Node.js
Overview
Clever Cloud allows you to deploy any Node.js application. We do support any stable version of Node.js. Their release schedule is available here. This page explains how to set up your application to run it on our service.
Create an application on Clever Cloud
With the web console
Refer to Quickstart for more details on application creation via the console.
With the Clever Tools CLI
- Make sure you have clever-tools installed locally or follow our CLI getting started guide.
- In your code folder, do
clever create --type <type> <app-name> --region <zone> --org <org>
where :type
is the type of technology you rely onapp-name
the name you want for your application,zone
deployment zone (par
for Paris andmtl
for Montreal)org
the organization ID the application will be created under.
Refer to clever create for more details on application creation with Clever Tools.
Setting up environment variables on Clever Cloud
With the Clever Cloud console
- Go to the Clever Cloud console, and find the app you want to fine tune under it’s organization.
- Find the Environment variables menu and select it.
- In this menu, you will see a form with VARIABLE_NAME and variable value fields.
- Fill them with the desired values then select Add.
- Don’t forget to “Update Changes” at the end of the menu.
With the Clever Tools CLI
- Make sure you have clever-tools installed locally. Refer to our CLI getting started.
- In your code folder, do
clever env set <variable-name> <variable-value>
Refer to environment variables reference for more details on available environment variables on Clever Cloud.
You can of course create custom ones with the interface we just demonstrated, they will be available for your application.
Configure your Node.js application
Mandatory configuration
Be sure that:
- you listen on HTTP port 0.0.0.0:8080
- you have a
package.json
file - your
package.json
either has a scripts.start or main field - the folder
/node_modules
is mentioned in your.gitignore
file - you enable production mode by setting the environment variable
NODE_ENV=production
Set Node.js version
You can use the engines.node
field in package.json
to define the wanted version, if not provided we will use the latest LTS version available on Clever Cloud.
Default Version |
---|
v20.15.0 |
The end-of-life (EOL) versions are marked as such.
About package.json
The package.json
file should look like the following:
{
"name" : "myapp",
"version" : "0.1.0",
"main" : "myapp.js",
"scripts" : {
"start" : "node myapp.js"
},
"engines" : {
"node" : "^20"
}
}
The following table describes each of the fields formerly mentioned:
Usage | Field | Description |
---|---|---|
At least one | scripts.start | This field provides a command line to run. If defined, npm start will be launched. Otherwise, we will use the main field. See below to know how and when to use the scripts.start field. |
At least one | main | This field allows you to specify the file you want to run. It should be the relative path of the file starting at the project’s root. It’s used to launch your application if scripts.start is not defined. |
Optional | engines.node | Sets the Node.js version you app runs with. Any A.B.x or ^A.B.C or ~A.B version will lead to run the application with the latest A.B local version. If this field is missing, we use the latest LTS available. If you want to ensure that your app will always run, please put something of the form ^A.B.C and avoid setting only >=A.B.C . |
Dependencies
If you need some modules you can easily add some with the dependencies field in your package.json
. Here is an example:
|
|
If your application has private dependencies, you can add a Private SSH Key.
Development Dependencies
Development dependencies will not be automatically installed during the deployment. You can control their installation setting CC_NODE_DEV_DEPENDENCIES
environment variable to install
or ignore
. This variable overrides the default behavior of NODE_ENV
.
Here are various scenarios:
CC_NODE_DEV_DEPENDENCIES=install
: Development dependencies will be installed.CC_NODE_DEV_DEPENDENCIES=ignore
: Development dependencies will not be installed.NODE_ENV=production, CC_NODE_DEV_DEPENDENCIES=install
: Development dependencies will be installed.NODE_ENV=production, CC_NODE_DEV_DEPENDENCIES=ignore
: Development dependencies will not be installed.NODE_ENV=production
: Package manager (NPM / Yarn) default behavior. Development dependencies will not be installed.- Neither
NODE_ENV
norCC_NODE_DEV_DEPENDENCIES
are defined: Package manager (NPM / Yarn) default behavior. Development dependencies will be installed.
