The Node-RED graphical wiring tool for Low-code programming of event-driven applications. Packaged as a Core20 based Ubuntu Snap, intended for multiple architectures.
Listens on port 1880 and runs as as service in strict mode by default.
By default builds get automatically placed in the edge channel, and then promoted to the stable channel manually.
When installed as a Snap package, it will run in a secure container that does not have access to any external facilities that may be needed for you to use, such as:
- You cannot install extra nodes that require natively compiled code as the build tools are not built in.
- You cannot use projects mode as that requires command line access to git as that is also not built in.
- There is no access to any external commands your flow may want to use with the Exec node (for example).
To be explicit:
- No
gcc- needed to compile any binary components of nodes you want to install - No
git- needed if you want to use the Projects feature - No access to the main system storage/disk
- No direct access to gpio hardware
You may be able relax this by installing the snap in --classic mode but this is not advised, and Canonical have tightened the scope recently and this is no longer possible unless in development mode. (IE you have to clone this and build the snap yourself)
ping: If you want to use the ping node you must manually connect the network-observe interface.
sudo snap connect node-red:network-observe
You need to be running snapd 2.5 or better - you may need to upgrade from the edge channel
sudo snap refresh snapd --edge
If installing on a Pi please ensure the core is also at the latest level
sudo snap install core
or
sudo snap refresh core
To load the latest stable version
snap install node-red
To load the latest version - (ensure snapd is v2.5 or better first as per above)
snap install node-red --edge
When the snap is running you can view the Node-RED log using
journalctl -f -u snap.node-red*
You can also stop and restart the application by
snap disable node-red
snap enable node-red
Currently the ONLY serial support is for /dev/ttyS0 style ports. USB serial ports (hot-pluggable) are not yet supported by Snap.
The settings.js and flows.json file are located in the /var/snap/node-red/current/ directory.
If you do need to read and write files - this is the only directory path you will have access to from outside
the secure container.
Note: The path to the flows file is currently fixed to flows.json in start.sh and therefore cannot be changed in settings.js.
To install any extra nodes, the best option is to use the Manage Palette option in the editor. To install via the command line you can
sudo su -
cd /var/snap/node-red/current/
node-red.npm i --unsafe-perm node-red-contrib-my-great-node-name
snap restart node-red
The base port can be set by the $PORT environment variable, or in the settings.js file.
To re-build locally, modify the snapcraft.yaml as required, and then execute build_snap.sh