# Node Red for a complete beginner

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [12 February 2022 17:19 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231 "2022-02-12T17:19:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ldanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba9def/32.png) [@ldanna](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ldanna)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 17:19 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/1 "2022-02-12T17:19:42Z")

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Just getting started with Node Red. I finally have the OS Buster running on my Beaglebone Black.  
It looked like the service did not start. I tried to start the service ```  
sudo service node-red start and got message could not find the service. so I went to the directory where the service lives I think /lib/systemd/system and manually started it  
the node red service file found was nodered.service not node-red.service I discovered. So far so good. Then I open a browser to the web site. It opened ok but there was just a bar at the top of the page with the node red icon and the node red title. The rest of the page is blank.  
what did I miss? Why did Node red not start after booting up ?

Any insight is greatly appreciated

Thanks

LArry

```auto

```

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**Author:** ![Sean-McG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/sean-mcg/32/54677_2.png) [@Sean-McG](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Sean-McG)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 17:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/2 "2022-02-12T17:32:33Z")

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What address did you use [http://ip.of.server:1880](http://ip.of.server:1880) ?

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**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 17:37 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/3 "2022-02-12T17:37:16Z")

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Welcome to the forum @ldanna

> [@ldanna](#):
>
> Why did Node red not start after booting up

To get it to start on boot you have to enable the service.  
`sudo systemctl enable nodered`

You need to check the startup log to see if there is anything helpful there. You haven't said how you installed node-red but you may be able to run  
`node-red-stop`  
`node-red-start`  
to stop and start it and show the output in the terminal. If you haven't got those commands then stop it using  
`sudo systemctl stop nodered`  
and start it in a terminal using just  
`node-red`

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**Author:** ![dceejay](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/dceejay/32/38_2.png) [@dceejay](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/dceejay)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 17:54 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/4 "2022-02-12T17:54:00Z")

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On a Beaglebone I think the service autostarts when it detects the browser trying to connect (or is used to... must admit not checked recently). When it does start it does then take 20-30 secs to get really started so you may have to reload the web page at that point.

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**Author:** ![ldanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba9def/32.png) [@ldanna](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ldanna)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 17:57 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/5 "2022-02-12T17:57:08Z")

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Yes I used the ip of the server the node red is running on 192.168.1.17:1880 It is on my local network

I ran `sudo systemctl enable nodered` as suggested . It did in fact run when rebooted. That's fixed Thanks.  
Still Blank web page.  
Running on a beaglebone black. I used the getting started node red web site [Running on BeagleBone Boards : Node-RED](https://nodered.org/docs/getting-started/beaglebone) to install on my beaglebone

Larry

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**Author:** ![ldanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba9def/32.png) [@ldanna](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ldanna)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 17:59 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/6 "2022-02-12T17:59:05Z")

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I re started the browser no change.

Where do I look for the Startup log

LArry

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**Author:** ![Sean-McG](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/sean-mcg/32/54677_2.png) [@Sean-McG](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Sean-McG)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 18:03 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/7 "2022-02-12T18:03:51Z")

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On a pi you can use - `node-red-log` command, if not then `sudo journalctl -u nodered -o cat`

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**Author:** ![ldanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba9def/32.png) [@ldanna](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ldanna)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 18:22 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/8 "2022-02-12T18:22:17Z")

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HMMM i found the syslog file and found this tidbit that looks suspicious

16:39:16 beaglebone Node-RED[1067]: Your flow credentials file is encrypted using a system-generated key.  
Feb 12 16:39:16 beaglebone Node-RED[1067]: If the system-generated key is lost for any reason, your credentials  
Feb 12 16:39:16 beaglebone Node-RED[1067]: file will not be recoverable, you will have to delete it and re-enter  
Feb 12 16:39:16 beaglebone Node-RED[1067]: your credentials.  
Feb 12 16:39:16 beaglebone Node-RED[1067]: You should set your own key using the 'credentialSecret' option in  
Feb 12 16:39:16 beaglebone Node-RED[1067]: your settings file. Node-RED will then re-encrypt your credentials  
Feb 12 16:39:16 beaglebone Node-RED[1067]: file using your chosen key the next time you deploy a change.

also this entry was there  
**12 Feb 17:51:40 - [warn] Projects disabled : editorTheme.projects.enabled=false**

What does this mean and what do I do  
Larry

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**Author:** ![jbudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f8ce5/32.png) [@jbudd](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/jbudd)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 18:30 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/9 "2022-02-12T18:30:12Z")

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Those messages are perfectly normal.  
The whole of the Node-red startup output is probably worth posting here.

I suggest node-red-stop then node-red-start and show us everything it prints out during the startup process

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**Author:** ![ldanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba9def/32.png) [@ldanna](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ldanna)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 18:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/10 "2022-02-12T18:44:47Z")

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Does this help??  
Note:still blank web page

Feb 12 18:40:01 beaglebone systemd[1]: Stopping Node-RED graphical event wiring tool...  
Feb 12 18:40:01 beaglebone Node-RED[1042]: 12 Feb 18:40:01 - [info] Stopping flows  
Feb 12 18:40:01 beaglebone Node-RED[1042]: 12 Feb 18:40:01 - [info] Stopped flows  
Feb 12 18:40:01 beaglebone systemd[1]: nodered.service: Succeeded.  
Feb 12 18:40:01 beaglebone systemd[1]: Stopped Node-RED graphical event wiring tool.  
Feb 12 18:40:01 beaglebone systemd[1]: nodered.socket: Succeeded.  
Feb 12 18:40:01 beaglebone systemd[1]: Closed Node-RED Socket.  
Feb 12 18:40:55 beaglebone systemd[1]: Started Node-RED graphical event wiring tool.  
Feb 12 18:41:02 beaglebone Node-RED[1144]: 12 Feb 18:41:02 - [info]  
Feb 12 18:41:02 beaglebone Node-RED[1144]: Welcome to Node-RED  
Feb 12 18:41:02 beaglebone Node-RED[1144]: ===================  
Feb 12 18:41:02 beaglebone Node-RED[1144]: 12 Feb 18:41:02 - [info] Node-RED version: v1.3.5  
Feb 12 18:41:02 beaglebone Node-RED[1144]: 12 Feb 18:41:02 - [info] Node.js version: v10.24.1  
Feb 12 18:41:02 beaglebone Node-RED[1144]: 12 Feb 18:41:02 - [info] Linux 4.19.94-ti-r42 arm LE  
Feb 12 18:41:12 beaglebone Node-RED[1144]: 12 Feb 18:41:12 - [info] Loading palette nodes

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ldanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba9def/32.png) [@ldanna](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ldanna)\
**Post date:** [12 February 2022 18:56 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/11 "2022-02-12T18:56:16Z")

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On a whim I decided to change browsers . I was using Firefox and It occurred to me that I had some difficulty in the past with java and Firefox ,. So I moved to Edge and VOILA the page loaded correctly. I think . I can now see many items on the page that were absent before.  
Now the fun begins

So stand down for the near time. I will endeavor to see if I can start using Node Red now.  
Great group thanks a lot

LArry

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [13 April 2022 18:57 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/node-red-for-a-complete-beginner/58231/12 "2022-04-13T18:57:05Z")

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