Stack Setup — Node.js, PHP & Databases

Section 5 — Node.js Server Deployment

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime that lets you run JavaScript on the server. It is NOT a web server like Apache — it is an application runtime. You run your Node.js app on a port (e.g., 3000), then Nginx acts as a reverse proxy in front.

Internet → Nginx (port 80/443) → Node.js App (port 3000)

5.1 Installing Node.js

Method 1: NodeSource (Recommended for Production)

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install nodejs
node -v   # Verify
npm -v

Method 2: NVM (Recommended for Development Flexibility)

# Install NVM
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc

# Install and use a specific version
nvm install 20
nvm use 20
nvm alias default 20   # Set as default

# List installed versions
nvm list

package.json — Key Commands

npm install                    # Install all dependencies
npm install --production       # Skip devDependencies
npm install express            # Add a package
npm install --save-dev nodemon # Add a dev dependency
npm start                      # Run start script
npm run build                  # Run build script

# Always add to .gitignore
echo ".env" >> .gitignore
echo ".env.local" >> .gitignore
echo "node_modules/" >> .gitignore

5.2 PM2 — The Production Process Manager

When you run node server.js directly, the process dies if you close the terminal, there's an error, or the server reboots. PM2 solves all of this.

# Install PM2 globally
sudo npm install -g pm2

# Start an application
pm2 start server.js --name "my-api"
pm2 start server.js --name "my-api" -i max   # Cluster mode (all CPU cores)

# For Next.js (runs 'npm start')
pm2 start npm --name "nextjs-app" -- start

# List all processes
pm2 list
pm2 status

# View logs
pm2 logs
pm2 logs my-api --lines 100

# Monitor in real-time
pm2 monit

# Restart / Stop / Delete
pm2 restart my-api
pm2 stop my-api
pm2 delete my-api

# Zero-downtime reload
pm2 reload my-api

# Generate and run the startup command
pm2 startup
# Copy and run the command it prints, then:

pm2 save   # Save current process list

PM2 Ecosystem File (Multiple Apps)

// ecosystem.config.js
module.exports = {
  apps: [
    {
      name: 'api-server',
      script: 'server.js',
      instances: 'max',         // Use all CPU cores
      exec_mode: 'cluster',
      env_production: {
        NODE_ENV: 'production',
        PORT: 3000
      },
      error_file: '/var/log/pm2/api-error.log',
      out_file: '/var/log/pm2/api-out.log',
      max_memory_restart: '500M',  // Restart if memory exceeds 500MB
      watch: false,
    }
  ]
};

pm2 start ecosystem.config.js --env production
pm2 reload ecosystem.config.js --env production

5.3 Express.js Deployment

# 1. Create project directory
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/my-express-api
sudo chown ubuntu:ubuntu /var/www/my-express-api
cd /var/www/my-express-api

# 2. Clone from Git
git clone https://github.com/yourorg/my-express-api.git .

# 3. Install production dependencies
npm install --production

# 4. Create .env file with production values
nano .env

# 5. Start with PM2
pm2 start server.js --name "my-express-api"
pm2 save

# 6. Create Nginx reverse proxy
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-express-api.conf

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.mysite.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-express-api.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d api.mysite.com

5.4 Next.js Deployment (SSR)

cd /var/www
git clone https://github.com/yourorg/nextjs-app.git
cd nextjs-app

npm install
nano .env.local    # Set NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL etc.

npm run build      # Build the application
pm2 start npm --name "nextjs-app" -- start
pm2 save

5.5 React App Deployment (Static)

cd /var/www
git clone https://github.com/yourorg/react-app.git
cd react-app

npm install
npm run build      # Creates build/ folder

# Nginx serves the build/ folder as static files
# See Part 1 Section 4.6 for the Nginx config

Common Node.js Deployment Issues

Section 6 — PHP Ecosystem

PHP is the backbone of most web applications — WordPress, Laravel, CodeIgniter are all PHP-based. On a production server, PHP should run via PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) — a separate service that is much more efficient than mod_php.

