Next.js sites

Standalone builds kept running by PM2.

A Next.js website is built as a standalone server and kept running by PM2. nginx proxies the domain to 127.0.0.1:{port}, including WebSocket upgrades.

Prepare your app

Add standalone output to next.config.js (or .ts/.mjs):

/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  output: 'standalone',
};

module.exports = nextConfig;

Without it, .next/standalone/server.js does not exist and PM2 has nothing to start.

Deploy steps

1. Fetch the code

   git clone, or git fetch and reset to the branch.

2. Install

   The package manager comes from the lockfile: pnpm-lock.yaml → pnpm, yarn.lock → Yarn (both through Corepack), otherwise npm ci.

3. Build

   npm run build (or the pnpm/Yarn equivalent) with the site’s Node version.

4. Copy the standalone extras

   public/, .next/static/, and .env are copied into .next/standalone/, as Next.js requires.

5. Start

   pm2 startOrReload ecosystem.config.cjs, then nginx is reloaded.

The PM2 file

module.exports = {
  apps: [{
    name: 'myshop',
    cwd: '/var/www/myshop/.next/standalone',
    script: 'server.js',
    env: { PORT: 3000, HOSTNAME: '127.0.0.1', NODE_ENV: 'production' },
  }],
};

Edit it on the Processes tab. Saving the environment before the first deploy is fine: PM2 starts after the first successful build.