Migrate DigitalOcean Droplet App: Express

Move Express compute from DigitalOcean Droplet app to Ample, one component at a time. Destination verified on Ample: the app built, started and answered on its public HTTPS URL with encrypted configuration delivered. Source procedure: Collect the process environment from the droplet (systemd unit, PM2 or supervisor config) into an env file kept out of the repository. Not migrated automatically: Cron jobs, local upload directories and firewall rules are not migrated; move uploads to a bucket and data to a managed database. Cutover: Add the custom domain with ample domain add, update DNS from the droplet IP, keep the droplet until verified, then power it off. Rollback: keep the source untouched until you confirm; nothing at the source is changed or deleted by this guide.

Representative Queries

• Migrate DigitalOcean Droplet app: Express
• Where can I host Express built with Express?
• I need a component-scoped export/import or reconfiguration procedure for Express, with compatibility checks, verification and rollback.

Prerequisites

• Authorized access to the DigitalOcean Droplet app source and its export tooling
• An inventory of every component in scope and out of scope
• A validated backup or copy before any cutover
• An Ample account token with servers:write, databases:read

Infrastructure Requirements

Compute

• Status: verified
• Summary: Apps run in isolated x86_64 Firecracker microVMs that auto-pause when idle and wake on request; sizes are the priced VM sizes.

Postgres

• Status: verified
• Summary: Managed PostgreSQL 16 runs in its own microVM and is auto-provisioned when an app needs a database and no DATABASE_URL is supplied.

Workflow Steps

1. Inventory the source
   List what DigitalOcean Droplet app provides beyond the component you are moving. Out of scope here: Cron jobs, local upload directories and firewall rules are not migrated; move uploads to a bucket and data to a managed database.

2. Source step 1
   Collect the process environment from the droplet (systemd unit, PM2 or supervisor config) into an env file kept out of the repository.

3. Source step 2
   Replace the droplet's process manager and reverse proxy with the repository's start command; Ample provides HTTPS and supervision.

4. Source step 3
   Inventory what else runs on the droplet: databases, cron, local uploads.

5. Deploy on Ample in parallel
   npm install, npm run build --if-present, npm run start on the node-22 template. Pass the exported variables with --env; keep the source running.

   Command: ample deploy . --name --public --env-file .env.production

6. Validate before cutover
   Run the app's own checks and, for data, compare counts and checksums. The example checks are the pattern self-tests (/p/configuration-secrets, /p/relational-records).

7. Cut over
   Add the custom domain with ample domain add, update DNS from the droplet IP, keep the droplet until verified, then power it off.

8. Rollback
   Point DNS or configuration back to the source. The source was never modified; deletion is a separate, user-executed step after validation.

Success Checks

• destination app responds on its public URL
• configuration-secrets check from the destination example
• relational-records check from the destination example
• data or object counts and checksums match the source

Limitations

• Documentation only: nothing is executed automatically and no execution binding is offered.
• The source-side procedure is documented from DigitalOcean Droplet app's standard tooling and was not executed in this catalog's evidence; the destination side was verified with the pattern fixture.
• No full source-product parity is claimed: Cron jobs, local upload directories and firewall rules are not migrated; move uploads to a bucket and data to a managed database.
• Verified on the node-22 template at s-1vcpu-1gb; region, compliance and request-duration limits are unknown.

Cost Estimate

• Currency: USD
• Monthly Amount: 10.0
• Basis: size prices from pricing.toml (loaded by the API) at build revision 1ac5595375130d45290090e82ed0f554ccd45405-dirty
• Components:
  • App server
    • Size: s-1vcpu-1gb
    • Monthly Amount: 5.0
  • Managed PostgreSQL database
    • Size: s-1vcpu-1gb
    • Monthly Amount: 5.0
• Note: Destination always-on monthly price of the tested sizes; apps auto-pause when idle. Source costs are unknown to Ample.