Preparing a Production Deployment Environment for Node.js - SWDBD401 Backend Application Development

Preparing a deployment environment is the process of configuring a server so it can run your Node.js application reliably, securely, and continuously. This page covers everything from choosing a deployment target to configuring PM2, Nginx, a firewall, and SSL certificates.

Development vs Staging vs Production

Environment	Purpose	Who Uses It
Development	Local coding and testing	Developer only
Staging	Pre-production validation	Team + QA
Production	Serving real users	End users

Never test on production. Always stage before deploying.

Deployment Targets

Option	Examples	Best For
VPS	Ubuntu on DigitalOcean, Linode, Hetzner	Full control, cost-effective
PaaS	Heroku, Railway, Render	Simpler ops, less control
Containers	Docker on any VPS or Kubernetes	Portability, scaling

This page covers VPS deployment on Ubuntu.

Server Setup: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Step 1: Update the Server

ssh ubuntu@your-server-ip

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y git curl build-essential

Step 2: Install Node.js via NVM

# Install NVM
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash

# Reload shell config
source ~/.bashrc

# Install Node.js LTS
nvm install --lts
nvm use --lts

# Verify
node --version
npm --version

Always use NVM on servers, not apt install nodejs. NVM lets you switch Node.js versions without reinstalling and avoids permission issues with global npm packages.

Step 3: Install PM2

npm install -g pm2
pm2 --version

Step 4: Install Nginx

sudo apt install nginx -y
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx  # Start on boot
sudo systemctl status nginx

PM2: Process Manager

PM2 keeps your Node.js app alive, restarts it on crashes, and provides monitoring. This is the standard for production Node.js.

Why Not Just `node app.js`?

Feature	node app.js	PM2
Auto-restart on crash	No	Yes
Survives server reboot	No	Yes (with pm2 startup)
Log management	None	Built-in
Cluster mode	Manual	One flag
Monitoring	None	pm2 monit

PM2 Commands Reference

Command	What It Does
`pm2 start app.js`	Start application
`pm2 start app.js --name myapp`	Start with custom name
`pm2 list`	List all running processes
`pm2 logs myapp`	Tail logs
`pm2 restart myapp`	Restart with downtime
`pm2 reload myapp`	Zero-downtime reload
`pm2 stop myapp`	Stop the process
`pm2 delete myapp`	Remove from PM2
`pm2 startup`	Generate startup command
`pm2 save`	Save current process list
`pm2 monit`	Live dashboard

ecosystem.config.js

// ecosystem.config.js
module.exports = {
  apps: [{
    name: 'swdbd401-api',
    script: 'app.js',
    instances: 1,               // Use 'max' for cluster mode
    exec_mode: 'fork',          // Use 'cluster' for multiple instances
    watch: false,               // Don't watch files in production
    max_memory_restart: '500M', // Restart if memory exceeds 500MB

    env: {
      NODE_ENV: 'development',
      PORT: 3000
    },
    env_production: {
      NODE_ENV: 'production',
      PORT: 3000
    },

    error_file: './logs/err.log',
    out_file: './logs/out.log',
    log_date_format: 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss Z',

    // Auto-restart if app exits
    autorestart: true,
    restart_delay: 5000         // Wait 5 seconds before restarting
  }]
};

Start with ecosystem file:

pm2 start ecosystem.config.js --env production
pm2 save

Make PM2 Survive Reboots

pm2 startup     # PM2 outputs a command to run - copy and run it!
# Example output: sudo env PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin /usr/lib/node_modules/pm2/bin/pm2 startup systemd -u ubuntu --hp /home/ubuntu
# Run that command, then:
pm2 save        # Saves current process list to resurrect on boot

Nginx: Reverse Proxy

Nginx sits in front of Node.js, handling SSL, static files, and load balancing.

Browser -> HTTPS:443 -> Nginx -> HTTP:3000 -> Node.js

Configure Nginx

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/myapp
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.yourdomain.com;

    # Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name api.yourdomain.com;

    # SSL certificates (configured by Certbot)
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/api.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/api.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    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_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Enable and test:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/myapp /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t        # Test configuration
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Firewall with ufw

# Allow SSH (CRITICAL: do this before enabling firewall!)
sudo ufw allow 22

# Allow web traffic
sudo ufw allow 80
sudo ufw allow 443

# Enable firewall
sudo ufw enable

# Check status
sudo ufw status

Always run ufw allow 22 BEFORE ufw enable. If you lock yourself out of SSH, you will need to use the server provider’s emergency console to recover access.

SSL Certificate with Certbot

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

# Get certificate and configure Nginx automatically
sudo certbot --nginx -d api.yourdomain.com

# Test auto-renewal
sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Certbot auto-renews certificates via a cron job. Let’s Encrypt certificates are free and valid for 90 days.

NODE_ENV=production Effects

When NODE_ENV=production:

Express disables detailed error messages
Express enables view caching and performance optimizations
Many libraries disable development-only features
Your config module should load production values

Pre-Deployment Checklist

Environment variables

Verify all required .env variables are set on the server

Database connection

Confirm DB_URI points to production database and connection works

Firewall rules

Only ports 22, 80, and 443 open

SSL certificate

HTTPS working, HTTP redirecting to HTTPS

PM2 startup

PM2 configured to restart on server reboot

Health check

GET /health returns 200

npm audit

No high or critical vulnerabilities

Key Terms

Term	Definition
VPS	Virtual Private Server. A virtual machine rented from a cloud provider.
PaaS	Platform as a Service. Managed hosting where you deploy code without managing servers.
Reverse proxy	Server that sits in front of the application, forwarding requests. Nginx in this context.
PM2	Production process manager for Node.js. Keeps apps running and restarts on crash.
SSL/TLS	Secure Sockets Layer / Transport Layer Security. Protocol for HTTPS.
Certbot	Tool that obtains free SSL certificates from Let’s Encrypt.
ufw	Uncomplicated Firewall. Ubuntu’s user-friendly interface to iptables.

​Development vs Staging vs Production

​Deployment Targets

​Server Setup: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

​Step 1: Update the Server

​Step 2: Install Node.js via NVM

​Step 3: Install PM2

​Step 4: Install Nginx

​PM2: Process Manager

​Why Not Just node app.js?

​PM2 Commands Reference

​ecosystem.config.js

​Make PM2 Survive Reboots

​Nginx: Reverse Proxy

​Configure Nginx

​Firewall with ufw

​SSL Certificate with Certbot

​NODE_ENV=production Effects

​Pre-Deployment Checklist

​Key Terms

Development vs Staging vs Production

Deployment Targets

Server Setup: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Step 1: Update the Server

Step 2: Install Node.js via NVM

Step 3: Install PM2

Step 4: Install Nginx

PM2: Process Manager

Why Not Just `node app.js`?

PM2 Commands Reference

ecosystem.config.js

Make PM2 Survive Reboots

Nginx: Reverse Proxy

Configure Nginx

Firewall with ufw

SSL Certificate with Certbot

NODE_ENV=production Effects

Pre-Deployment Checklist

Key Terms