PM2 is a widely used process manager that is used to manage Node.js applications in production environments. It is the recommended process manager for Node.js applications by the Node.js Foundation. The PM2 process manager is simple and easy to use and aids in simple deployment of Node.js applications.
Before we begin the installation of PM2, it is crucial to ensure that you have the latest version of Node.js and npm installed on your Ubuntu system. You need to have Node.js version 10 or above installed on your system.
Now let's start with the installation of PM2 on Ubuntu with code examples.
Installation of PM2
PM2 can be installed globally using the npm command, which stands for Node Package Manager. As an elevated user, open the Linux terminal and run the following command to install PM2 globally:
$ sudo npm install -g pm2
Once installed, you can confirm the installation by running the following command:
$ pm2 -v
This command will display the version of PM2 installed on your system.
Starting a Node.js Application with PM2
Now that we have PM2 installed let's start the Node.js application with PM2. Let's say we have a Node.js application named app.js, which we want to start with PM2, we can use the following command to start the application:
$ pm2 start app.js
This command will start the Node.js application and begin running it in the background. The PM2 process manager will display the logs of the application, and you can view the logs by running the following command:
$ pm2 logs app
This command will display the logs of the running Node.js application.
Managing the Node.js Application with PM2
PM2 provides various options to manage the running Node.js application. We can list all the running Node.js applications by using the following command:
$ pm2 list
This command will display a list of all the running Node.js applications along with their information such as the PID, status, uptime, CPU usage, and memory usage.
We can also stop the running Node.js application by using the following command:
$ pm2 stop app
This command will stop the Node.js application with the name app.
We can also restart the running Node.js application by using the following command:
$ pm2 restart app
This command will restart the Node.js application with the name app.
PM2 also provides the functionality to automatically restart the Node.js application if it fails. We can enable this functionality by using the following command:
$ pm2 start app.js --watch
This command will start the Node.js application and also enable the watch functionality, which will restart the application if any file changes are detected.
Conclusion
PM2 is a process manager that is widely used to manage Node.js applications in production environments. It is simple and easy to use and provides various options to manage the running Node.js application. In this article, we covered the installation of PM2 on Ubuntu and various options to manage the running Node.js application with PM2.
I can provide some additional information about the previous topics.
PM2 Process Manager
PM2 is a production process manager for Node.js applications. It is usually used to manage multiple Node.js applications running in the background. The process manager provides a lot of useful features such as:
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Automatic restarting of the application if it crashes.
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Memory management, with the ability to monitor the memory usage of each application.
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Common operation commands such as start, stop, restart, reload, and delete.
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Cluster mode that enables horizontal scalability, which means that multiple instances of the same application can run on different cores or servers.
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Built-in load balancer that provides even distribution of incoming requests among the running instances.
PM2 can be installed on Ubuntu using the simple npm command as I explained earlier.
Node.js
Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform, JavaScript runtime environment that is built on the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine. It is used for building fast, scalable, and easy-to-maintain server-side applications.
Node.js is event-driven, single-threaded, and asynchronous in nature. This means that it can handle multiple requests simultaneously without blocking the execution of other requests. It is particularly useful for building real-time web applications like chat applications and online games, where the application needs to handle a high volume of requests in real-time.
Node.js is known for its rich set of libraries and frameworks that make it easy to build web applications, APIs, and microservices. It provides built-in modules for file system I/O, networking, streams, and cryptography, among other things.
Node.js can be installed on Ubuntu using a package manager like apt or by downloading the binary from the official website and installing it manually. Once installed, you can use the Node Package Manager (npm) to install Node.js modules and build your application.
Conclusion
PM2 process manager and Node.js are essential tools for building and running modern web applications. PM2 enables developers to manage multiple Node.js applications in a production environment, while Node.js provides a platform for building fast, scalable, and real-time web applications. If you are a beginner, it is recommended to start with the installation of Node.js and then use PM2 to manage your applications.
Popular questions
- What is PM2?
PM2 is a process manager for Node.js applications that is used to manage multiple Node.js applications running in the background of a production environment.
- What are the benefits of using PM2?
PM2 provides features like automatic restarting of the application if it crashes, memory management, common operation commands, cluster mode, and a built-in load balancer.
- How do you install PM2 on Ubuntu?
You can install PM2 on Ubuntu using the npm command. The command is: sudo npm install -g pm2
- What is Node.js?
Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform, JavaScript runtime environment that is built on the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine. It is used for building fast, scalable, and easy-to-maintain server-side applications.
- How do you manage a Node.js application with PM2?
PM2 provides many commands to manage a Node.js application such as starting an application with pm2 start app.js, listing all the running Node.js applications with pm2 list, and stopping a running application with pm2 stop app. You can also enable automatic restart if the application crashes with pm2 start app.js –watch.
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