In this post, we will see how to run and deploy NodeJS apps in production. Follow the steps below:
<h2>Step 1 - Install Nodejs</h2>
Let's download nodejs from Nodesource. NodeSource is a company which provides enterprise-grade Node support and maintains a repository containing the latest versions of Node.js.
<pre class="language-bash"><code>curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_14.x | sudo -E bash -</code></pre>
Let's install nodejs now:
<pre class="language-bash"><code>sudo apt-get install -y nodejs</code></pre>
Check the installation of node and npm using the following commands:
<pre class="language-bash"><code>node --version &amp;&amp; npm --version</code></pre>
You will see the versions of nodejs and npm
<h2>Step 2 - Creating a sample nodejs file</h2>
Let's create a sample app and paste some basic code into it.
<pre class="language-bash"><code>sudo vi app.js</code></pre>
Paste the following code inside it:
<pre class="language-javascript"><code>const express = require('express')
const app = express()
const port = 3000

app.get('/', (req, res) =&gt; {
 res.send('Hello World!')
})

app.listen(port, () =&gt; {
 console.log(`Example app listening at http://localhost:${port}`)
})</code></pre>
Lets now install express so that we can run this app server:
<pre class="language-bash"><code>npm install express</code></pre>
run the application
<pre class="language-bash"><code>node app.js</code></pre>
You should now be able to see the hello world page when you visit http://server-ip:3000
Step 3 - Using pm2 as a process manager
Let's install and use pm2 as a process manager. Install pm2 using the commands below:
<pre class="language-bash"><code>sudo npm i pm2 -g</code></pre>
Start the application using the following command:
<pre class="language-bash"><code>pm2 start app.js</code></pre>
<h2>Step 4 - Configuring Nginx as a reverse proxy</h2>
Now let's configure Nginx as a reverse proxy. This will help us get the security features from Nginx. Also, we can serve static content using Nginx.
Let's install Nginx using the following command:
<pre class="language-bash"><code>sudo apt install nginx</code></pre>
Let's create a conf file for our Nodejs app using the command below
<pre class="language-bash"><code>sudo vi /etc/nginx/sites-available/nodeApp</code></pre>
Copy the following content to this file
<pre class="language-bash"><code>server{
 server_name 165.232.177.116;

 location / {
 proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
 proxy_http_version 1.1;
 proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
 proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
 proxy_set_header Host $host;
 proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
 }
}</code></pre>
Activate this configuration using the command below:
<pre class="language-bash"><code>sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/nodeApp /etc/nginx/sites-enabled</code></pre>
Visit http://your-ip/ and your application should work fine. Happy coding!

How to deploy a Node.js application in production

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