File Converter

Local development

1. Copy .env.example to .env and fill in your local MariaDB credentials.
2. Apply the schema: mysql -h <host> -u <user> -p <database> < db/schema.sql
3. Install dependencies: npm install
4. Run the API: npm start
5. Run the worker (separate terminal): npm run worker
6. Run tests: npm test (requires the same MariaDB reachable via your .env vars, exported into the shell)

Deployment on o2switch

1. Upload the project (excluding node_modules/) via SSH/Git.
2. Create/adjust .env on the server with production values (STORAGE_DIR pointing to a writable path under your account, MariaDB credentials from cPanel).
3. Apply db/schema.sql to the MariaDB database created in cPanel.
4. npm install (never with --ignore-scripts — Puppeteer needs its postinstall step to download Chromium).
5. Configure the app in cPanel "Setup Node.js App", pointing its entry point at src/server.js. Passenger manages this process (start/stop/restart).
6. Start the worker independently of Passenger, over SSH: ./node_modules/.bin/pm2 start ecosystem.config.cjs, then pm2 save. Try pm2 startup to survive a server reboot; if that's not permitted without root on this account, fall back to a cPanel cron job every 5 minutes that runs pm2 resurrect (or checks pm2 list and restarts the app if absent) — validate which option this hosting plan actually allows once connected over SSH.
7. Add a cPanel cron job to run the cleanup script periodically, e.g. every 15 minutes: */15 * * * * cd /home/gaan6043/convert.ombrora.com-node && /home/gaan6043/nodevenv/convert.ombrora.com-node/24/bin/node src/cleanup.js > /dev/null (adjust the path and node binary location to match your actual account — check with which node over SSH).
8. On every subsequent deployment: pull changes, npm install, npm run build (frontend), then restart the Passenger app from cPanel and pm2 restart convert-worker.