Self Hosted NextJS 12/13 app with Node & SSL Termination

There are a multiple approaches on how to deploy NextJs Apps on self hosted server. This repo, we will be using a server.js file with next module to handle the requests.

---

1. Requirements

• A valid sub-domain to host the site
• You will need a valid pair of SSL cert & key files.
• Host Port to run the server.
• Node.js JavaScript runtime environment
• NextJS Version: 12 or 13. You can use an existing project or implement in on a basic installation

2. Prepare your SSL certificate and key

Copy and Paste the SSL Certicate & Key inside the certs folder located in the project's root directory.

• You can use any location but will need to update the path in the server.js file.
• It is crucial to set proper permissions of the certificate & key files to maintain security and prevent unauthorized access.
  • Private Key ( *.pem, *.key): Set the permissions to -rw------- (600 in numeric notation).
  • Certificate (*.crt, *.pem, or *.cert): Set the permissions to -rw-r--r-- (644 in numeric notation).

3. Edit the server.js file

Edit the server.js file to set up the following variables in accordance to your needs

• subdomain Example: www.example.com
• port Example: 443 (ensure that the port is not being used by any other service)
• sslConfig (map the path to the cert/key files here)

4. Install all the node packages

• If you are running this sample template, just run

  pnpm i 
  # or
  npm install --save
  # or
  yarn

• If you are implementing on an existing project, install the ssl-root-cas & fs packages using your preferred package manager

pnpm i ssl-root-cas fs
# or
npm install ssl-root-cas fs --save
# or
yarn add ssl-root-cas fs

5. Edit your package.json file

• If running this standalone example, ignore this step
• If you are implementing on an existing project, then add the following two scripts to your package.json file.

"scripts": {
  "startStage": "NODE_ENV=development node server.js",
  "startProd": "NODE_ENV=production node server.js"
},

6. Buid your Next App

Build your app by running -

pnpm build

7. Start the Server on Production or Staging and check on your browser

pnpm run startProd
# or
npm run startProd
# or
yarn run startProd