Like all applications there is a certain amount of administration and configuration that needs to be done.
The settings.js file is the main configuration file and is edited using a text editor.
Node-RED can also be administered remotely using the command line tool node-red-admin.
In addition it supports an admin api which you can use with curl or similar tools.
These tutorials cover the main administration aspects.
Tutorials
- Node-Red Settings.js File – Node-Red Admin
- Local Installs and Managing Node-Red Projects
- Securing Node-Red with SSL and User name Authentication
- node-red-admin
- Node-RED Admin API
Other Admin Tasks
Some admin tasks can be performed in the visual editor
You can install additional nodes using the editor from manage palette option or using the npm command.
In addition you can upgrade these nodes,disable and delete them.
New nodes are stored in the .node-red folder but if you are using the -u switch they will be installed under the user folder.
When a node is installed or deleted then the package.json file is updated accordingly.
If you encounter an error and node-red will not start due to a problem with a newly installed nodethen you can start node-red using the –safe switch
node-red --safe
Another issue that arises when moving flows to a new machine is that you get a error that flows can’t start because of missing nodes.
Rather than manually install these nodes you can simple copy over the package.json file and run
npm install
from the .node-red folder. This will install all nodes listed and their dependencies.
Alternatively if the existing package.json file contains nodes that you have already installed then you can add the nodes manually into the existing package.json file and run npm install.