Production SSH Access Skill

Overview

This skill guides you through accessing and working with the Codante Frontend production server hosted on Digital Ocean.

Server Information

• Host: 216.238.103.47
• User: robertotcestari
• OS: Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
• Web Server: nginx
• Application Server: pm2 (Node.js process manager) - codante-io-front process
• Runtime: Node.js >= 20
• Application Root: /var/www/codante-io-front
• Deployment Method: rsync (direct, no release directories)

Quick Access

Connect to Production Server

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47

Common SSH Commands

Check pm2 status:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 status"

Check nginx configuration:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "sudo nginx -t"

List nginx sites:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "ls /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/"

Check service status:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "systemctl status nginx"

File Transfer

WARNING: do not transfer files - this is used only for emergency debugging. To change files in the production server, use the deployment pipeline.

Copy files from production to local:

scp robertotcestari@216.238.103.47:/path/on/server /local/path

Copy files from local to production:

scp /local/path robertotcestari@216.238.103.47:/path/on/server

Production Application Paths

• Application Root: /var/www/codante-io-front
• Source Code: /var/www/codante-io-front/ (direct rsync, no releases/)
• Build Output: /var/www/codante-io-front/dist/ (production build)
• Node Modules: /var/www/codante-io-front/node_modules/
• pm2 Config: /var/www/codante-io-front/pm2.config.js or ecosystem.config.js
• Public: /var/www/codante-io-front/dist (served by nginx)
• .env Config: /var/www/codante-io-front/.env (if used)

Log Access in Production

pm2 Logs

View pm2 process logs (live):

# Follow codante-io-front logs in real-time
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 logs codante-io-front"

# View last 100 lines
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 logs codante-io-front --lines 100"

View pm2 error logs specifically:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 logs codante-io-front --err"

View pm2 output logs specifically:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 logs codante-io-front --out"

Get pm2 process details:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 info codante-io-front"

nginx Logs

nginx access logs:

# Real-time access logs
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log"

# Site-specific access logs (if configured)
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "tail -f /var/log/nginx/codante-io-front-access.log"

nginx error logs:

# Real-time error logs
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log"

# Site-specific error logs
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "tail -f /var/log/nginx/codante-io-front-error.log"

System Logs - nginx/pm2 Services

nginx service logs:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "journalctl -u nginx -n 100 -f"

pm2 service logs (if using systemd):

# If pm2 is managed by systemd
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "journalctl -u pm2-robertotcestari -n 100 -f"

View All Logs in Directory

# List log files with sizes
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "ls -lh /var/log/nginx/"

# Check application logs if using custom logging
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "ls -lh /var/www/codante-io-front/logs/ 2>/dev/null || echo 'No custom logs directory'"

Search and Filter Logs

Find errors in nginx logs:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "grep 'error\|ERROR\|502\|503' /var/log/nginx/error.log | head -50"

Find 502/503 errors:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "grep '502\|503' /var/log/nginx/access.log | tail -20"

Find 4xx errors:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "grep '4[0-9][0-9]' /var/log/nginx/access.log | tail -20"

Monitor logs with filter:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log | grep -E 'error|502|503|upstream'"

Download Logs Locally

Copy nginx access log:

scp robertotcestari@216.238.103.47:/var/log/nginx/access.log ./nginx-access-backup.log

Copy all nginx logs:

scp -r robertotcestari@216.238.103.47:/var/log/nginx/ ./nginx-logs/

Copy pm2 logs:

# pm2 logs are stored in ~/.pm2/logs/
scp -r robertotcestari@216.238.103.47:~/.pm2/logs/ ./pm2-logs/

pm2 Management

Codante Frontend uses pm2 (Node.js process manager) running the codante-io-front process.

Check pm2 Status

# View all processes
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 status"

# Get detailed process info
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 info codante-io-front"

# View process list with resource usage
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 monit"

View pm2 Logs

# Follow logs in real-time
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 logs codante-io-front"

# View last N lines
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 logs codante-io-front --lines 200"

# View error logs only
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 logs codante-io-front --err"

Restart pm2 Process

# Restart the codante-io-front process
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 restart codante-io-front"

# Reload (graceful restart - used for 0-downtime reloads)
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 reload codante-io-front"

# Stop process
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 stop codante-io-front"

# Start process
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 start codante-io-front"

Monitor pm2 Process

# Monitor memory usage
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 monit codante-io-front"

# Get process details including memory
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 info codante-io-front"

# View real-time metrics
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "watch 'pm2 status'"

View pm2 Config

# View ecosystem config if exists
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "cat /var/www/codante-io-front/ecosystem.config.js 2>/dev/null || cat /var/www/codante-io-front/pm2.config.js 2>/dev/null || echo 'No pm2 config found'"

Common Production Tasks

Check Disk Space

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "df -h"

Monitor CPU/Memory

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "top -b -n 1 | head -20"

# Check specific process
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "ps aux | grep 'node\|pm2'"

Restart Services

# Restart pm2 process
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 restart codante-io-front"

# Restart nginx
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "sudo systemctl restart nginx"

# Restart both
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 restart codante-io-front && sudo systemctl restart nginx"

