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Setting up GCP​

  • Create a GCP instance. I am creating a e2 micro
  • Allow HTTPS / HTTP.
  • Open SSH
sudo passwd root  
# Input your new password  
# Confirm new password  
# Verify password by login  
su root  
# Input your new password
  • Firewall policies have to be configured (TO be added)

Installing libaries​

Postgresql​

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y postgresql postgresql-contrib
sudo systemctl status postgresql
  • Login to postgresql
sudo -u postgres psql -d financedb
ALTER USER postgres PASSWORD 'your-secure-password';
\q

Install Node​

  • I am installing node v.20.x
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Nginx​

sudo apt install -y nginx
  • You can check Nginx configuration
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default
server {
        listen 80 default_server;
        listen [::]:80 default_server;
        root /var/www/html;
        index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;
        server_name _;
        location / {
                # First attempt to serve request as file, then
                # as directory, then fall back to displaying a 404.
                try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
        }
}
sudo systemctl restart nginx
  • Verify Nginx
sudo nginx -t
  • Check by going to the public IP OR
netstat -tulnp | grep LISTEN

Installing Bun​

  • First install unzip
sudo apt install -y unzip
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
source ~/.bashrc

Installing pm2​

bun install -g pm2

Connecting to Github​

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your-email@example.com"
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
  • Go to keys and paste your SSH keys
  • Run the following
ssh -T git@github.com
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y git

Starting the app​

Clone the repo​

  • Clone your git repository on gcp vm.
git clone gitsshurl
  • cd into your app and edit environment
touch .env && nano .env
  • Build server files
bun run build

Start server​

pm2 start "bun run start" --name "my-app"
  • Check if the pm2 is running by
pm2 list
  • Run this just
pm2 save  
pm2 startup

Configure Nginx​

  • Create a new file
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-app
  • Copy something like this
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name YOUR_GCP_IP;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;  # Change 3000 if needed
        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;
    }
}

  • Save and exit (CTRL + X, then Y, then Enter).
  • Enable the config and restart nginx
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-app /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t  # Test for syntax errors
sudo systemctl restart nginx
  • Check if your app is running
ss -tlnp | grep node

Domain​

  • Go to your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, etc.) and:
  • Add an A record pointing your domain to for your IP
    • Type: A
    • Name: @ (or yourdomain.com) or subdomain
    • Value: GCP_IP
    • TTL: Auto or 3600 seconds
  • Check if changes are done by running on your local terminal
ping yourdomain.com
  • Update the domain
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-app
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.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;
    }
}
  • Don't add yourdomain.com if you only want to run on a subdomain
  • Restart Nginx
sudo systemctl restart nginx

HTTPS​

  • install certbot
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
  • Then run Certbot:
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com
  • It will ask for an email (for renewal reminders).
  • Agree to the terms.
  • Choose 2: Redirect to force HTTPS.
  • If successful, it will say: Congratulations! Your certificate has been issued.
  • Ensure Certbot auto-renews your SSL before expiration:
sudo systemctl enable certbot.timer
  • Manually test renewal:
sudo certbot renew --dry-run
  • Verify by going to your site

Setting up cron​

crontab -e
  • Add your cron like this
0 * * * * /usr/bin/node /home/path-to-project/app/jobs/cron.js >> /home/user/logs/cron-info.log 2>&1
  • Restart cron file
sudo systemctl restart cron
  • To check if it is running
crontab -l
  • Check log files
cat /home/user/logs/cron-info.log

Debugging​

Check if NGINX is Running​

sudo systemctl status nginx

It should show "active (running)"

Check NGINX Error Logs​

sudo journalctl -u nginx --no-pager --lines=50

Check Open Ports​

sudo netstat -tulnp | grep nginx
  • You should see something listening on port 80.

Verify Your Nginx Config is Enabled​

  • Make sure your custom config (my-app) is symlinked in sites-enabled:
ls -l /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
  • You should see:
/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/my-app -> /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-app
  • If it’s missing, create the symlink again:
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/finance-app /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ 
sudo systemctl restart nginx