What You'll Need

n8n Cloud or self-hosted n8n (for orchestrating automated workflows)

Hetzner VPS or Contabo VPS for hosting your Node.js processes

DigitalOcean as an alternative hosting provider

Node.js 18+ installed locally and on your server

SSH access to your VPS

PM2 (we'll install this together)

A text editor (VS Code recommended)

Table of Contents

Why PM2 Matters for Bot Automation

Installation & Initial Setup

Running Your First Process

Clustering & Load Balancing

Monitoring & Logs in Real-Time

Auto-Restart on Server Reboot

Integration with n8n Webhooks

Getting Started

Why PM2 Matters for Bot Automation

I learned this the hard way. Three years ago, I deployed a Node.js bot to a VPS—no process manager. It crashed at 2 AM on a Sunday, sat dead for six hours, and tanked the entire automation pipeline.…