Keep a Node.js app running with PM2

On App Hosting the panel keeps your app running for you. On a VPS or dedicated server you need a process manager. PM2 restarts the app if it stops, starts it again after a server reboot and keeps its logs.

Install PM2
bash
```
npm install -g pm2
```
Start the app

Go to the app folder, install its dependencies and start it with a name:
bash
```
cd /home/my-app
npm install
pm2 start index.js --name my-app
```
Start it automatically after a reboot
bash
```
pm2 startup
```
The command prints a line that starts with sudo env PATH=.... Copy it and run it. Then save the list of running apps:
bash
```
pm2 save
```
Check it
bash
```
pm2 status
```
The app should be listed as online.

Useful commands

Command	What it does
`pm2 logs my-app`	Shows the logs live
`pm2 restart my-app`	Restarts the app, for example after an update
`pm2 stop my-app`	Stops the app
`pm2 delete my-app`	Removes it from PM2
`pm2 monit`	Shows CPU and memory use