Guides - Deploying a MERN Stack through the Linode Marketplace

A MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) stack is a free and open-source web software bundle used to build modern web applications:

• MongoDB is a document database used to persist your application’s data.

• Express serves as the web application framework.

• React is used to build your application’s user interfaces using JavaScript. React offers a server-side rendering function which makes it easier for search engines to crawl your web application.

• Node.js serves as the run-time environment for your application.

All of these technologies are well-established, offer robust feature sets, and are well-supported by their maintaining organizations. These characteristics make them a great choice for your applications. Upload your existing MERN website code to your new Linode, or use MERN’s scaffolding tool to start writing new web applications on the Linode.

The Linode Marketplace allows you to easily deploy software on a Compute Instance using the Cloud Manager. See Get Started with Marketplace Apps for complete steps.

1. Log in to the Cloud Manager and select the Marketplace link from the left navigation menu. This displays the Linode Create page with the Marketplace tab pre-selected.

2. Under the Select App section, select the app you would like to deploy.

3. Complete the form by following the steps and advice within the Creating a Compute Instance guide. Depending on the Marketplace App you selected, there may be additional configuration options available. See the Configuration Options section below for compatible distributions, recommended plans, and any additional configuration options available for this Marketplace App.

4. Click the Create Linode button. Once the Compute Instance has been provisioned and has fully powered on, wait for the software installation to complete. If the instance is powered off or restarted before this time, the software installation will likely fail.

To verify that the app has been fully installed, see Get Started with Marketplace Apps > Verify Installation. Once installed, follow the instructions within the Getting Started After Deployment section to access the application and start using it.

Note

Estimated deployment time: The MERN stack should be fully installed within 2-5 minutes after the Compute Instance has finished provisioning.

• Supported distributions: Debian 10, Debian 11, and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
• Recommended minimum plan: 1GB Shared Compute Instance or higher, depending on the number of sites and size of the sites you plan on hosting.

You can optionally fill out the following fields to automatically create a limited user for your new Compute Instance. This is recommended for most deployments as an additional security measure. This account will be assigned to the sudo group, which provides elevated permission when running commands with the sudo prefix.

• Limited sudo user: Enter your preferred username for the limited user.
• Password for the limited user: Enter a strong password for the new user.
• SSH public key for the limited user: If you wish to login as the limited user through public key authentication (without entering a password), enter your public key here. See Creating an SSH Key Pair and Configuring Public Key Authentication on a Server for instructions on generating a key pair.
• Disable root access over SSH: To block the root user from logging in over SSH, select Yes (recommended). You can still switch to the root user once logged in and you can also log in as root through Lish.

If you wish to automatically configure a custom domain, you first need to configure your domain to use Linode’s name servers. This is typically accomplished directly through your registrar. See Use Linode’s Name Servers with Your Domain. Once that is finished, you can fill out the following fields for the Marketplace App:

• Linode API Token: If you wish to use the Linode’s DNS Manager to manage DNS records for your custom domain, create a Linode API Personal Access Token on your account with Read/Write access to Domains. If this is provided along with the subdomain and domain fields (outlined below), the installation attempts to create DNS records via the Linode API. See Get an API Access Token. If you do not provide this field, you need to manually configure your DNS records through your DNS provider and point them to the IP address of the new instance.
• Subdomain: The subdomain you wish to use, such as www for www.example.com.
• Domain: The domain name you wish to use, such as example.com.

After your MERN One-click App has finished installing, you can:

• Connect to your Linode via SSH. You need your Linode’s root password to proceed.

• Consult the following guides to learn more about working with the various components of the MERN stack:

  • Build Database Clusters with MongoDB
  • Deploy a React Application on Linode

Note

Currently, Linode does not manage software and systems updates for Marketplace Apps. It is up to the user to perform routine maintenance on software deployed in this fashion.

More Information

You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.

• MongoDB Getting Started
• Express Hello World Example
• React Getting Started
• Node.js Getting Started