obrassard/node-apache.md

## node-apache.md

      
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              node-apache.md
            
          
    Host a Node.js app alongside apache sites

Walkthrough to setup apache vhost proxy towards a Node.js app + HTTPS on Ubuntu.
Requirements


Apache 2
Certbot
Node.js
A new domain / subdomain

Steps

1. Enable proxy module on Apache2

sudo a2enmod proxy_http
sudo systemctl restart apache2
2. Create a new vhost

Create a new configuration file :
cd /etc/apache2/sites-available/
vi app.domain.com.conf 
Vhost configuration :
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin admins@domain.ca
    ServerName app.domain.com # DNS record
    ProxyPass / http://localhost:8000/ # With the node app's port
</VirtualHost>

Check configurations and enable site :
sudo a2ensite app.domain.com.conf
sudo apache2ctl configtest
sudo systemctl restart apache2
3. Setup SSL Certificate

sudo certbot --apache -d app.domain.com

# Test autorenew
sudo certbot renew --dry-run
4. Start the node app

Create a directory for all nodes apps
mkdir /var/www/node_apps

Copy or clone the app and install packages
cd /var/www/node_apps
git clone git@github.com/user/app.git

cd app/
npm install

Make sure that the port used by the node server is the one used in the vhost ProxyPass config

Start the app as a background process using &
node index.js & 
or asign it a process name :
bash -c "exec -a <processName> node server.js &"

# bash -c "exec -a app.domain.com node server.js &"
Tips to stop the node process :

We need to find the PID with :
ps aux | grep node

# root  15327  0.0  3.6 929704 36800 ?  Sl   15:08  0:00 node server.js

We can then kill the process with his PID :
sudo kill <PID> 

# sudo kill 15327
However, if you started the process by giving it a name, you can kill this way :
pkill -f <processName>
# pkill -f app.domain.com