Deploy a Node.js app

Updated: May 17, 2026

By Matic BončinaFounder

Review pending

This page walks through deploying an existing Node.js project to cPanel: from code on your laptop to a running app at a public URL. For the underlying tool reference, see Node.js.

Before you begin

A Node.js project on your machine with a package.json and an entry file (commonly app.js or server.js).
cPanel access on a plan that exposes Setup Node.js App.
A domain or subdomain already pointed at the account.

If your project uses a specific framework, the framework-specific guide is shorter:

Deploy Express

REST API on Express.

Deploy Next.js

SSR Next.js with a custom server.

Create the container

Open Setup Node.js App

From cPanel home, scroll to Software and click Setup Node.js App.

Setup Node.js App icon in the Software row — cPanel home → Software → Setup Node.js App

Click + Create Application

On an empty account you land on a list page with a single + Create Application button.

Empty Node.js app list with Create Application button — Application list with the Create Application button

Fill in the form

Node.js version: pick the highest LTS your code supports. Most projects want 22 or 20.
Application mode: Production. Switch to Development only while chasing a boot error.
Application root: a folder under your home directory, e.g. myapp. Created for you if it doesn’t exist.
Application URL: the domain dropdown plus an optional path. Use / for the root or /api to mount the app on a sub-path.
Application startup file: defaults to app.js. Set this to the file that exports your handler.
Passenger log file: optional, but worth setting (e.g. logs/passenger.log). It’s where boot errors land.

Create Application form filled in for a sample app

Click Create

Passenger starts an empty placeholder app. You’ll get a green “running” indicator and a management page.

The full set of buttons on the management page is covered in the Node.js reference.

Upload your code

Three workflows. Pick whichever fits how your project lives today.

File Manager
SFTP
Git

Zip your project locally (skip node_modules and .git), then:

cPanel home → File Manager.
Navigate to the application root you created (e.g. ~/myapp).
Upload the zip, then right-click it and Extract in place.
Delete the zip once the contents are extracted.

Connect with FileZilla, Cyberduck, or VS Code’s SFTP extension. Credentials are your cPanel username and password, port 22.Sync your project into ~/myapp/. Exclude node_modules and .git from the transfer. node_modules is rebuilt on the server against the per-app Node env, and .git adds noise without value.

For a git-tracked project, use cPanel’s Git Version Control tool:

cPanel home → Files → Git Version Control.
Create → paste your repo URL, set Repository Path to your application root (e.g. /home/<user>/myapp).
cPanel clones the repo into that directory.

For subsequent updates, run git pull over SSH then hit Restart on the Node.js app page. See Git Version Control for the full flow.

Install dependencies

Back on Setup Node.js App, find your app in the list and open it. Click Run NPM Install. cPanel sources the per-app virtualenv, then runs npm install against the package.json in your application root. Big dependency trees (Next.js, Nuxt, Strapi, anything that pulls in sharp) can OOM during install. Run it over SSH instead, with flags that keep the resident set smaller:

source ~/nodevenv/myapp/22/bin/activate && cd ~/myapp
npm install --prefer-offline --no-audit

PMEM on a shared plan caps around 1 GB. If you keep hitting it, build node_modules on a dev machine and rsync the tree up.

Set environment variables

The Environment variables editor sits below the buttons on the management page. Add entries one at a time. Variable names take letters, numbers, underscores, and dashes (max 256 characters). Values are ASCII, max 1024 characters. Common ones to set:

Name	Example value	Why
`NODE_ENV`	`production`	Many libraries flip into a faster code path on this flag.
`DATABASE_URL`	`mysql://user:pass@localhost/dbname`	Don’t commit secrets to git. Read them from env.
`JWT_SECRET`	32+ random characters	Same. Rotate from here, not from the code.

Don’t set PORT. Passenger ignores it. It drives the runtime over a Unix socket, not a TCP port. If your code reads process.env.PORT, that’s fine, but the value is irrelevant.

Click Save under the editor, then Restart for the changes to take effect.

Make the entry file Passenger-compatible

Passenger runs your code. Your code does not start an HTTP server. Export an http.Server or an Express app, do not call .listen().

app.js

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.get('/', (_req, res) => res.send('Hello from Passenger'));

module.exports = app;

For a plain HTTP server with no framework:

app.js

const http = require('http');

module.exports = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.end('Hello from Passenger\n');
});

Calling app.listen(PORT) from a Passenger-managed app produces a 503 on every request, with an EADDRINUSE or boot error in the Passenger log. Tutorials written for VPS deployment have this line. Delete it.

If your project shipped with a listen() call, edit the file in place (File Manager → right-click → Edit, or via SSH) before the next restart.

Start and verify

Restart from the management page

Click Restart. Equivalent to touch ~/myapp/tmp/restart.txt from SSH.

Hit the URL

Open the Application URL in a browser. Your app should respond.

If it's a 503, check the log

The Passenger log file you set when creating the app holds the boot trace. From SSH:

tail -n 100 ~/myapp/logs/passenger.log

Common issues

503 on every request

Almost always app.listen(PORT) in the startup file. Swap to module.exports = app, then Restart.

Cannot find module 'X' after deploying

package.json is in the right place, but node_modules was built on a different machine or Node version. Click Run NPM Install so it builds against the per-app env.

Boot times out after 60 seconds

Passenger’s default startup window. If your app loads a large dataset or runs a synchronous DNS lookup on boot, raise the cap. Edit ~/myapp/.htaccess and add above the Selector-managed block:

PassengerStartTimeout 120

App URL returns the cPanel default page, not your app

The application URL is set to a sub-path (/api) but you’re hitting /. Either change the URL in the form, or move your routes so they match the configured path.

`npm install` runs out of memory

PMEM is ~1 GB on shared plans. Run install over SSH with --prefer-offline --no-audit, or build node_modules locally and rsync the directory up.

Env var change doesn't take effect

Saving the editor stores the value but doesn’t reload the process. Hit Restart after every change.

Deploy Express

Wire up an Express API.

Deploy Next.js

Run SSR Next.js behind Passenger.

Need a hand?

Open a ticket

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Sources

How To Guides

Tools

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Before you begin

Deploy Express

Deploy Next.js

Create the container

Upload your code

Install dependencies

Set environment variables

Make the entry file Passenger-compatible

Start and verify

Common issues

Next

Deploy Express

Deploy Next.js

Need a hand?

Open a ticket

Live chat

​Before you begin

Deploy Express

Deploy Next.js

​Create the container

​Upload your code

​Install dependencies

​Set environment variables

​Make the entry file Passenger-compatible

​Start and verify

​Common issues

​Next

Deploy Express

Deploy Next.js

​Need a hand?

Open a ticket

Live chat

Before you begin

Create the container

Upload your code

Install dependencies

Set environment variables

Make the entry file Passenger-compatible

Start and verify

Common issues

Next

Need a hand?