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বাংলা
हिन्दी

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Run Node.js as a persistent VPS service ​

This example uses systemd on Ubuntu or Debian. It assumes a reviewed Node.js application and a supported Node.js installation already exist. Adjust paths and the entry point to your project.

Steps ​

  1. Create a dedicated service user and private release directory. Deploy the reviewed project there, owned by that user. Run dependency installation and the build as that user, not as root.

    bash
    sudo adduser --system --group --home /srv/apnapp apnapp
sudo install -d -o apnapp -g apnapp /srv/apnapp/current

  2. Install locked dependencies, build the production release and configure the application to listen on 127.0.0.1:3000. Environment settings only work if the app reads them. Keep secrets in a restricted environment file, not the source repository.

    bash
    sudo test -e /etc/apnapp.env || sudo install -o root -g apnapp -m 640 /dev/null /etc/apnapp.env
command -v node

  3. Create /etc/systemd/system/apnapp.service with the configuration below. Adjust the Node executable path, working directory and entry file. Fill the environment file privately; do not overwrite an existing file containing secrets.

    ini
    [Unit]
Description=APNCloud application
After=network.target

[Service]
User=apnapp
Group=apnapp
WorkingDirectory=/srv/apnapp/current
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
EnvironmentFile=/etc/apnapp.env
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /srv/apnapp/current/server.js
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
NoNewPrivileges=true
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

  4. Validate the unit, start it and inspect the logs. Fix startup errors before publishing any route.

    bash
    sudo systemd-analyze verify /etc/systemd/system/apnapp.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now apnapp
sudo journalctl -u apnapp -n 50 --no-pager
curl -I http://127.0.0.1:3000/

  5. After a release, restart the service and check health. Plan a reboot test and keep the previous release for rollback. A restart can briefly interrupt requests.

If something goes wrong ​

If it works in a shell but fails as a service, compare the executable path, permissions, working directory and environment. Do not run the service as root to bypass a permission problem. Use application-specific writable directories for uploads and persistent data.

Last reviewed ​

2026-10-28