Deploy a NuxtJS App and Laravel API on a Linux Server

8 min readOct 30, 2023

In this tutorial, we will learn how to deploy a NuxtJS app and Laravel on a Linux server. NuxtJS will serve as the frontend view and Laravel as the backend. We have already discussed Laravel API and NuxtJS app in previous articles, which you can find here:

Building A Movie Portal API with Laravel Using the Service Pattern

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Setting Up AI Prompt in Nuxt.js

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Laravel API Integration in Nuxt.js

In this tutorial, we’ll integrate a Laravel API into a Nuxt.js application. Let’s dive in!

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Linux is a popular and widely used server operating system. In this tutorial, we will be using Ubuntu 22.04.3. I assume you are familiar with Linux, so let’s get started.

Prerequisites : Before we begin, ensure you have the following:
1. A remote server (VPS)
2. A domain name

Step 1: Check your VPS for the following software and versions. Install them if they are not already present.
1.nginx -v
2.php -v
3.mysql
4.composer -v
5.phpMyAdmin (optional)
6.node -v
7.npm -v
8.git — version
9.pm2 –version

Step 2: Connect Your Domain to Your Server
Go to your domain manager, then to the DNS Manager, and set up your IP address. First, create a sub-domain for the Laravel API.

Note: Your domain setup page may look different from this.

Then, check your DNS here: https://dnschecker.org/

Step 3: Upload Your Laravel and Nuxt App to GitHub

Step 4: Server SSH Configuration
Go to your server and check if there is an .ssh folder. If not, create one:

sudo mkdir .ssh

Now create a key for your Laravel app:

ssh-keygen -f laravel-movie-api -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

You should now see two files in your .ssh folder:

laravel-movie-api
laravel-movie-api.pub

Open laravel-movie-api.pub and copy the code:

cat laravel-movie-api.pub

Then, go to your GitHub and open your Laravel project. Click the “Settings” button and paste the key in the key field.

Back on your server, create a config file:

touch ~/.ssh/config

and add the following code to the config file:

Host laravel-movie-api
        HostName github.com
        User your_github_username
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/laravel-movie-api
        IdentitiesOnly yes

Check if your GitHub project connection is okay:

ssh -T git@laravel-movie-api

If you see a message indicating successful authentication, the connection is okay.
Now, go to your home directory and copy the GitHub link.

Modify this link as shown below, due to the created config file in the .ssh folder:

Syntax: git clone git@HOST:GITHUB_USERNAME/REPO_NAME
Example: git clone git@laravel-movie-api:kamruzzamanripon/laravel-movie-api.git

Move the cloned project to the /var/www folder:

sudo mv laravel-movie-api /var/www

Go to the www folder, then to the laravel-movie-api folder, and execute the following commands:

cp .env.example .env 
composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev
npm install
php artisan key:generate

# Set Permission for storage and bootstrap/cache Folder
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data storage
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data bootstrap/cache
# Add your User and web server user to www-data group
sudo usermod -a -G www-data your_username
sudo usermod -a -G www-data nginx
# Set storage's File Permission to 644
sudo find storage -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
# Set storage's Folder Permission to 775
sudo find storage -type d -exec chmod 775 {} \;
Or
sudo chmod -R 775 storage/
# Create Symbolic Link at public/storage which points to the storage/app/public directory.
php artisan storage:link

Step 5: Upload Your MySQL Database to the Server

Step 6: Configure Nginx for Laravel
Go to the Nginx folder and create a configuration file for your Laravel app:

cd /etc/nginx/sites-available
sudo nano laravel-movie-api

Add the following configuration

server{
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name laravel-movie-api.yourdomain.com www.laravel-movie-api.yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/laravel-movie-api/public;
    index index.php index.html;
    location / {
         try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
    }
    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }
}

Enable the virtual host or create a symbolic link of the virtual host file:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/laravel-movie-api /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/laravel-movie-api

Check if the configuration is correct:

sudo nginx -t

Restart Nginx:

sudo service nginx restart

Step 7: Check Your Sub-Domain
Open your browser and check if your sub-domain is working without errors.

Step 8: Set Up Nuxt App
Go to your domain manager, then to the DNS Manager, and set up your IP address for the NuxtJS app. Use this app on your main domain.

Then check your DNS here: https://dnschecker.org/

Step 9: Server SSH Configuration for Nuxt App

Repeat the SSH key generation and GitHub configuration steps as done for the Laravel app, but this time for your NuxtJS app. Remember to replace the relevant names and paths.

ssh-keygen -f nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

now you can see two file in your .ssh folder
1. nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api
2. nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api.pub

open nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api.pub file and copy code.

cat nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api.pub

Then go to your GitHub and open your Nuxt project. Click Settings button

Go to your server and open config file

Sudo nano ~/.ssh/config

and add this code to config file

Host laravel-movie-api
        HostName github.com
        User kamruzzamanripon
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/ laravel-movie-api
        IdentitiesOnly yes

Host nuxt_movie
        HostName github.com
        User kamruzzamanripon
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api
        IdentitiesOnly yes

Now check your GitHub project connection is ok. Here is code

ssh -T git@nuxt_movie

Now go to your Server home directory and copy github link

Past your terminal but don’t press enter. Suppose we got this link

git@github.com:kamruzzamanripon/nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api.git

here we modify this link because we created a config file in .ssh folder. Here is the modified code

Syntax:- git clone git@HOST:GITHUB_USERNAME/REPO_NAME
Example:- git clone git@nuxt_movie:kamruzzamanripon/nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api.git

Your server clones this project. Now you move this file to your /var/www folder

Sudo mv nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api  /var/www

Go to www folder. And then go nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api folder. Command below line

npm install
npm run build
sudo nano ecosystem.config.js

# Write below code in ecosystem.config.js file

module.exports = {
  apps : [
      {
        name: "myapp",
        script: ".output/server/index.mjs",
        port: 3000
      }
  ]
}

Restart Nginx:

sudo service nginx restart

Start the app using pm2:

pm2 start ecosystem.config.js
pm2 save
pm2 status

Step 11: Configure Nginx for Nuxt App

Navigate to the Nginx folder and create a configuration file for your Nuxt app:

cd /etc/nginx/sites-available
sudo nano nuxt-movie-ui-with

Add the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Enable the virtual host or create a symbolic link of the virtual host file:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api

Check if the configuration is correct:

sudo nginx -t

Restart Nginx:

sudo service nginx restart

Step 12: Check Your Domain
Open your browser and check if your domain is working without errors.

Step 13: Update your .env file
Open your laravel-movie-api .env file

update as require
Now open nuxt-movie-ui-with-laravel-api .env file and update

Congratulations! You have successfully deployed a NuxtJS app and Laravel API on a Linux server.

Remark on Git Cloning:
It’s important to note that we used SSH for git cloning instead of HTTPS. This choice is strategic for ease of future development. Imagine you’ve made some changes to your project locally. With SSH, all you need to do to update your project on the server is a simple git push from your local machine, followed by a git pull on the server. This process updates your app with the latest changes. Using HTTPS wouldn’t offer this straightforward workflow, as it would require repeating the entire process from the beginning for every update.
Furthermore, you can streamline the process even more by implementing auto-deployment. With this setup, any update you push to GitHub automatically reflects on your server. This automation can be achieved through GitHub Actions. In a subsequent tutorial, I plan to delve into the features of GitHub Actions and how you can use them for auto-deployment.
Stay tuned for that, and in the meantime, enjoy the benefits of easy project updates with SSH!