How to start expressjs on shared A2hosting?

Question

I have search a lot and I can't seem to start express js app. All I'm getting is 404 error.

Default app.js file which has http server and it works fine.

var http = require('http');
var server = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
    res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'});
    var message = 'It works!\n',
        version = 'NodeJS ' + process.versions.node + '\n',
        response = [message, version].join('\n');
    res.end(response);
});
server.listen();

And this is express js code which is not working. giving me 404 error.

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var http = require('http');
var server = http.createServer(app);
server.listen();

I also tried few other combination as well.

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'));
var http = require('http');
var server = http.createServer(app);
server.listen();

this one also didn't work

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var http = require('http');
var server = http.createServer(app);
app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'));
server.listen();

I also tried expressjs to create it own server and it also didn't work.

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const port = 80;
app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'));
app.listen(port, () => console.log(`Example app listening on port ${port}!`));

I also tried to remove port from app listen and not surprisingly it also didn't work.

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'));
app.listen();

I also tried everything from express-js-app-listen-vs-server-listen page but not successful.

This is the error I get

For which attempt you are getting the mentioned error? Or is it for all of them? — Prerak Sola, Oct 29 '19 at 11:05
How are you accessing the page? Ideally is should be `http://localhost:[PORT]/` — Prerak Sola, Oct 29 '19 at 11:08
Try without `node_app`. Browser doesn't know your folder structure. — Prerak Sola, Oct 29 '19 at 11:10
it works fine if I just create httpserver without express. Very first example — Faizan Anwer Ali Rupani, Oct 29 '19 at 11:10
Look here I followed this tutorial from a2hosting. https://www.a2hosting.com/kb/cpanel/cpanel-software/create-application-with-nodejs-selector . look for APPLICATION URL — Faizan Anwer Ali Rupani, Oct 29 '19 at 11:12
Did u get the work around for it.. I am also stuck at same problem — Vikash Kumar, May 02 '20 at 12:04
Yes I did. It's not hard. it's just isn't documented. And many shared hosting do it their way, which they think is best for them and don't publish documentation. — Faizan Anwer Ali Rupani, May 02 '20 at 13:04

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 28 '20 at 10:13

For others with the same A2 Hosting issue, the solution is actually so easy...

The problem with the application running the NodeJS deployment on cPanel. Phusion Passenger does not use the root path as '/', but as '/yourAppURL'. So in your NodeJS code, you have to add the specified AppURLPath to the call when using Express...

e.g.

//Instead of 
app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'));

//Change to
app.get('/YourSpesifiedAppURLPath/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello World!'));

How to start expressjs on shared A2hosting?

1 Answers1