Session Management using express-session Module in Node.js

Session management can be done in node.js by using the express-session module. It helps in saving the data in the key-value form. In this module, the session data is not saved in the cookie itself, just the session ID.

Installation of express-session module:

1. You can visit the link Install express-session module. You can install this package by using this command.

   npm install express-session

2. After installing express-session you can check your express-session version in command prompt using the command.

   npm version express-session

3. After that, you can create a folder and add a file for example index.js, To run this file you need to run the following command.

   node index.js

Filename: index.js

const express = require("express")
const session = require('express-session')
const app = express()

// Port Number Setup
var PORT = process.env.port || 3000

// Session Setup
app.use(session({

    // It holds the secret key for session
    secret: 'Your_Secret_Key',

    // Forces the session to be saved
    // back to the session store
    resave: true,

    // Forces a session that is "uninitialized"
    // to be saved to the store
    saveUninitialized: true
}))

app.get("/", function(req, res){

    // req.session.key = value
    req.session.name = 'GeeksforGeeks'
    return res.send("Session Set")
})

app.get("/session", function(req, res){

    var name = req.session.name
    return res.send(name)

    /*  To destroy session you can use
        this function
     req.session.destroy(function(error){
        console.log("Session Destroyed")
    })
    */
})

app.listen(PORT, function(error){
    if(error) throw error
    console.log("Server created Successfully on PORT :", PORT)
})

Steps to run the program:

1. The project structure will look like this:
   
2. Make sure you have install express and express-session module using following commands:

   npm install express

   npm install express-session

3. Run index.js file using below command:

   node index.js

   

4. Now to set your session, just open browser and type this URL:

   http://localhost:3000/

   

5. Till now, you have set session and to see session value, type this URL:

   http://localhost:3000/session

   

So this is how you can do session management in node.js using the express-session module.