Supported package managers
We support any package manager compatible with Node.js. The environment variable CC_NODE_BUILD_TOOL
allows you to define which one you want to use. The default value is set to npm
, but it can be any of these values:
npm-install
: uses npm installnpm-ci
: uses npm clean-installnpm
: Defaults tonpm-install
yarn
: uses yarn@1yarn2
: uses yarn@2 or later versionscustom
: use another package manager (bun, pnpm, etc.) withCC_CUSTOM_BUILD_TOOL
If a yarn.lock
file exists in your application’s main folder, yarn
will be set as package manager. To overwrite this behavior, either delete the yarn.lock
file or set the CC_NODE_BUILD_TOOL
environment variable.
Yarn 3.x and 4.x support
With recent versions of Yarn, you need to put the global folder within your application to manage restarts from build cache. You can do it by setting YARN_GLOBAL_FOLDER
to $APP_HOME/.yarncache/
for example, in the Console or through Clever Tools:
clever env set YARN_GLOBAL_FOLDER '$APP_HOME/.yarncache/'
Corepack and packageManager support
Since Node.js v14.19.0 and v16.9.0, you can use Corepack as an experimental feature to set a package manager from npm
, pnpm
or yarn
, and its version. It can be achieved through a simple command (e.g.: corepack use yarn@*
) or the packageManager
field in package.json
. If you use pnpm
or yarn
, you should always set CC_NODE_BUILD_TOOL
and CC_CUSTOM_BUILD_TOOL
for pnpm
.
Custom build phase
The build phase installs the dependencies and executes the scripts.install
you might have defined in your package.json
. It’s meant to build the whole application including dependencies and / or assets (if there are any).
All the build part should be written into the scripts.install
field of the package.json
file. You can also add a custom bash script and execute it with: "scripts.install": "./build.sh"
. For more information, see the npm documentation
Custom run phase
The run phase is executed from scripts.start
if defined. It’s only meant to start your application and should not
contain any build task.
Custom run command
If you need to run a custom command (or just pass options to the program), you can specify it through the CC_RUN_COMMAND
environment variable. For instance, to launch scripts.start
with a yarn based application, you must have CC_RUN_COMMAND="yarn start"
.
Alternative runtimes
There are multiples JavaScript server runtimes out there. On Clever Cloud, you can deploy your applications with the one of your choice. You’ll find guides for Bun or Deno for example.
Use private repositories with CC_NPM_REGISTRY and NPM_TOKEN
Since April 2015, npm
allows you to have private repositories. If you want to use such a feature, you only need to provide the auth token. Add it to your application through the NPM_TOKEN
environment variable:
NPM_TOKEN="00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
Then, the .npmrc
file will be created automatically for your application, with the registry URL and the token.
//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
To authenticate to another registry (like GitHub), you can use the CC_NPM_REGISTRY
environment variable to define its host.
CC_NPM_REGISTRY="npm.pkg.github.com"
NPM_TOKEN="00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
//npm.pkg.github.com/:_authToken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
Monitor your application with New Relic
You can use New Relic to monitor your application on Clever Cloud.
Please refer to our New Relic documentation to configure it for your application.
Environment injection
Clever Cloud injects environment variables from your application settings as mentioned in setting up environment variables and is also injecting in your application production environment, those from your linked add-ons.
Custom build configurations
On Clever Cloud you can define some build configuration: like the app folder to deploy or the path to validate your application deployment is ready To do that follow the documentation here and add the environement variable you need.
To access environment variables from your code, you can use process.env.MY_VARIABLE
.
Git Deployment on Clever Cloud
You need Git on your computer to deploy via this tool. Here is the official website of Git to get more information: git-scm.com
Setting up your remotes
The “Information” page of your app gives you your Git deployment URL, it looks like this:
git+ssh://git@push.clever-cloud.com/<your_app_id>.git
- Copy it in your clipboard
Locally, under your code folder, type in
git init
to set up a new git repository or skip this step if you already have oneAdd the deploy URL with
git remote add <name> <your-git-deployment-url>
Add your files via
git add <files path>
and commit them viagit commit -m <your commit message>
Now push your application on Clever Cloud with
git push <name> master
Refer to git deployments for more details.
