Self-host Next.js without the lock-in

1. 01

   Build a standalone output

   The standalone build ships its own minimal server, so the VM needs nothing but Node.

   next.config.jsCopy

   module.exports = {
     output: 'standalone',
     images: {
       loader: 'custom',
       loaderFile: './edge-loader.js',
     },
   }

2. 02

   Point next/image at the CDN

   Keep the <Image /> component. The CDN resizes and converts on request, then caches every variant.

   edge-loader.jsCopy

   export default function edgeLoader({ src, width, quality }) {
     const q = quality || 75
     return `https://app.acme.com${src}?width=${width}&quality=${q}&format=auto`
   }

3. 03

   Create a VM and start the server

   The nodejs library script installs Node 22, PM2 and an Nginx reverse proxy on first boot.

   shellCopy

   $ edge compute create --name web --size s-2vcpu-4gb \
       --image ubuntu-24 --region london --script nodejs
   
   $ rsync -a .next/standalone/ root@<vm-ip>:/srv/web/
   $ rsync -a .next/static/ root@<vm-ip>:/srv/web/.next/static/
   $ ssh root@<vm-ip> "cd /srv/web && pm2 start server.js"

4. 04

   Front it with the CDN

   One deployment, one domain. SSL is issued in under a minute; --jit-image turns on image transforms.

   shellCopy

   $ edge cdn create --name acme-web
   $ edge cdn domains add cdn-a1b2c3 \
       --domain app.acme.com \
       --origin https://<vm-ip> \
       --jit-image

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