PM2 Cheatsheet

# Install
npm install -g pm2

# Start app
pm2 start app.js
pm2 start app.js --name my-app
pm2 start app.js -i max       # cluster mode (all CPUs)
pm2 start npm -- start         # npm script
pm2 start python -- script.py  # python script

# Quick status
pm2 list                       # list all processes
pm2 status                     # same as list
pm2 show <id|name>             # detailed info

pm2 stop <id|name|all>
pm2 restart <id|name|all>
pm2 reload <id|name|all>     # zero-downtime reload
pm2 delete <id|name|all>

# Start with options
pm2 start app.js --watch       # auto-restart on change
pm2 start app.js --max-memory-restart 200M
pm2 start app.js --cron "0 */1 * * *"

# Startup on boot
pm2 startup                    # generate startup script
pm2 save                       # save current list
pm2 unstartup                  # remove startup

pm2 logs                       # all logs
pm2 logs <name>                # specific app
pm2 logs --lines 200           # last 200 lines
pm2 logs --json                # JSON format
pm2 flush                      # clear all logs

# Log rotation
pm2 install pm2-logrotate
pm2 set pm2-logrotate:max_size 10M
pm2 set pm2-logrotate:retain 7

# Start in cluster mode
pm2 start app.js -i max        # use all CPUs
pm2 start app.js -i 4          # 4 instances

# Scale
pm2 scale app +2               # add 2 instances
pm2 scale app 6                # set to 6 total

# Graceful reload (zero downtime)
pm2 reload app                 # rolling restart

# Generate: pm2 ecosystem
// ecosystem.config.js
module.exports = {
  apps: [{
    name: "my-app",
    script: "app.js",
    instances: "max",
    exec_mode: "cluster",
    watch: true,
    env: {
      NODE_ENV: "development",
      PORT: 3000
    },
    env_production: {
      NODE_ENV: "production",
      PORT: 8080
    }
  }]
};

# Start with ecosystem
pm2 start ecosystem.config.js
pm2 start ecosystem.config.js --env production

pm2 monit                     # terminal dashboard

# PM2 Plus (web dashboard)
pm2 plus                      # connect to pm2.io

# Process info
pm2 show <name>
pm2 describe <name>
pm2 prettylist                # formatted JSON
pm2 jlist                     # raw JSON

// In ecosystem.config.js
module.exports = {
  deploy: {
    production: {
      user: "deploy",
      host: "server.com",
      ref: "origin/main",
      repo: "git@github.com:user/repo.git",
      path: "/var/www/app",
      "post-deploy": "npm install && pm2 reload ecosystem.config.js"
    }
  }
};

# First time
pm2 deploy production setup
# Deploy
pm2 deploy production