Next.js on EC2 with Express

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

AWS account and EC2

An AWS account with access to EC2.

Running EC2 instance

An EC2 instance (Ubuntu recommended) reachable over SSH.

Elastic IP (recommended)

An Elastic IP so your public address stays stable.

FileZilla

FileZilla (or another SFTP client) for uploads.

PuTTY or SSH

PuTTY or OpenSSH for shell access.

Node.js and npm

Node.js and npm installed on the instance.

Create the Next.js app locally

1. Scaffold a new app (replace my-nextjs-app with your folder name):

   Terminal (local)

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   npx create-next-app@latest my-nextjs-app

   Answer the prompts (TypeScript, ESLint, App Router, etc.) however you prefer. When it finishes:

   Terminal (local)

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   cd my-nextjs-app

2. Start the dev server to verify the template:

   Terminal (local)

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   npm run dev

   Open http://localhost:3000/ in your browser.

   

3. Edit the starter home page in your editor:

   • App Router (default in recent templates): src/app/page.tsx or app/page.tsx
   • Pages Router (if you chose it): pages/index.tsx or pages/index.js

   There is no src/App folder in standard Next.js templates; the old path in some tutorials was incorrect.

4. In the project root (next to package.json), add index.js for the custom server and install Express:

   Terminal (local)

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   npm install express

   index.js

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   const express = require('express');
   const next = require('next');
   
   const dev = process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production';
   const app = next({ dev });
   const handle = app.getRequestHandler();
   
   app.prepare().then(() => {
     const server = express();
   
     server.get('*', (req, res) => {
       return handle(req, res);
     });
   
     const PORT = process.env.PORT || 80;
     server.listen(PORT, (err) => {
       if (err) throw err;
       console.log(`> Ready on http://localhost:${PORT}`);
     });
   });

   Commit your changes locally. You will upload the project without .git and without node_modules to save time.

Deploy on EC2

1. Confirm the instance is running and note the public DNS or Elastic IP.

   

2. SSH in with PuTTY or ssh.

   

3. Verify Node and npm, then create a deploy directory owned by your user:

   Terminal (EC2)

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   node -v && npm -v
   sudo mkdir -p /home/ubuntu/nextjs-website
   sudo chown ubuntu:ubuntu /home/ubuntu/nextjs-website

   

4. For a quick FileZilla demo only, you may temporarily use wide permissions (tighten after upload):

   Terminal (EC2)

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   sudo chmod 777 /home/ubuntu/nextjs-website

   

5. Upload the project with FileZilla. Exclude .git and node_modules (and usually .next so you rebuild on the server).

   

6. Install PM2 globally:

   Terminal (EC2)

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   sudo npm i -g pm2

   See PM2 for usage.

   

7. Install dependencies and build for production (run inside the uploaded project folder):

   Terminal (EC2)

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   cd /home/ubuntu/nextjs-website
   npm install
   NODE_ENV=production npm run build

   Use sudo npm install only if file ownership is wrong; prefer fixing ownership with chown instead of running npm as root long term.

8. Start the custom server with PM2 (port 80 typically needs sudo):

   Terminal (EC2)

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   cd /home/ubuntu/nextjs-website
   sudo pm2 start index.js

   Open inbound TCP 80 on the instance security group. You can disconnect SSH; PM2 keeps the process running.

   

9. Browse to http://<public-dns-or-ip>/. You should see your Next.js app.

   

   If you get errors, check sudo pm2 logs, confirm the build succeeded, and verify express appears in package.json dependencies.

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