SvelteKit, served from a real VM

Deploy

From npm run build to live in four steps

Everything here is standard SvelteKit and standard Linux. Script it in CI once it works by hand.

~/acme-app — zsh

$ npm run build

✓ Using @sveltejs/adapter-node · done

$ edge compute create --name svelte \

--size s-2vcpu-4gb --image ubuntu-24 \

--region london --script nodejs

✓ vm-b20c7e running · 64.34.86.61

$ rsync -a build root@64.34.86.61:app/

$ edge cdn domains add cdn-5d1f08 \

--domain app.acme.dev \

--origin https://64.34.86.61

Cold starts0

app.acme.devLive

Adapter@sveltejs/adapter-node

Servicesvelte.service

1. 01

   Switch to adapter-node

   Install @sveltejs/adapter-node as a dev dependency and swap it in. npm run build now writes a standalone Node app to build/.

   svelte.config.jsCopy

   import adapter from '@sveltejs/adapter-node'
   
   /** @type {import('@sveltejs/kit').Config} */
   export default {
     kit: { adapter: adapter() },
   }

2. 02

   Create a VM and copy the build

   The nodejs library script installs Node 22 and an Nginx reverse proxy on first boot. Install production dependencies on the VM.

   shellCopy

   $ edge compute create --name svelte --size s-2vcpu-4gb \
       --image ubuntu-24 --region london --script nodejs
   
   $ npm run build
   $ rsync -a build package.json package-lock.json root@<vm-ip>:/srv/app/
   $ ssh root@<vm-ip> "cd /srv/app && npm ci --omit=dev"

3. 03

   Run it as a service

   systemd keeps the process up and restarts it on failure. Set ORIGIN so form actions pass SvelteKit's CSRF check behind the proxy.

   /etc/systemd/system/svelte.serviceCopy

   [Unit]
   Description=SvelteKit app
   After=network.target
   
   [Service]
   WorkingDirectory=/srv/app
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/node build
   Environment=PORT=3000 NODE_ENV=production
   Environment=ORIGIN=https://app.acme.dev
   Restart=always
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target

4. 04

   Front it with the CDN

   SSL is issued automatically. Hashed _app/immutable files are cached for as long as their headers allow.

   shellCopy

   $ edge cdn create --name acme-app
   $ edge cdn domains add cdn-5d1f08 \
       --domain app.acme.dev \
       --origin https://<vm-ip> \
       --jit-image

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