6.1 PHP 8.2 & PHP-FPM Installation

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php8.2 php8.2-fpm php8.2-mysql php8.2-curl php8.2-gd \
    php8.2-mbstring php8.2-xml php8.2-zip php8.2-bcmath php8.2-intl \
    php8.2-imagick php8.2-redis php8.2-opcache

php -v                           # Check version
sudo systemctl status php8.2-fpm

# For multiple PHP versions on same server
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
sudo apt update
sudo apt install php7.4 php7.4-fpm php7.4-mysql
sudo apt install php8.2 php8.2-fpm

# Switch CLI default
sudo update-alternatives --config php

6.2 PHP Configuration (php.ini)

# Find which php.ini is loaded
php -i | grep "Loaded Configuration File"

sudo nano /etc/php/8.2/fpm/php.ini

; File upload limits
upload_max_filesize = 64M
post_max_size = 64M

; Memory & execution limits
memory_limit = 256M
max_execution_time = 300
max_input_vars = 3000

; CRITICAL: Turn off error display in production
display_errors = Off
display_startup_errors = Off
log_errors = On
error_log = /var/log/php/php-error.log

; Timezone
date.timezone = "Asia/Kolkata"

; OPcache (speeds up PHP significantly)
opcache.enable = 1
opcache.memory_consumption = 256
opcache.max_accelerated_files = 20000
opcache.validate_timestamps = 0   ; 0 = always use cache (production)

sudo systemctl restart php8.2-fpm  # Apply changes

6.3 Composer — PHP Dependency Manager

Composer is to PHP what npm is to Node.js.

# Install Composer
cd ~
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o composer-setup.php
sudo php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
composer --version

# Project commands
composer install                              # Install from composer.json
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader  # Production install
composer require guzzlehttp/guzzle            # Add a package
composer update                               # Update packages
composer dump-autoload --optimize             # Regenerate autoload files

6.4 Laravel Full Deployment

# 1. Create and set up directory
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/mylaravelapp
sudo chown ubuntu:ubuntu /var/www/mylaravelapp
cd /var/www/mylaravelapp

# 2. Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/yourorg/laravel-app.git .

# 3. Install dependencies (no dev packages in production)
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

# 4. Create environment file
cp .env.example .env
nano .env

## Production .env example
APP_NAME="My Laravel App"
APP_ENV=production
APP_KEY=          # Generated in next step
APP_DEBUG=false   # CRITICAL: NEVER true in production!
APP_URL=https://mylaravelapp.com

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=mylaravelapp
DB_USERNAME=mylaravel_user
DB_PASSWORD=strongpassword

CACHE_DRIVER=file
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database
SESSION_DRIVER=file

# 5. Generate application key
php artisan key:generate

# 6. Run migrations
php artisan migrate --force

# 7. Set permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mylaravelapp
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/mylaravelapp
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/mylaravelapp/storage
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/mylaravelapp/bootstrap/cache

# 8. Storage symlink (for uploaded files)
php artisan storage:link

# 9. Cache for performance (always do this in production)
php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

6.5 Laravel Artisan Command Reference

6.6 Supervisor — Laravel Queue Workers

For processing queued jobs (emails, notifications), you need a queue worker running permanently in the background. Supervisor manages it.

sudo apt install supervisor

# Create worker config
sudo nano /etc/supervisor/conf.d/laravel-worker.conf

[program:laravel-worker]
process_name=%(program_name)s_%(process_num)02d
command=php /var/www/mylaravelapp/artisan queue:work database --sleep=3 --tries=3 --max-time=3600
autostart=true
autorestart=true
user=www-data
numprocs=2
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/www/mylaravelapp/storage/logs/worker.log
stopwaitsecs=3600

sudo supervisorctl reread
sudo supervisorctl update
sudo supervisorctl start laravel-worker:*

# Check status
sudo supervisorctl status

Laravel Cron Setup

sudo crontab -e
# Add this line:
* * * * * cd /var/www/mylaravelapp && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

6.7 WordPress Setup

# Create MySQL database first
mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE wordpress_db CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'wp_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'strongpassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_db.* TO 'wp_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

