between them.
Click on the deploy button at the top right corner of the editor to save and activate your flow.
You should see a blue dot under the inject node indicating that it is active. You should also see a message with a timestamp appear every second on the debug tab of the sidebar. You can click on the button next to the inject node to manually trigger it as well.
Deploying flows
To deploy a flow means to save it and activate it on the Node-RED runtime. You can deploy a flow by clicking on the deploy button at the top right corner of the editor. This will send your flow to the server and restart it with your changes.
You can choose between three types of deployment:
Full - this will deploy all your flows, regardless of whether they have changed or not. This is useful when you want to start from a clean state or when you have made changes to global or flow variables.
Modified Flows - this will deploy only the flows that have changed since the last deployment. This is useful when you want to save time and resources by avoiding unnecessary restarts.
Modified Nodes - this will deploy only the nodes that have changed since the last deployment. This is useful when you want to fine-tune your changes without affecting other parts of your flows.
You can also enable or disable auto-deploy, which will automatically deploy your changes whenever you make them. This is useful when you are testing or debugging your flows, but be careful as it might cause unexpected behavior or errors.
Examples of flows
There are many examples of flows that you can create with Node-RED for various purposes and scenarios. Here are some of them:
A weather dashboard that displays current and forecast data from an online API using a web interface.
A smart home system that controls lights, temperature, security, and other devices using voice commands or sensors.
A chatbot that responds to user queries using natural language processing and machine learning services.
A data analysis tool that collects, transforms, visualizes, and exports data from various sources using databases, charts, tables, and reports.
A game controller that uses gestures or physical buttons to control a game running on another device using WebSocket or option. You may need to restart Node-RED for the changes to take effect.
How can I secure Node-RED?
By default, Node-RED does not have any authentication or encryption mechanisms, which means that anyone can access your editor and runtime without any credentials. This is not secure and can expose your flows and data to unauthorized users or malicious attacks. Therefore, you should always secure Node-RED when running it in a public or untrusted network.
There are several ways to secure Node-RED, such as:
Using HTTPS to encrypt the communication between your browser and Node-RED.
Using username and password authentication to restrict access to your editor and runtime.
Using projects to enable version control and encryption of your flows and credentials.
Using access control lists (ACLs) to limit the permissions of different users or groups.
Using firewall rules to block unwanted traffic to your Node-RED port.
You can find more information on how to secure Node-RED in the official documentation. 44f88ac181
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