Installation

Prerequisites

• VPS with Ubuntu 20.04 or higher

• Node.js 18.x

• MongoDB 4.4

• Domain pointed to your server

Installation Guide

1. Initial Server Setup

Update your system packages to ensure you have the latest security updates:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install Node.js

Install Node.js 18.x and build essentials:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs
sudo apt install -y build-essential

3. Setup MongoDB

• Create an account at MongoDB Atlas

• Create a new cluster

• Get your connection string

• Replace the MONGODB_URI in your .env file with the Atlas connection string

4. Install and Configure Nginx

Set up Nginx as a reverse proxy:

sudo apt install -y nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

5. Application Setup

Clone and configure the application:

mkdir -p /var/www/pastify
cd /var/www

Add the zip file contents to the directory /var/www/pastify

Create a .env file with the following values:

MONGODB_URI=MONGODB_ATLAS_URL_HERE
PORT=3000
ADMIN_USERNAME=your_admin_username
ADMIN_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
SESSION_SECRET=your_random_session_secret

6. Create Nginx Configuration

Create a new Nginx configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/pastify

Add the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Enable the site and restart Nginx:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/pastify /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

7. Install PM2 Globally

sudo npm install -g pm2

8. Start the Application

cd /var/www/pastify
pm2 start server/server.js --name "pastify"

9. Enable PM2 Startup Script

pm2 startup
pm2 save