Last modified: April 18, 2024

Overview

This interface allows you to deploy applications with the Phusion Passenger® application server. A Phusion Passenger server functions as a process manager, reverse proxy, and provides operations tools to its users.

This interface works on servers that run Apache and NGINX®.

Requirements

Your hosting provider must select the Application Manager feature in WHM’s Feature Manager interface and install the one of the following Apache modules, depending on your operating system:

• ea-apache24-mod-passenger — This package works on systems that run Ubuntu®, AlmaLinux OS 9 or Rocky Linux™ 9.
• ea-ruby27-mod_passenger — This package only works on systems that run AlmaLinux 8 or Rocky Linux 8.

If needed, your provider should also install the following packages:

• ea-apache24-mod_env — This module allows your application configuration to set environment variables for your application.
• One of the following packages, if you need Node.js™ application support:
  • ea-nodejs16
  • ea-nodejs18
  • ea-nodejs20
    Note:

    When you install a Node.js package, it will uninstall any other Node.js packages. You must update any existing applications to use the new version of Node.js. Any new applications will use the newest installed version of Node.js.
• python — Install the appropriate version of python for your applications.
  Note:

  The Application Manager uses /usr/bin/python3 by default if it exists. If it does not exist, the Application Manager uses /usr/bin/python by default. If you want to use another version by default, add the path to your preferred version with the following command:

  echo -n /path/to/python > /etc/cpanel/ea4/passenger.python

If you need this feature, contact your hosting provider.

Applications

This table contains the following information:

• Name — The application’s name.
• Domain — The application’s domain.
• Path — The file where the application’s source code resides, relative to the home directory.
• Status — Whether the application is enabled or disabled.
• Actions — Use the items in this column to perform the following actions:
  • Edit — Edit the application.
  • Unregister — Unregister the application.
  • Enable Dependencies — Confirm and, if necessary, install an application’s Node.js package manager (npm)) dependencies.

Create an application

You must create an application before you register it in the Application Manager interface. For example, you could perform one of the following actions:

• Clone an existing application from GitHub with our Git Version Control interface (cPanel » Home » Files » Git™ Version Control).
• Create a new application on your server. For an examples of how to do this, read the following documentation:
  • How to Create Ruby Web Applications
  • How to Install a Python WSGI Application
  • How to install a Node.js Application

Register an application

This feature configures new applications with the most recent version of Ruby on your system. The installed version of Passenger determines which version of Ruby the system uses. You can’t have more than one version of Passenger installed.

Existing applications will not change their Ruby version. If you uninstall an application’s version of Ruby, your applications will no longer function.

To register an application, perform the following steps:

1. Click Register Application. A new interface will appear.
2. Enter the application’s name in the Application Name text box.
3. From the Deployment Domain menu, select the main domain, addon domain, or subdomain to which to deploy the application.
4. Enter the application’s base URL in the Base Application URL text box. After you register the application, enter this URL in a web browser to access the application.
5. Enter the path to your source code directory, relative to the home directory, in the Application Path text box.
6. Select a deployment environment. This sets the server environment that the application runs in.
   • Click Development if you’re still developing your application.
   • Click Production if you’re ready to deploy and use your application.
7. If you want to add environment variables, click Add Variable in the Environment Variables section.
8. Click Deploy.

Environment Variables

Environment variables allow you to configure the processes that the application runs on multiple systems. The Environment Variables table contains the following information:

• Variable Name — The environment variable’s name.
  Important:

  An environment variable name must meet the following criteria:

  • The name can only contain letters, numbers, underscores, and dashes.
  • The name must contain 256 characters or fewer.
  • The name cannot begin with a number.
• Value — The environment variable’s value.
  Important:

  An environment variable value must contain 1024 or fewer ASCII-printable characters.
• Actions — Use the items in this column to perform the following actions:
  • Edit — Edit the environment variable.
  • Unregister — Delete the environment variable.

For more information about environment variables, read Phusion Passenger’s Environment Variables documentation.

Add environment variables

To add an environment variable to the application’s configuration file, perform the following steps:

1. In the Environmental Variables section, click Add Variable.
2. Enter the variable’s name in the Environment Variable Name text box in the Variable Name column.
3. Enter a value for the variable in the Environment Variable Value text box in the Value column.
4. Click Save in the Actions column.

Edit an application

To edit an application’s configuration file, perform the following steps:

1. In the table of applications, find the application that you want to edit.
2. In the Actions column, click Edit. A new interface will appear.
3. Make the desired changes.
4. Click Deploy.

Unregister an application

To unregister an application, perform the following steps:

1. In the table of applications, locate the application that you wish to unregister.
2. Click Unregister. A confirmation message will appear.
3. Click Unregister to completely unregister the application. A success message will appear.