Deploy your Node\Express\React App to DigitalOcean

Move your Node, Express, and MongoDB app from your development machine to the cloud for production, hosting on a server with MongoDB, so users can access it via the internet.

Learn how to choose between IaaS and PaaS, with Digital Ocean as IaaS and a platform as a service provider, and what the hosting provider handles.

Compare Heroku as a PaaS and Digital Ocean as an IaaS to understand service models, then prefer Digital Ocean for persistence, flexible project structure, and local MongoDB support.

Explore how a droplet, a linux-based virtual machine on DigitalOcean, creates a server and how hosting providers allocate resources for efficient cloud hosting.

Create your DigitalOcean droplet by selecting a Linux flavor like Ubuntu and a London data center. Access the Linux server via the console; Node and Express are not installed yet.

Create a node droplet on DigitalOcean, install node and npm, use nano to edit a hello file, then restart the server to see the updated message.

Explore deploying a node/express app to DigitalOcean by comparing default and node quick start droplets. Learn linux basics, and configure pm2, nginx, and port settings for a production server.

Understand the difference between a server machine and a web server, and how a web server listens on a port (like 3000) to handle client requests in production.

Explore Linux as the Digital Ocean droplet operating system, its open source flexibility and security, and master essential commands for navigation, file management, and basic server tasks.

pm2 is a process manager for node applications in production that runs apps as services, auto-starts on boot, and saves console logs to pm2 logs.

Explore how nginx acts as a reverse proxy on a DigitalOcean droplet, mapping port 80 to your Node.js app on port 3000 and enabling seamless access via the server IP.

Register and buy a domain, then connect it to your droplet. Replace the IP with the domain name for your Node/Express/React app.

Discover how to search for and purchase a domain name using Namecheap, add it to the cart, and log in to view your domain in your account.

Connect your domain to your DigitalOcean droplet by adding the domain in manage networking, configuring custom name servers, and awaiting propagation up to 48 hours.

Learn how https, ssl, and certificates protect client-server communication by obtaining an ssl certificate from a certificate authority such as Let's Encrypt and enabling https so browsers show a lock.

Learn to obtain an ssl certificate from Let's Encrypt and configure sailboat to serve on port 443, redirect http to https, and verify a secure deployment on DigitalOcean.

Clone your repository to the DigitalOcean droplet, install express, and configure the app to listen on port 880 with a simple rest api and a hello message at root.

Start a node/express/react app on a DigitalOcean droplet, update the port mapping from 3000 to 8080, restart pm2, and verify API endpoints via domain or IP.

Access and test your Node Express React app with the VS Code plugin and Postman, exploring routes like /api, /api/1, and /, while enabling Morgan logs.

Explore installation options for MongoDB on DigitalOcean, including a local droplet setup and a separate MongoDB droplet, with firewall considerations for performance.

Install the MongoDB server on the app droplets, update the repository, start the service, and use the mongo shell to access admin and local databases.

Configure and start the my_library app by setting up the express server, API routes, and port mappings, and review the repository before deploying to DigitalOcean.

Access the deployed node express react app on DigitalOcean using the vs code plugin, create and query a Mongo books collection, and perform updates and deletions via API.

Set up and run a full stack app on your development machine by starting the Express server on port 5000 and the React client on port 3000 using concurrently.

Create an optimized react production build by globally installing create-react-app, installing dependencies, and running npm run build to merge JavaScript and CSS into a single production bundle.

Set NODE_ENV to production by editing the environment file, switch from development to production mode, reboot the server, and verify the app runs in production.

Update the nginx default file to listen on port 5000, then verify syntax and restart nginx. Start the express server on port 5000 and verify the app responds.

We review the starter project, confirm it is production ready, and verify production mode via console logs on the production machine; the next lesson will dive into the details.

Learn how to deploy a node express react app to production by running npm run build, setting the V environment variable, and serving the client build with express static.

deploy a node/express/react app to production on digitalocean, build for production, and run the server on port 5000 with routing for home, login, and register.

Deploy your express app with a client and Mongo on the cloud via Digital Ocean, linking a domain to your droplet and using the two hundred dollar credit.