Check Current Deployment

# Check if app directory exists
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "ls -la /var/www/codante-io-front/"

# Check git info
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "cd /var/www/codante-io-front && git log -5 --oneline 2>/dev/null || echo 'Not a git repo'"

# Check if dist build exists
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "ls -la /var/www/codante-io-front/dist/ | head -10"

# Check Node.js version
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "node --version"

Deploy New Release

When deploying via GitHub Actions + rsync:

1. Push to main branch
2. GitHub Actions triggers automated deployment
3. GitHub Actions handles:
   • npm install
   • Build production (npm run build)
   • rsync to server at /var/www/codante-io-front
   • pm2 restart (post-deploy)

Check deployment status:

ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "ls -lah /var/www/codante-io-front/ | head -20"

Verify Application is Running

# Check if pm2 process is running
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "pm2 status | grep codante-io-front"

# Check if nginx is serving requests
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "curl -I http://localhost:3000"

# Check nginx proxy to port 3000
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "sudo netstat -tlnp | grep -E '3000|80|443'"

Clear Build Cache (if needed)

# Remove node_modules and dist
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "cd /var/www/codante-io-front && rm -rf node_modules dist"

# Full rebuild on next deployment
ssh robertotcestari@216.238.103.47 "cd /var/www/codante-io-front && npm install && npm run build"

Security Considerations

1. SSH Keys: Ensure your SSH key is added to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server
2. sudo Access: Use sudo for privileged commands (requires password or sudo setup)
3. Environment Variables: Never expose sensitive data in logs or console output
4. Log Files: Check logs for errors, security warnings, and performance issues
5. Backups: Always ensure backups exist before making changes to production
6. Process State: pm2 maintains process state; changes to app code require rebuild and restart
7. nginx Proxy: Verify nginx configuration before restarting to avoid service disruption
8. Deployment: Use automated GitHub Actions pipeline instead of manual rsync when possible

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

If you can't connect:

1. Verify SSH key is configured: ssh-keyscan 216.238.103.47
2. Check your SSH config: ~/.ssh/config
3. Test connectivity: ping 216.238.103.47

Permission Denied

If you get "Permission denied":

1. Verify the username is robertotcestari
2. Check SSH key permissions: chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
3. Ensure public key is on server: cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

pm2 Process Not Running

If pm2 process is stopped:

1. Check status: pm2 status
2. View recent logs: pm2 logs codante-io-front --lines 50
3. Restart process: pm2 restart codante-io-front
4. Verify app directory exists: ls /var/www/codante-io-front/

Build Not Found

If npm run build output doesn't exist:

1. Check if dist/ folder exists: ls /var/www/codante-io-front/dist/
2. Check package.json build script: cat /var/www/codante-io-front/package.json | grep -A 5 '"build"'
3. Manually trigger build: cd /var/www/codante-io-front && npm install && npm run build

nginx 502 Bad Gateway

If you see 502 errors in nginx:

1. Check if pm2 process is running: pm2 status
2. Check if Node app is listening on port 3000: curl http://127.0.0.1:3000
3. Check nginx error log: tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
4. Restart pm2: pm2 restart codante-io-front
5. Restart nginx: sudo systemctl restart nginx

High Memory Usage

If Node process is consuming too much memory:

1. Check memory: ps aux | grep node
2. View pm2 memory usage: pm2 info codante-io-front
3. Check logs for memory leaks: pm2 logs codante-io-front
4. Restart process: pm2 restart codante-io-front
5. Monitor memory: pm2 monit

Slow Response Times

If application is slow:

1. Check nginx access logs: tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log | grep "HTTP/\|response"
2. Check backend API availability: curl -I http://127.0.0.1:8000
3. Check CPU usage: top -p $(pgrep -f 'node')
4. Monitor pm2: pm2 monit
5. Check disk I/O: iostat -x 1

Application Won't Start After Deployment

If app fails to start:

1. Check deployment logs: pm2 logs codante-io-front
2. Check if dependencies installed: ls /var/www/codante-io-front/node_modules/
3. Check for build errors: cd /var/www/codante-io-front && npm run build
4. Verify .env file exists: test -f /var/www/codante-io-front/.env && echo 'exists' || echo 'missing'
5. Check if API backend is reachable: curl http://127.0.0.1:8000/health

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• ✅ Connect to the production server
• ✅ Debug production issues
• ✅ Access and analyze production logs (pm2, nginx)
• ✅ Monitor real-time log streams
• ✅ Check server logs and metrics
• ✅ Manage pm2 processes
• ✅ Verify deployments
• ✅ Transfer files to/from production
• ✅ Run ad-hoc commands on production
• ✅ Troubleshoot deployment issues
• ✅ Monitor performance and resource usage
• ✅ Check backend API availability
• ✅ Verify nginx proxy configuration

Related Resources

• CLAUDE.md deployment section for CI/CD information
• Server management documentation
• GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/deploy.yml)
• pm2 documentation: https://pm2.keymetrics.io/docs/usage/quick-start/
• React Router documentation: https://reactrouter.com/