How to Deploy Strapi Headless CMS on Ubuntu 24.04 VPS with PostgreSQL & PM2

The Shift Toward Headless Architecture

Modern frontend frameworks like Next.js, Remix, and Astro require high-performance, decoupled content management systems. While commercial headless options like Contentful or Sanity charge hundreds of dollars once API request thresholds are exceeded, Strapi v5 gives developers full control over content schemas, media storage, and relational database queries with zero subscription fees.

Step 1: Installing System Prerequisites

Strapi requires Node.js 18 or 20+, a relational database, and build tools:

# Update base system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y curl build-essential git

# Install Node.js 20 LTS via NodeSource
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

# Install PM2 globally
sudo npm install -g pm2

Step 2: Installing and Configuring PostgreSQL 16

sudo apt install -y postgresql postgresql-contrib

# Create isolated database and user for Strapi
sudo -u postgres psql

CREATE DATABASE strapi_prod;
CREATE USER strapi_user WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'A_SUPER_SECURE_PASSWORD';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE strapi_prod TO strapi_user;
\c strapi_prod
GRANT ALL ON SCHEMA public TO strapi_user;
\q

Step 3: Creating and Configuring Strapi Project

Create your production Strapi application:

cd /var/www
sudo mkdir strapi && sudo chown $USER:$USER strapi
cd strapi

npx create-strapi-app@latest my-project --quickstart=false

When prompted for database configuration:

• Database client: postgres
• Host: 127.0.0.1 | Port: 5432
• Database name: strapi_prod
• Username: strapi_user
• Password: Your database password

Step 4: Building Strapi for Production

Compile the React admin dashboard:

cd /var/www/strapi/my-project
NODE_ENV=production npm run build

Step 5: Managing Strapi with PM2

Create a PM2 configuration file ecosystem.config.js:

nano ecosystem.config.js

module.exports = {
  apps: [
    {
      name: "strapi-production",
      cwd: "/var/www/strapi/my-project",
      script: "npm",
      args: "run start",
      env: {
        NODE_ENV: "production",
        PORT: 1337
      }
    }
  ]
};

Start the daemon:

pm2 start ecosystem.config.js
pm2 save
pm2 startup systemd

Step 6: Setting Up Nginx Reverse Proxy with SSL

Create an Nginx configuration file in /etc/nginx/sites-available/cms.yourdomain.com:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name cms.yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:1337;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
    }
}

Activate the site and secure with Let's Encrypt:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/cms.yourdomain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d cms.yourdomain.com

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I handle file uploads in Strapi on a VPS?

You can either store media assets locally on your server filesystem or use the official Strapi Cloudinary or AWS S3 upload provider to offload images to external buckets.