<div class="image-550">
<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-24/crontab.avif" alt="Using crontab @reboot" loading="lazy" />
</div>
<p>
This guide will show how to restart an application using node.js runtime, specifically "forever", an npm module that ensures node.js applications run in the background.  While the examples will show only "forever",  you can also use any other Debian applications or services.
</p>
<p>
At the command line Forever is run like the following:
</p>
<pre>
<code class="language-bash line-numbers normalize-whitespace">
sudo forever start|stop [-c node] &lt;node application>
</code>
</pre>
<p>
In a crontab the preceeding example will not work because crontab has limited access to environment variables, so you need to specify the full path to applications and services:
</p>
<pre>
<code class="language-bash line-numbers normalize-whitespace">
/path/forever start|stop -c /path/node /path/node-app.js
</code>
</pre>
<h4>
The @reboot directive
</h4>
<p>
To restart an application on reboot in Debian 12 using crontab, use the "@reboot" directive:
</p>
<p>
Open the crontab file for editing:
</p>
<pre>
<code class="language-bash line-numbers normalize-whitespace">
crontab -e
</code>
</pre>
<p>
Add the following line:
</p>
<pre>
<code class="language-bash line-numbers normalize-whitespace">  
@reboot /path/forever start -c /path/node /path/node-app.js
</code>
</pre>
<p>
Save and exit the crontab editor.
</p>
<p>
That's it.  Thank you for reading.
</p>


Using crontab to restart applications on reboot in Debian 12