How to install a Node.js application

Introduction

This article discusses how to install a Node.js application on a cPanel account.

Procedure

To install an application:

1. You can complete these steps in three ways
   • via 'Terminal' in cPanel
   • via SSH
   • or via the File Manager
2. Create the application's directory relative to the user's home directory.
   • In the File Manager, click the "+Folder" button and create the "nodejsapp" directory.
   • via SSH or Terminal:
     

     mkdir nodejsapp

3. Change to the application's directory.
   • In the File Manager, click on the new entry in the sidebar file tree to open the directory you've created.
   • via SSH or Terminal:
     

     cd nodejsapp

4. Create your 'app.js' start file.
   • In the File Manager, click "+File" and name it "app.js"
   • via SSH or Terminal, depending on your favorite editor, run:
     

     vi app.js

     nano app.js 

   • The following is a default app.js starting point:
     

     const http = require('http')
     const hostname = '127.0.0.1';
     const port = 3000;
     
     const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
       res.statusCode = 200;
       res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
       res.end('Hello World! NodeJS \n');
     });
     
     server.listen(port, hostname, () => {
       console.log(`Server running at http://${hostname}:${port}/`);
     });

5. Save the changes.
6. Close the text editor.
7. Follow through to the Application Manager documentation to register this application to the system.

Additional resources

How to Install a Node.js Application