---
id: server-configuration
title: "Server Configuration"
---

This is mostly basic Linux server configuration stuff but I felt it important to document and share the steps I took to get Verdaccio running permanently on my server. You will need root (or sudo) permissions for the following steps.

## Running as a separate user {#running-as-a-separate-user}

First create a Verdaccio user:

```bash
$ sudo adduser --system --gecos 'Verdaccio NPM mirror' --group --home /var/lib/verdaccio verdaccio
```

Or, in case you do not have `adduser`:

```bash
$ sudo useradd --system --comment 'Verdaccio NPM mirror' --create-home --home-dir /var/lib/verdaccio --shell /sbin/nologin verdaccio
```

You create a shell as the Verdaccio user using the following command:

```bash
$ sudo su -s /bin/bash verdaccio
$ cd
```

The `cd` command sends you to the home directory of the Verdaccio user. Make sure you run Verdaccio at least once to generate the config file. Edit it according to your needs.

## Listening on all addresses {#listening-on-all-addresses}

If you want to listen to every external address set the listen directive in the config to:
```yaml
# you can specify listen address (or simply a port)
listen: 0.0.0.0:4873
```

If you are running Verdaccio in a Amazon EC2 Instance, [you will need set the listen in change your config file](https://github.com/verdaccio/verdaccio/issues/314#issuecomment-327852203) as is described above.

> Configure Apache or nginx? Please check out the [Reverse Proxy Setup](reverse-proxy.md)

## Keeping Verdaccio running forever {#keeping-verdaccio-running-forever}

You can use a Node package called ['forever'](https://github.com/nodejitsu/forever) to keep Verdaccio running all the time.

First install `forever` globally:

```bash
$ sudo npm install -g forever
```

Make sure you've run Verdaccio at least once to generate the config file and write down the created admin user. You can then use the following command to start Verdaccio:

```bash
$ forever start `which verdaccio`
```

You can check the documentation for more information on how to use forever.

## Surviving server restarts {#surviving-server-restarts}

You can use `crontab` and `forever` together to start Verdaccio after a server reboot.

When you're logged in as the Verdaccio user do the following:

```bash
$ crontab -e
```

This might ask you to choose an editor. Pick your favorite and proceed.
Add the following entry to the file:

```
@reboot /usr/bin/forever start /usr/lib/node_modules/verdaccio/bin/verdaccio
```

The locations may vary depending on your server setup. If you want to know where your files are you can use the 'which' command:

```bash
$ which forever
$ which verdaccio
```

## Using systemd {#using-systemd}

Instead of `forever` you can use `systemd` for starting Verdaccio and keeping it running. Verdaccio installation has systemd unit, you only need to copy it:
```bash
$ sudo cp /usr/lib/node_modules/verdaccio/systemd/verdaccio.service /lib/systemd/system/ && sudo systemctl daemon-reload
```
This unit assumes you have configuration in `/etc/verdaccio/config.yaml` and store data in `/var/lib/verdaccio`, so either move your files to those locations or edit the unit.