Running a Node.js script on a schedule in cPanel

To schedule a Node.js script in cPanel, create a Node.js application (to get the right version and the node_modules folder) and make the cron job call that environment’s node, with the script’s full path. Just calling “node” in cron will not do: cron does not know the version you chose.

Step by step

1 Create the application in “Setup Node.js App”. Choose the version and the application folder. It works as the environment even if your script never answers web requests. See Node.js in cPanel: choosing the version and using npm.
2 Install the dependencies with the npm of the application’s environment, from package.json. The application’s install button does the same.
3 Put the script in the application folder, or in a folder of your own outside public_html. Use full paths for any file it reads or writes.
4 Find the environment’s node. The application screen shows the command that activates the environment, with a path ending in bin/activate. Copy the path and swap activate for node.
5 Write the cron line: the environment’s node path, the script path, and >> /home/ACCOUNT/job.log 2>&1. For the schedule see cron schedule examples.
6 Keep the configuration in a file of your own, outside public_html. The environment variables on the application screen belong to the application, and cron does not see them.

What usually goes wrong

Symptom Cause What to do
node: command not found Cron does not have node on its path. Use the full path of the environment’s node.
Cannot find module The dependencies were not installed, or the script runs in another folder. Install in the environment and give a full path to the script.
Wrong version Cron calls a different version from the one the application uses. Point at the node of the chosen version.
The script never ends A connection is left open, or a timer stays active. End explicitly with process.exit() when done, or close the connections.
“Out of memory” error The script reads everything into memory. Process in parts, or use a VPS for large jobs.

Tell cron whether it went well. End the script with a non-zero exit code when something fails (for example by setting process.exitCode = 1) and write the error to the output. That way cron’s e-mail, or a notice of your own, only appears when there is a reason. For the notice, see alerts to Telegram.

Cron is for jobs that finish. A script that stays up all the time (a server, a bot) is another matter: on a shared plan it runs as a Node.js application managed by the panel, and on a VPS it can run as a service. See keeping a Node.js app running on a VPS with PM2.
Test the script by hand before you schedule it, in the cPanel Terminal if your account has one, with the same line you will put in cron. If it works there, only the schedule is left.

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SEE ALSO

Node.js in cPanel: choosing the version and using npm

Getting a Node.js application running

Cron jobs: what they are for and how to create one

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