Steps.md

Install Nginx and Let's Encrypt on fresh VPS

/etc/systemd/system/neo.service

• After creating a fresh VPS instance, Run:

$ sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade

• Install snapd if it is not installed from https://snapcraft.io/docs/installing-snapd/, Run the following to check:

$ sudo snap install core; sudo snap refresh core

• Setup domain pointed to this VPS instance.

• Install openssl_1.1: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1102803/how-to-upgrade-openssl-1-1-0-to-1-1-1-in-ubuntu-18-04

• Install nginx:

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
$ sudo apt-get install nginx -y
$ sudo systemctl start nginx
$ sudo systemctl enable nginx
$ sudo systemctl status nginx

• Write config file at /etc/nginx/conf.d/<domain_name>.conf with the following content:

upstream my_http_servers {
    server 127.0.0.1:3001;
}
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name <domain_name>;
    location / {
        proxy_set_header   X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header   Host      $http_host;
        proxy_set_header   X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_pass         http://my_http_servers;
    }
}

• Restart nginx server:

$ sudo systemctl restart nginx

• Check if everything is working on http protocol.

• Open 443 inbound/outbound port for the VPS instance.

• Stop the nginx server to create the lets-encrypt certificate:

$ sudo systemctl stop nginx

• Install the lets-encrypt SSL provider:

$ sudo snap install --classic certbot
$ sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot

• Generate SSL certificate:

$ sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d <domain_name>
$ sudo certbot renew --dry-run

• Open /etc/nginx/conf.d/<domain_name>.conf file and replace it with the following content:

upstream my_http_servers {
    server 127.0.0.1:3001;
}

server {
    listen 443;
    server_name <domain_nam>;

    ssl on;
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/<domain_nam>/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/<domain_nam>/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_set_header   X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header   Host      $http_host;
        proxy_set_header   X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_pass         http://my_http_servers;
    }
}

server {
    listen 80;

    server_name <domain_nam>;
    return 301 https://<domain_nam>$request_uri;
}

• Restart nginx server:

$ sudo systemctl restart nginx

• Now, check if everything is working on https protocol.

References

1. https://medium.com/@utkarsh_verma/configure-nginx-as-a-web-server-and-reverse-proxy-for-nodejs-application-on-aws-ubuntu-16-04-server-872922e21d38
2. https://medium.com/@samanbaboli/how-to-load-balancing-nodejs-apps-using-nginx-a3b4ceb7c782
3. https://tecadmin.net/install-lets-encrypt-create-ssl-ubuntu/
4. https://tecadmin.net/install-lets-encrypt-create-ssl-ubuntu/