Fastify VPS Hosting – High-Performance Fastify Server Plans

The steps assume:

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS VPS
• At least 1GB RAM (2GB recommended for production APIs)
• Root or sudo access
• Domain name pointed to your VPS IP
• Basic familiarity with Linux and Node.js

1. Connect to Your VPS via SSH

From your local machine, open Terminal (Mac/Linux) or PowerShell (Windows) and connect:

ssh administrator@your_server_ip

Replace your_server_ip with your VPS public IP address.

If this is your first login, confirm the fingerprint and enter your password.

2. Switch to Root (Optional but Recommended)

Your Ubuntu username is administrator. If you need full privileges for system-level configuration, switch to root:

sudo -i

Now you are operating as root. You can verify:

whoami

It should return:

root

For security, you can also stay under administrator and prepend sudo to commands when needed.

3. Update System Packages

Always start with system updates:

apt update && apt upgrade -y

This ensures security patches and package compatibility.

4. Install Node.js (LTS Version Recommended)

Ubuntu 22.04 repositories may not provide the latest Node.js version. Use NodeSource:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | bash -
apt install -y nodejs

Verify installation:

node -v
npm -v

5. Create a Project Directory

Create a directory for your Fastify application:

mkdir -p /var/www/fastify-app
cd /var/www/fastify-app

6. Initialize Node Project

npm init -y

7. Install Fastify

Now you can install fastify using npm:

npm install fastify

This installs Fastify into your project.

8. Create a Basic Fastify Server

Create a file:

nano app.js

Add the following code:

const fastify = require('fastify')({ logger: true });

fastify.get('/', async (request, reply) => {
  return { message: 'Fastify server is running on VPS!' };
});

const start = async () => {
  try {
    await fastify.listen({ port: 3000, host: '0.0.0.0' });
  } catch (err) {
    fastify.log.error(err);
    process.exit(1);
  }
};

start();

Important:
host: '0.0.0.0' ensures your fastify host binds to all network interfaces so external users can access it.

Save and exit.

9. Allow Port in Firewall

If UFW is enabled:

ufw allow 3000
ufw reload

10. Start the Fastify Server

Run:

node app.js

Visit:

http://your_server_ip:3000

If you see the JSON response, your fastify setup is working.

11. Run Fastify in Background (Production Mode)

For production deployments, use PM2:

npm install -g pm2
pm2 start app.js --name fastify-app
pm2 save
pm2 startup

Check status:

pm2 status

Now your Fastify server will restart automatically if it crashes.

12. (Recommended) Configure Nginx Reverse Proxy

Install Nginx:

apt install nginx -y

Create config:

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/fastify

Add:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        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 site:

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/fastify /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
nginx -t
systemctl restart nginx

Now your domain routes traffic to Fastify.

13. Enable HTTPS (Optional but Recommended)

Install Certbot:

apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Production Considerations

• Use at least 2GB RAM for APIs handling concurrent traffic
• Monitor CPU usage: htop
• Scale using clustering if concurrency increases
• Keep Node.js updated
• Use external database for better I/O performance