# Download and install WordPress
cd /tmp
wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
tar -xzvf latest.tar.gz
sudo mv wordpress /var/www/mywordpresssite

cd /var/www/mywordpresssite
cp wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php
nano wp-config.php

# Set permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mywordpresssite
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/mywordpresssite
sudo chmod 644 /var/www/mywordpresssite/wp-config.php

// Key wp-config.php settings
define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress_db');
define('DB_USER', 'wp_user');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'strongpassword');
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true);       // Security: disable admin file editing
define('AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED', true); // Manage updates manually

// If behind SSL proxy (e.g., Cloudflare)
define('FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', true);
if (strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO'], 'https') !== false) {
    $_SERVER['HTTPS'] = 'on';
}

6.8 CodeIgniter Deployment

cd /var/www
git clone https://github.com/yourorg/ci-project.git
cd ci-project

# CodeIgniter 4
nano app/Config/App.php     # Set $baseURL = 'https://mycisite.com/'
nano app/Config/Database.php  # Set DB credentials

# Permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/ci-project
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/ci-project
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/ci-project/writable

Section 7 — Database Management

7.1 MySQL / MariaDB Installation

# Install MySQL
sudo apt install mysql-server

# OR Install MariaDB (drop-in replacement, slightly improved)
sudo apt install mariadb-server

# Secure the installation — run immediately after install
sudo mysql_secure_installation
# Prompts:
# - Set root password: YES
# - Remove anonymous users: YES
# - Disallow remote root login: YES
# - Remove test database: YES
# - Reload privilege tables: YES

# Login
sudo mysql              # As system root
mysql -u root -p        # With password

mysql --version

7.2 Essential MySQL Commands

-- Show all databases
SHOW DATABASES;

-- Create a database (always use utf8mb4!)
CREATE DATABASE myapp_db CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

-- Select database
USE myapp_db;

-- Show tables
SHOW TABLES;

-- Describe table structure
DESCRIBE users;

-- Create a dedicated user (NEVER use root for apps!)
CREATE USER 'myapp_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'strongpassword123';

-- Grant permissions
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON myapp_db.* TO 'myapp_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

-- Show user permissions
SHOW GRANTS FOR 'myapp_user'@'localhost';

-- Change password
ALTER USER 'myapp_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'newpassword';

-- Drop user
DROP USER 'myapp_user'@'localhost';

-- Drop database (CAREFUL!)
DROP DATABASE myapp_db;

7.3 Database Backups & Restore

Always backup before any deployment or database change.

# Backup a single database
mysqldump -u root -p myapp_db > /backup/myapp_db_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).sql

# Backup with compression
mysqldump -u root -p myapp_db | gzip > /backup/myapp_db_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz

# Backup all databases
mysqldump -u root -p --all-databases > /backup/all_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

# Restore
mysql -u root -p myapp_db < /backup/myapp_db_20260101.sql

# Restore compressed
gunzip < /backup/myapp_db_20260101.sql.gz | mysql -u root -p myapp_db

Automated Daily Backup Script

sudo nano /usr/local/bin/backup_databases.sh

#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/mysql"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
KEEP_DAYS=7

mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

for DB in $(mysql -uroot -pYOURPASS -e "SHOW DATABASES;" | grep -Ev "(Database|information_schema|performance_schema|sys)"); do
    mysqldump -uroot -pYOURPASS $DB | gzip > $BACKUP_DIR/${DB}_${DATE}.sql.gz
    echo "Backed up: $DB"
done

# Delete old backups
find $BACKUP_DIR -name "*.sql.gz" -mtime +$KEEP_DAYS -delete
echo "Done. Old backups cleaned."

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/backup_databases.sh

# Add to cron (daily at 2 AM)
sudo crontab -e
# 0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/backup_databases.sh >> /var/log/db_backup.log 2>&1

7.4 Redis

Redis is an in-memory key-value store used for caching, sessions, and queues. Laravel can use Redis as a cache driver or queue driver.

sudo apt install redis-server

sudo systemctl enable redis-server
sudo systemctl start redis-server
sudo systemctl status redis-server

