Pm2: Param: ignore_watch doesn't work on .git folder

[crico]

I have the below start-script (processes.json):

{
    "apps" : [{
        "name" : "myapp",
        "script" : "bin/www",
        "watch" : true,
      "ignore_watch" : ["[\\/\\\\]\\./", "node_modules"],
        "watch_options": {
              "followSymlinks": false
        },
        "log_date_format" : "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm Z",
        "merge_logs" : true
    }]
}

when I start the app with the command: pm2 start processes.json, I see that the app is restarted every time that file: ".git/FETCH_HEAD" is updated.

I test with:
"ignore_watch" : [".git", "node_modules"]
or
"ignore_watch" : [".git/FETCH_HEAD", "node_modules"]
with the same result.

Versions:
pm2 0.12.15
node v0.12.3
npm 2.9.1

What could be the problem?

Regards!

[soyuka]

Hi,

Just tested on osx and same nodejs/pm2 versions.

Played with .git and it just works with the default pm2 settings (/[\/\\]\.|node_modules/). It's also working when I use --ignore-watch .git.

Could you provide a sample of your ~/.pm2/pm2.log after retrying? What's your os?

[crico]

Hi,
I'm testing on Debian Squeeze.
Sample of pm2.log:

2015-05-20 11:08:15: Change detected for app name: myapp - restarting
2015-05-20 11:08:15: Stopping app:myapp id:1
2015-05-20 11:08:15: App name:myapp id:1 exited with code SIGTERM
2015-05-20 11:08:15: Process with pid 13640 killed
2015-05-20 11:08:15: Starting execution sequence in -fork mode- for app name:myapp id:1
2015-05-20 11:08:15: App name:myapp id:1 online

The line "Change detected..." is printed when .git/FETCH_HEAD is updated.

I have found a workarround: I have moved the source code to another directory and sync with the app directory when there are new commits.

[soyuka]

I played with .git/FETCH_HEAD too. Just tried on my debian Wheezy with no issues. I have no Squeeze anymore :/.

Could you give me the debug output by doing:

export DEBUG="pm2:*" #revert with export DEBUG=
pm2 start your.json

What I'm interested in are those lines:

pm2:monit Before processing +7ms { script: 'test.js',
  node_args: undefined,
  ...
  watch: true,
  ignore_watch: undefined,
  watch_options: undefined,
  ...
  name: 'test' }
  pm2:monit After processing +2ms { errors: [],
  config:
   { script: 'test.js',
     name: 'test',
     vizion: true,
     autorestart: true,
     watch: true,
     exec_mode: 'fork_mode',
     exec_interpreter: 'node' } }
  pm2:monit { script: 'test.js', name: 'test', vizion: true, autorestart: true, watch: true, exec_mode: 'fork_mode', exec_interpreter: 'node' } +1ms

[crico]

Hi,
this is my debug output:

pm2:constants PM2_ROOT_PATH: /root/.pm2 +0ms
  pm2:satan [PING PM2] Trying to connect to server +105ms
  pm2:satan Daemon alive +9ms
  pm2:satan Launching RPC client on port /root/.pm2/rpc.sock undefined +0ms
  pm2:satan Connected to Daemon +2ms
  pm2:cli Got message from Satan as succesfully connected to PM2, now parsing arguments +5ms
  pm2:satan Calling daemon method pm2:getVersion +0ms
  pm2:monit Before processing +7ms { name: 'myapp',
  script: 'bin/www',
  watch: true,
  ignore_watch: [ '[\\/\\\\]\\./', '.git/FETCH_HEAD', 'node_modules'],
  watch_options: { followSymlinks: false },
  log_date_format: 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm Z',
  merge_logs: true,
  exec_mode: 'fork_mode',
  exec_interpreter: 'none' }
  pm2:monit After processing +5ms { errors: [],
  config:
   { script: 'bin/www',
     name: 'myapp',
     merge_logs: true,
     watch: true,
     ignore_watch: [ '[\\/\\\\]\\./', '.git/FETCH_HEAD', 'node_modules'],
     watch_options: { followSymlinks: false },
     log_date_format: 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm Z',
     exec_mode: 'fork_mode',
     exec_interpreter: 'none' } }
  pm2:satan Calling daemon method pm2:prepare +4ms
[PM2] Process launched
  pm2:monit Getting interaction info +35ms
  pm2:interface:daemon [PING INTERACTOR] Trying to connect to Interactor daemon +0ms
  pm2:interface:daemon Interactor Daemon not launched +104ms
  pm2:satan Calling daemon method pm2:getMonitorData +0ms

I've been testing, and it seems that if I modify a file (manually), App isn't reload, it is as if the watch wasn't working (except for FETCH_HEAD git, just what I don't want ...)

[soyuka]

Thanks, everything seems to be fine :|.
Could you try with the default ignore_watch option? Just remove the key/value from your json.

[crico]

Ouh! forget the last comment, it was my mistake; but I still get the same problem with ".git/FETCH_HEAD" :/

I found a workarround: I'm using a directory for build and other for deploy (without .git), and I manage when deploy dir must be sync.

Thanks for your time.

[crico]

Other related question.

If I start pm2 with the 'processes.json' above, which is the scope of pm2-watch?
For example, in my local machine (osx), I modified app.js (express server file), but pm2 isn't reloaded (I tested with and without ignore_watch.

[soyuka]

I haven't understand your question, by scope are you talking about the working directory?
You may want to specify a full path to your app root:

{
    "apps" : [{
        "name" : "myapp",
        "script" : "bin/www",
        "cwd": "/Users/me/Sites/myapp",
        "watch" : true,
        "log_date_format" : "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm Z",
        "merge_logs" : true
    }]
}

[crico]

Yes, I'm talking about the app directory. I've specified a "cwd" but it doesn't work.
If a file (for example, my express-routes) into app directory is modified and saved, the pm2 doesn't reload the app :(, I don't understand which is the problem, because I understand that if any express file is changed, the app must be reloaded by pm2, right?

[soyuka]

Could you paste your processes.json again? Is your cwd an absolute path?

What is your osx version? On osx you'll be using FSEvents, so you could try to disable them:

watch_options: { useFsEvents: false }

See https://github.com/paulmillr/chokidar#performance.

[crico]

My version is 10.10.3

{
    "apps" : [{
        "name" : "myapp",
        "script" : "bin/www",
        "cwd" : "/Users/crico/Workspaces/myapp",
        "watch" : true,
      "ignore_watch" : ["[\\/\\\\]\\./", "node_modules"],
        "watch_options": {
              "followSymlinks": false,
              "useFsEvents": false
        },
        "log_date_format" : "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm Z",
        "merge_logs" : true
    }]
}

[crico]

Finally, I discovered that my problem is in the "script" parameter. If I use the param:

  "script" : "bin/www",

watch doesn't work, but instead I use:

  "script" : "app.js",

watch works rightly. In both cases, I've launched pm2 from the root directory of my app:
+-- app.js
+-- Gruntfile.js
+-- node_modules
+-- processes.js
+-- ...

[davidwhthomas]

I'm using the "script" : "bin/www", startup script and found I needed to add this to the process.json file for the env setting

"env": { "args": ["--ignore-watch=\.git|node_modules"] }

The arg value is a regex string.

After that, watch would successfully ignore changes to the .git folder, avoiding such restart errors as:

"_Change detected on path .git/index.lock for app [app_name] - restarting_"