Permanent session storage in Node

Question

I have a node server running right now, I use npm forever to keep it running when I'm not developing and I use npm nodemon for when I edit (restarts app on edit/upload).

I noticed that whenever I restart my app, session data is lost and my players have to re-login to their accounts. It's not a huuuge deal, but I was wondering if there was a way to edit my server.js page without restarting the app, and logging everybody out?

(Note that this only applies for server.js or module edits. .html and .js pages that are served don't require a restart)

(Second note: I am using mysql, nodejs, angularjs, express.io for all this, just in case anybody asks)

Answer 1

There isn't a way to edit a file (and have the changes loaded) without rebooting the server and reloading the file. Instead, store your session data somewhere other than memory. I know you're using MySQL, so use the connect-mysql package (there are other packages like this for redis, MongoDB, etc).

It's as simple as putting this in your app.js file:

var MySQLStore = require('connect-mysql')(express)
    ,  options = {
      config: {
        host : 'place.stuff',
        user: 'RUJordan',
        password: 'hunter2',
        database: 'SomeKittensIsGreat'
      }
  };

app.use(express.session({
    secret: 'UpvoteThisAnswer',
    store: new MySQLStore(options),
    cookie: { maxAge: 2592000000 } // 30 days
}));

This will place a HTTP-only (i.e. the user can't see/use it) cookie on each user's computer. Even after a server reboot, connect-mysql will be able to like a user with their session data in MySQL via this cookie.