Hands-On: Deploy a Node App on Lightsail

What You Will Build

A Lightsail instance running the Node.js blueprint, with a static IP that survives restarts, your own Express app deployed and served on port 80.

Step 1 — Create the Instance

1. Open the Lightsail console (it has its own console, separate from the main AWS one).
2. Click Create instance.
3. Region: pick the one closest to your users.
4. Platform: Linux/Unix. Blueprint: Node.js (under Apps + OS — it's a Bitnami image with Node, npm, and Apache preinstalled).
5. Instance plan: the $5 (1 GB RAM) plan is comfortable for a small API. The $3.50 plan works but swaps under npm installs.
6. Name: node-app-1, then Create instance.

It's running in under a minute.

Step 2 — Attach a Static IP

The default public IP changes every time the instance stops. Fix that first, before you configure DNS or share the address anywhere:

1. Go to Networking → Create static IP.
2. Select the same region, attach it to node-app-1, name it node-app-1-ip.

Static IPs are free while attached to a running instance. An unattached one bills hourly, so release it if you delete the instance.

Step 3 — Connect via SSH

The browser terminal (the orange icon on the instance card) works for quick checks, but for real work download the default key from Account → SSH keys, then:

chmod 400 ~/Downloads/LightsailDefaultKey-us-east-1.pem
ssh -i ~/Downloads/LightsailDefaultKey-us-east-1.pem bitnami@YOUR_STATIC_IP

Note the user is bitnami, not ubuntu — this is a Bitnami blueprint.

Step 4 — Look Around the Blueprint

The Node.js blueprint ships with a Bitnami stack under /opt/bitnami:

node -v                          # preinstalled Node LTS
sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh status   # apache already running on 80/443

Apache is serving the default Bitnami landing page. The plan: run our Express app on port 3000 and have Apache proxy port 80 to it.

Step 5 — Deploy the Express App

mkdir ~/app && cd ~/app
npm init -y
npm install express

Create ~/app/server.js:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const PORT = 3000;

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.json({ app: 'lightsail-node', status: 'running' });
});

app.listen(PORT, () => console.log(`Listening on ${PORT}`));

For a real project, clone from Git instead of writing files on the server:

cd ~ && git clone https://github.com/your-user/your-app.git app
cd app && npm ci

Step 6 — Keep the App Running

The blueprint doesn't include a process manager, so install PM2:

sudo npm install -g pm2
cd ~/app
pm2 start server.js --name node-app
pm2 startup systemd   # run the sudo command it prints
pm2 save

Step 7 — Proxy Port 80 Through Apache

Create a vhost config so Apache forwards traffic to the Express app. Create the file /opt/bitnami/apache/conf/vhosts/node-app-vhost.conf:

<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:80 _default_:80>
  ServerAlias *
  ProxyPass / http://localhost:3000/
  ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:3000/
</VirtualHost>

Then restart Apache:

sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart apache

Visit http://YOUR_STATIC_IP — you should see the JSON from Express instead of the Bitnami page.

Step 8 — Open Ports in the Lightsail Firewall

Lightsail has its own firewall per instance, separate from anything on the OS. Manage it under instance → Networking tab → IPv4 Firewall.

Defaults are SSH (22) and HTTP (80) open. Adjust to:

Application	Port	Source	Note
SSH	22	Restrict to your IP	Click the rule, enable source IP restriction
HTTP	80	Any	Public traffic
HTTPS	443	Any	Add this now for the TLS step later

Don't open 3000 — Apache proxies to it locally, so it never needs public exposure. That's the point of the proxy setup.

Step 9 — Snapshot Before You Experiment

Now that the instance works, take a snapshot so you can roll back:

1. Instance → Snapshots tab → Create snapshot, name it node-app-1-working.

Snapshots bill at $0.05/GB/month — cheap insurance. I take one before every risky change on Lightsail boxes since there's no other undo.

Common Problems

Symptom	Likely Cause
Port 80 still shows the Bitnami page	Apache didn't pick up the vhost — check the file path and restart output
Site unreachable after instance restart	You're using the old ephemeral IP — use the static IP
EACCES on npm install -g	Prefix with sudo on Bitnami images
App down after reboot	pm2 save was skipped after pm2 startup