# Test Redis
redis-cli ping     # Should return: PONG

# Basic commands
redis-cli
> SET mykey "hello"
> GET mykey
> DEL mykey
> KEYS *             # List all keys
> FLUSHALL           # Clear all data

# Configure Redis password (recommended for production)
sudo nano /etc/redis/redis.conf
# Find and set: requirepass YourStrongPassword

sudo systemctl restart redis-server

# Connect with auth
redis-cli -a YourStrongPassword

Laravel + Redis

# In .env
CACHE_DRIVER=redis
QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis
SESSION_DRIVER=redis
REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1
REDIS_PASSWORD=YourStrongPassword
REDIS_PORT=6379

7.5 MongoDB

MongoDB is a NoSQL document database. Used with Node.js apps and APIs.

# Install MongoDB 7
curl -fsSL https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-7.0.asc | sudo gpg -o /usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-7.0.gpg --dearmor
echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-7.0.gpg ] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu jammy/mongodb-org/7.0 multiverse" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-7.0.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mongodb-org

sudo systemctl enable mongod
sudo systemctl start mongod
mongosh   # Connect to MongoDB shell

# Basic MongoDB Shell commands
mongosh
> show dbs
> use myapp_db
> db.users.insertOne({ name: "John", email: "john@example.com" })
> db.users.find()
> db.users.findOne({ name: "John" })
> db.users.deleteOne({ name: "John" })

Section 8 — WordPress Mastery

8.1 wp-config.php Deep Dive

The wp-config.php file is the heart of every WordPress installation.

<?php
// Database settings
define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress_db');
define('DB_USER', 'wp_user');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'strongpassword');
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');
define('DB_COLLATE', '');

// Security keys — GENERATE FRESH ones at:
// https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/
define('AUTH_KEY',         'unique phrase here');
define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY',  'unique phrase here');
define('LOGGED_IN_KEY',    'unique phrase here');
define('NONCE_KEY',        'unique phrase here');

// Table prefix — change for security
$table_prefix = 'wp_';

// Performance
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
define('WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M');

// Security hardening
define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true);        // Disable theme/plugin editor
define('DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', false);       // true = disable plugin/theme installs
define('AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED', false); // Keep updates on

// Debug — OFF on production
define('WP_DEBUG', false);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', false);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

// Custom paths
define('WP_HOME', 'https://mywordpresssite.com');
define('WP_SITEURL', 'https://mywordpresssite.com');

8.2 WordPress File Permissions

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mywordpresssite
find /var/www/mywordpresssite -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find /var/www/mywordpresssite -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
# Special: uploads directory
chmod 755 /var/www/mywordpresssite/wp-content/uploads

8.3 WP-CLI — Command Line for WordPress

WP-CLI lets you manage WordPress from the terminal — no need to log into the admin panel.

# Install WP-CLI
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar
chmod +x wp-cli.phar
sudo mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp
wp --version

# Usage (run from WordPress root directory)
cd /var/www/mywordpresssite

# User management
wp user list
wp user create johndoe john@example.com --role=editor --user_pass=password123

# Plugin management
wp plugin list
wp plugin install contact-form-7 --activate
wp plugin deactivate akismet
wp plugin update --all

# Theme management
wp theme list
wp theme activate twentytwentyfour

# Core updates
wp core update
wp core update-db

# Database operations
wp db export /backup/wordpress_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql
wp db import /backup/wordpress_20260101.sql

# Search and replace (useful for domain migrations)
wp search-replace 'http://old-domain.com' 'https://new-domain.com' --precise --skip-columns=guid

# Cache
wp cache flush

# Run as www-data (avoids permission issues)
sudo -u www-data wp plugin update --all

8.4 WordPress Security Hardening

# In .htaccess — Protect wp-config.php
<Files wp-config.php>
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
</Files>

# Block XML-RPC (often abused for brute force)
<Files xmlrpc.php>
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
</Files>

# Disable directory listing
Options -Indexes

# Prevent PHP execution in uploads
<Directory "/var/www/wordpress/wp-content/uploads">
    php_flag engine off
</Directory>