Running express server as part of electron app

I have a server electron app to which all client apps connect. I had to do this because the customer wants the server running within their premises. I created an express server in the following way:-

1. Created a server.js file inside public directory where I run the express server.
2. Created a server.html which is loaded in a new hidden browser window from electron.js. The server.html simply runs a function with require('.\server'). I get an error here saying that the required module was not found. I don’t know why since server.html and server.js are right next to each other. %PUBLIC_URL% won’t work here since server.html is loaded after the build step and during the electron step.

What can I do to fix this issue? Is there a better way of running an express server with create-react-app for electron?

[csepulv]

I think you need to run the express server on its, not from within the electron application. You can use node-foreman to help setup multiple processes in development, but basically you need to manage/develop your server as its own application.

[ZoeDreams]

@nikhilag right, that makes sense if you use electron as a wrapper application to your server, Even though i still would try to avoid smashing your server code directly into the electron app. Having a thin client to handle auto-updating and settings is a great idea. Many games use this architecture to handle auto-updating… IE just uses electron to download a zip or tar, and have some scripts to call the server from the CLI. Something more fancy would be using sockets to connect your electron to your server…

As far as networking and stuff, that really is up to how the firewalls are. Technically you could even configure stuff to use port 80 which most firewalls have open.

As for load, if you dig into the code and read a bunch of comments you will find that calling native file system and other functionality can be hacky. It also adds alot of overhead and makes stuff run wonky… This is another argument to use an API w/ CLI or API with sockets.

anyways thats just my opinion from experience… GLHF