How to Deploy a React App with Nginx
After building a React app you get static files that any web server can host. This guide serves them with Nginx.
1. Build the production bundle
npm run buildThis creates a dist/ (Vite) or build/ (CRA) folder of static files.
2. Copy files to the web root
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/myapp
sudo cp -r dist/* /var/www/myapp/3. Configure Nginx (with SPA fallback)
server {
listen 80;
server_name myapp.example.com;
root /var/www/myapp;
index index.html;
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
}
}The try_files ... /index.html line ensures client-side routing works on refresh.
4. Enable and reload
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginxAdd HTTPS with sudo certbot --nginx and your React app is live.
