Based on the codebase analysis, here's what needs to change for your Ubuntu deployment:

  Required Changes

  Create a systemd service file instead:

  # /etc/systemd/system/carnews.service
  [Unit]
  Description=Car News API Server
  After=network.target

  [Service]
  Type=simple
  User=<your-ubuntu-user>
  WorkingDirectory=/path/to/news-app
  ExecStart=/usr/bin/node server.js
  Restart=on-failure
  EnvironmentFile=/path/to/news-app/.env

  [Install]
  WantedBy=multi-user.target

  2. Rebuild native modules

  The better-sqlite3 package requires recompilation on Ubuntu:
  npm rebuild better-sqlite3

  3. Nginx configuration for Ubuntu

  You'll need to create an Nginx config (not included in this repo). Example:

  location /carnews/ {
      alias /path/to/news-app/dist/;
      try_files $uri $uri/ /carnews/index.html;
  }

  location /carnews/api/ {
      proxy_pass http://localhost:5555/api/;
      proxy_http_version 1.1;
      proxy_set_header Host $host;
  }

  4. Update paths if directory structure differs

  Current macOS path: /opt/homebrew/var/www/news-app
  On Ubuntu you might use: /var/www/news-app or similar

  No Changes Needed

  - vite.config.js - base: '/carnews/' stays the same
  - server.js - Port 5555 works as-is
  - .env file - Copy it over
  - All source code - Uses relative paths

  Deployment Steps

  1. Copy the codebase to Ubuntu
  2. Run npm install and npm rebuild better-sqlite3
  3. Run npm run build to generate fresh /dist files
  4. Create the systemd service file
  5. Configure Nginx with the proxy rules
  6. Enable and start the service: sudo systemctl enable --now carnews