The interface to my node application is a web-application. So I wantet do have the web-application started and running, whenever the pi is running. I am using a PiTFT 3.5" as interface to my pi.

Based on this article:

 Install cromium browser:

I use cromium because it is fully html5 compatible and it has a 'kiosk' mode.

Login as pi, and run the following commands to update and install chromium and tools:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install matchbox chromium-browser x11-xserver-utils ttf-mscorefonts-installer xwit sqlite3 libnss3
sudo reboot

Automatic resolution detection:

Open /boot/config.txt:

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Insert at the end of the file:

# 1900x1200 at 32bit depth, DMT mode
disable_overscan=1
framebuffer_width=1900
framebuffer_height=1200
framebuffer_depth=32
framebuffer_ignore_alpha=1
hdmi_pixel_encoding=1
hdmi_group=2

Save and exit editor.

Autostart:

Open /etc/rc.local

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Add to the file before "exit 0":

# Wait for the TV-screen to be turned on...
while ! $( tvservice --dumpedid /tmp/edid | fgrep -qv 'Nothing written!' ); do
	bHadToWaitForScreen=true;
	printf "===> Screen is not connected, off or in an unknown mode, waiting for it to become available...\n"
	sleep 10;
done;

printf "===> Screen is on, extracting preferred mode...\n"
_DEPTH=32;
eval $( edidparser /tmp/edid | fgrep 'preferred mode' | tail -1 | sed -Ene 's/^.+(DMT|CEA) \(([0-9]+)\) ([0-9]+)x([0-9]+)[pi]? @.+/_GROUP=\1;_MODE=\2;_XRES=\3;_YRES=\4;/p' );

printf "===> Resetting screen to preferred mode: %s-%d (%dx%dx%d)...\n" $_GROUP $_MODE $_XRES $_YRES $_DEPTH
tvservice --explicit="$_GROUP $_MODE"
sleep 1;

printf "===> Resetting frame-buffer to %dx%dx%d...\n" $_XRES $_YRES $_DEPTH
fbset --all --geometry $_XRES $_YRES $_XRES $_YRES $_DEPTH -left 0 -right 0 -upper 0 -lower 0;
sleep 1;

if [ -f /boot/xinitrc ]; then
	ln -fs /boot/xinitrc /home/pi/.xinitrc;
	su - pi -c 'startx' &
fi

Save an exit file.

Create new file /boot/xinitrc

sudo nano /boot/xinitrc

Insert the following:

#!/bin/sh
while true; do

	# Clean up previously running apps, gracefully at first then harshly
	killall -TERM chromium 2>/dev/null;
	killall -TERM matchbox-window-manager 2>/dev/null;
	sleep 2;
	killall -9 chromium 2>/dev/null;
	killall -9 matchbox-window-manager 2>/dev/null;

	# Clean out existing profile information
	rm -rf /home/pi/.cache;
	rm -rf /home/pi/.config;
	rm -rf /home/pi/.pki;

	# Generate the bare minimum to keep Chromium happy!
	mkdir -p /home/pi/.config/chromium/Default
	sqlite3 /home/pi/.config/chromium/Default/Web\ Data "CREATE TABLE meta(key LONGVARCHAR NOT NULL UNIQUE PRIMARY KEY, value LONGVARCHAR); INSERT INTO meta VALUES('version','46'); CREATE TABLE keywords (foo INTEGER);";

	# Disable DPMS / Screen blanking
	xset -dpms
	xset s off

	# Reset the framebuffer's colour-depth
	fbset -depth $( cat /sys/module/*fb*/parameters/fbdepth );

	# Hide the cursor (move it to the bottom-right, comment out if you want mouse interaction)
	xwit -root -warp $( cat /sys/module/*fb*/parameters/fbwidth ) $( cat /sys/module/*fb*/parameters/fbheight )

	# Start the window manager (remove "-use_cursor no" if you actually want mouse interaction)
	matchbox-window-manager -use_titlebar no -use_cursor no &

	# Start the browser (See http://peter.sh/experiments/chromium-command-line-switches/)
	chromium  --app=http://URL.of.your/choice.html

done;

Save and exit editor.

Reboot

sudo reboot