How to install and configure Node.js on cpanel server

Posted in Whm/Cpanel on Jul 30, 2019

In order to install and configure Node.js on cpanel, two prerequisites are needed -

Normal shell must be enabled in your account. In order to determine the type of shell, type the following command -

echo $SHELL

Node.js currently only works on servers running CentOS 6 or CentOS 7. To determine the CentOS version, type the following command -

uname -r

INSTALLING NODE.JS AND NPM

Once you determine that your account meets the installation prerequisites, follow these steps in order to download and install Node.js and npm -

Log in to your account using SSH.
At the command prompt, type the following commands:

cd ~
wget https://nodejs.org/dist/v10.5.0/node-v10.5.0-linux-x64.tar.xz

To extract the Node.js files, type the following command:

tar xvf node-v10.5.0-linux-x64.tar.xz

To rename the extracted folder to the more convenient nodejs name, type the following command:

mv node-v10.5.0-linux-x64 nodejs

To install the node and npm binaries, type the following commands :

mkdir ~/bin
cp nodejs/bin/node ~/bin
cd ~/bin
ln -s ../nodejs/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js npm

After this, verify the installation process -

node --version
npm --version

STARTING A NODE.JS APPLICATION

METHOD 1 - Use npm

Use the npm program to start the application by typing the following command :

nohup npm start --production &

package.json file is required in order to make this method work.

METHOD 2 - Run node directly

For simple applications, you can run the node executable directly and specify the application filename. For example:

nohup node my_software.js &

STOPPING A NODE.JS APPLICATION

To immediately stop all currently running Node.js applications, type the following command:

pkill node

INTEGRATING A NODE.JS APPLICATION WITH THE WEB SERVER

In order to integrate a node.js application with the web server, follow the below steps :

In a text editor, add the following lines to the .htaccess file in the /home/username/public_html directory, where username represents your account username:

DirectoryIndex disabled
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^$ http://127.0.0.1:XXXXX/ [P,L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://127.0.0.1:XXXXX/$1 [P,L]

Replace XXXXX with the port on which your Node.js application listens in both RewriteRule lines.
Save the changes to the .htaccess file, then exit the text editor.