These are the steps to setup an Ubuntu server from scratch and deploy a MERN app with the PM2 process manager and Nginx. We are using Linode, but you could just as well use a different cloud provider or your own machine or VM.

Create an account at Linode

Click on Create Linode

Choose your server options (OS, region, etc)

Steps to deploy a Node.js app to DigitalOcean using PM2, NGINX as a reverse proxy and an SSL from LetsEncrypt

If you use the referal link below, you get $10 free (1 or 2 months) https://m.do.co/c/5424d440c63a

I will be using the root user, but would suggest creating a new user