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Run Botler

There are several different ways to run Botler. For development only running Postgres in Docker is recommended.

Using NPM

First, install the dependencies:

npm install

Then because this project is written in TypeScript you will have to first compile the code to JavaScript with the following command:

npm run build:dev
# Or if the compiler should also watch for changes
npm run build:watch

Now there should be a dist folder in the root of the compiled code. Before running Botler you will need to configure him first. See the Configuration page for more information.

After configuring the bot run the following command to start it:

npm run start:dev

Note

The start:dev command supports debuggers like VSCode's Node debugger.

Using Docker

The bot and the database can be entirely run inside Docker using Docker Compose, which is useful for testing Docker compatibility. There is a development configuration and a production configuration.

Development

This configuration does not try to be as small as possible and runs the bot in development mode, allowing a debugger to connect to the node process and keeping useful tools in the image. Still, the database restarts unless manually stopped.

Start the development config by running the following command in the project root:

docker-compose -f ./docker/docker-compose.yml --env-file ./docker/.env.dev up --detach --build

Parameter Meanings

  • --detach will run the containers in the background and is optional. To inspect them use Docker Desktop or the Docker CLI.
  • --build will make docker-compose build the bot image even if it was previously built. This is needed for applying changes since the last build.
  • --env-file ./docker/.env.dev will set following default environment variable values:
    • POSTGRES_PASSWORD = botler

Production

The production configuration is designed to only contain the things required to run the bot. It first builds the bot in the same environment as the development configuration but then copies the final build into the mhart/alpine-node:slim image and starts the bot in production mode. Additionally, the bot like the database always restarts unless manually stopped.

The command for the production configuration is just the like the development command but with -f ./docker/production.yml in between.

docker-compose -f ./docker/docker-compose.yml -f ./docker/production.yml --env-file ./docker/.env.dev up -d --build

Warning

Do not use the ./docker/.env.dev values in actual production. Instead, provide your own passwords and provide them with a .env file or inline environment variables.

Using Docker only for Postgres

If you want to just run Postgres in Docker you can use the following command:

docker run --name botler-db -p "5432:5432" -e "POSTGRES_PASSWORD=botler" -d postgres

Those default values can be changed but this way you won't have to modify the default configuration of Botler.

Last update: November 14, 2020