Deploy a Node.js web app to a VM in Azure Stack Hub

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You can create a virtual machine (VM) to host a Node.js web app in Azure Stack Hub. In this article, set up a server, configure the server to host your Node.js web app, and then deploy the app to Azure Stack Hub.

If you are looking for general information about public Azure, see Azure for JavaScript & Node.js developers. This article is for using Azure Stack Hub, an on-premises version of Azure.

Create a VM

  1. Set up your VM in Azure Stack Hub by following the instructions in Deploy a Linux VM to host a web app in Azure Stack Hub.

  2. In the VM network pane, make sure that the following ports are accessible:

    Port Protocol Description
    80 HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the protocol that's used to deliver webpages from servers. Clients connect via HTTP with a DNS name or IP address.
    443 HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a secure version of HTTP that requires a security certificate and allows for the encrypted transmission of information.
    22 SSH Secure Shell (SSH) is an encrypted network protocol for secure communications. You use this connection with an SSH client to configure the VM and deploy the app.
    3389 RDP Optional. The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) allows a remote desktop connection to use a graphic user interface on your machine.
    3000 Custom The port that's used by the Node.js Express framework. For a production server, you route your traffic through 80 and 443.

Install Node

  1. Connect to your VM by using your SSH client. For instructions, see Connect via SSH with PuTTY.

  2. At the bash prompt on your VM, enter the following command:

      sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install nodejs
  sudo apt-get install npm

    This also installs NPM, a package manager for Node.js packages, or modules.

  3. Validate your installation. While you're still connected to your VM in your SSH session, enter the following command:

       node --version

Scaffold a new application with the Express Generator

Express is a popular framework for building and running Node.js applications. You can scaffold (create) a new Express application using the Express Generator tool. The Express Generator is shipped as an npm module and can be run directly (without installation) by using the npm command-line tool npx.

 npx express-generator myExpressApp --view pug --git

The --view pug --git parameters tell the generator to use the pug template engine (formerly known as jade) and to create a .gitignore file.

To install all of the application's dependencies, go to the new folder and run npm install.

cd myExpressApp
npm install

Run the application. From the terminal, start the application using the npm start command to start the server.

Go to your new server in a Web browser. You should see your running web application. You can find the URL for your Linux VM in the Azure Stack Hub user portal labeled DNS name.

http://yourhostname.contoso.com:3000

Next steps