You can deploy SigmaDocs without the cPanel Setup Node.js App screen only when your hosting server provides another reliable way to start and keep a Node.js process running.
For a complete command-line deployment of both the Next.js frontend and Express.js backend, refer to COMMAND_LINE_HOSTING_DEPLOY.md included with the package.
../COMMAND_LINE_HOSTING_DEPLOY.mdA Node.js API does not work like a static HTML website or a PHP application. The Express.js backend must be started by Node.js and kept alive by a process manager or application server.
Uploading the Express.js files to public_html is not enough. The server must continuously run the Node.js application.
Use one of the following deployment methods depending on the features and server access provided by your hosting company.
Some cPanel hosting providers enable Phusion Passenger even when the Setup Node.js App or Application Manager interface is hidden.
Upload and extract cms-backend-cpanel.zip outside the public_html directory.
/home/YOUR_CPANEL_USER/cms-backendOpen SSH or the cPanel Terminal and run the following commands.
cd ~/cms-backend
npm install --omit=devCopy .htaccess.passenger.example to a new file named .htaccess inside your API subdomain document root.
Open the .htaccess file and update the application root and Node.js binary path.
PassengerAppRoot /home/YOUR_CPANEL_USER/cms-backend
PassengerNodejs /usr/bin/nodeRun the following command through SSH to find the correct Node.js executable path.
which nodeUse the path for your Node.js 22 installation. The exact path may be different depending on your hosting provider.
After Passenger starts the application, open the installer URL.
https://api.yourdomain.com/installIf Apache returns a 500 Internal Server Error and the server log says that Passenger directives are not allowed, your hosting provider does not support this deployment option.
PM2 is suitable for VPS hosting, cloud servers, dedicated servers, or shared hosting accounts that allow persistent background Node.js processes.
cd ~/cms-backend
npm install --omit=dev
npm install -g pm2
pm2 start ecosystem.config.cjs
pm2 save
pm2 startupAfter starting the application, configure your domain, subdomain, Apache reverse proxy, or Nginx reverse proxy to forward requests to the port used by the Express.js application.
Many shared hosting providers automatically stop long-running background processes. PM2 may not work unless your hosting provider explicitly allows persistent processes.
You can deploy the SigmaDocs backend to a platform that directly supports Node.js applications, such as Render, Railway, Fly.io, DigitalOcean App Platform, or a VPS.
Build command: npm install --omit=dev
Start command: npm start
Node version: 22After the deployment is complete and the application is running, open the SigmaDocs browser installer.
https://your-api-domain.com/installThe statically exported SigmaDocs Next.js frontend can remain on cPanel even when the Express.js backend is hosted on another Node.js-compatible platform.
In this configuration, update the frontend API URL so that it sends API and admin requests to your externally hosted Express.js backend.
Frontend: https://yourdomain.com
Backend API: https://api.yourdomain.comIf your hosting account supports only PHP and static websites, and provides no Passenger, process manager, persistent background processes, or reverse proxy, the SigmaDocs Express.js backend cannot run there reliably.
1. Move the SigmaDocs backend to a hosting provider that supports Node.js applications.
2. Convert the Express.js backend to PHP so it can run like a standard cPanel application.
3. Keep the static Next.js frontend on cPanel and host only the API on a Node.js-compatible platform.
SigmaDocs can run without the cPanel Node.js App Manager, but the server must still provide Passenger, PM2, another process manager, or native Node.js application hosting to keep the Express.js backend running.