This guide explains how to deploy Node.js with a Cloud Server to always have the environment needed to compile or build modern frontends (React, Vue, etc.).

Preamble

• Node.js is a free software platform in JavaScript for network applications that need to scale, a simple and effective solution to integrate frontend tools into any server stack.
  • Node.js = official name of the language/environment.
  • NodeJS = "technical" or simplified name in some contexts (often for practical reasons, no real technical difference).

Install Node.js

Prerequisites

• Install NVM on your Cloud Server.
• Note that version 18 of Node.js is not compatible with old Cloud Servers; perform a migration beforehand!

Install the stable version of Node.js

nvm install stable

Install the latest version

nvm install node

Install an older version (not recommended)

nvm install 17

List available versions

nvm ls-remote

Install a specific version

nvm install <version>

Switch Node.js versions and set version 6.3.1 (or another version) as default

nvm alias default 6.3.1

Use a specific version of Node.js in the current shell

nvm use <version>

Check the currently used version of Node.js

node -v

Source

To set up NVM, go to the WebSSH console of your Cloud Server.

Source the .profile file

source ~/.profile

Run the following command to check the NVM installation

nvm

Configure Node as a service

To configure Node as a service, using a "systemd-user service" is recommended.

Redirect traffic to a specific port

Refer to this other guide regarding traffic redirection to a specific port and dedicated IPs.