Example: Deploy with pnpm
To deploy an application with pnpm, set the following environment variables:
Install with npm
:
CC_NODE_BUILD_TOOL="custom"
CC_PRE_BUILD_HOOK="npm install -g pnpm"
CC_CUSTOM_BUILD_TOOL="pnpm install && pnpm build"
Enable with Corepack:
CC_NODE_BUILD_TOOL="custom"
CC_PRE_BUILD_HOOK="corepack enable pnpm"
CC_CUSTOM_BUILD_TOOL="pnpm install && pnpm build"
This performs the following steps:
CC_NODE_BUILD_TOOL
indicates that your applications is using a custom build toolCC_PRE_BUILD_HOOK
installs/enablepnpm
globallyCC_CUSTOM_BUILD_TOOL
installs the dependencies and builds the app
Depending on your stack, you may also need to add CC_RUN_COMMAND
to your environment variables, with the appropriate command to run your application. For example, to deploy an Astro application in a Node.js runtime, use CC_RUN_COMMAND="pnpm start --port 8080 --host 0.0.0.0"
.
CC_RUN_COMMAND
depends on your framework and your stack. The one in this example starts an Astro app, which takes the port and the host as arguments. To run your app, make sure you are using the correct command by checking the accurate framework documentation.Automatic HTTPS redirection
You can use the X-Forwarded-Proto header to enable it.
If you are using Express.js, you can use express-sslify by adding:
app.use(enforce.HTTPS({
trustProtoHeader: true
}));
Troubleshooting your application
If you are often experiencing auto restart of your Node.js instance, maybe you have an application crashing that we automatically restart.
To target this behavior, you can gracefully shut down with events handlers on uncaughtExeption
unhandledRejection
sigint
and sigterm
and log at this moment, so you can fix the problem.
Linking a database or any other add-on to your application
By linking an application to an add-on, the application has the add-on environment variables in its own environment by default.
On add-on creation
Many add-ons do exist on Clever Cloud: refer to the full list and check add-ons dedicated pages for full instructions.
During add-on creation, an Applications screen appears, with a list of your applications. You can toggle the button to Link and click next. If you finish the process of add-on creation, the application is automatically linked to it.
Add-on already exists
In the Clever Cloud console, under the Service Dependencies menu of your application, you can use the Link add-ons dropdown menu to select the name of the add-on you want to link and use the add button to finish the process.
You can also link another application from the same page in the Clever Cloud console, using the Link applications dropdown menu.
More configuration
Need more configuration? To run a script at the end of your deployment? To add your private SSH key to access private dependencies?
Go check the Common configuration page.
You may want to have an advanced usage of your application, in which case we recommend you to read the Administrate documentation section.
If you can’t find something or have a specific need like using a non supported version of a particular software, please reach out to the support.
Environment injection
Clever Cloud injects environment variables from your application settings as mentioned in setting up environment variables and is also injecting in your application production environment, those from your linked add-ons.
Custom build configurations
On Clever Cloud you can define some build configuration: like the app folder to deploy or the path to validate your application deployment is ready To do that follow the documentation here and add the environement variable you need.
Enable health check during deployment
The healthcheck allows you to limit downtimes. Indeed, you can provide Clever Cloud with paths to check. If these paths return something other than 200, the deployment will fail.
Add one (or several) environment variable as such:
CC_HEALTH_CHECK_PATH=/my/awesome/path
Or
CC_HEALTH_CHECK_PATH_0=/my/awesome/path
CC_HEALTH_CHECK_PATH_1=/my/other/path
The deployment process checks all paths. All of them must reply with a 200 OK
response code.
By default, when no environment variable (for ex: APP_HOME
) is defined, the monitoring checks your repository root path /
.
Example
Using the path listed above, below are the expected logs:
Response from GET /my/awesome/path is 200
Response from GET /my/other/path is 500
Health check failed:
- GET /my/other/path returned 500.
If the deployment fails after this message, please update your configuration and redeploy.
In this example, the first path is OK, but the second one failed. This gives you a hint on what failed in your application.
Best practice for healthcheck endpoints
To make the most of a healthcheck endpoint, have it check your critical dependencies. For example:
- execute
SELECT 1 + 1;
on your database - retrieve a specific Cellar file
- ping a specific IP through a VPN
Deployment video
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