How Do I Deploy an Ionic App to a Web Server?

In this tutorial, we will learn how to deploy an Ionic app to a web server. Deploying an Ionic app to a web server allows you to make your app accessible through a URL, making it easy for users to access and use your app on their devices.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following:

• An Ionic app that is ready for deployment.
• A web server where you can host your app files. This could be a shared hosting or a dedicated server.

  Make sure you have the necessary credentials to access the server.

• A domain or subdomain pointing to your web server. This will be used to access your deployed app.

Step 1: Build your Ionic App

The first step is to build your Ionic app for production. Open your command line interface and navigate to the root directory of your Ionic project. Then run the following command:

ionic build --prod

This command will create a production-ready version of your Ionic app in the “www” folder of your project.

Step 2: Transfer Files to Web Server

Next, you need to transfer the files from the “www” folder of your Ionic project to your web server. You can use any FTP client or file manager provided by your hosting provider.

Note: If you are using an FTP client, make sure you have the necessary login credentials for connecting to your web server.

• If using an FTP client:
1. Open your FTP client and connect it to the web server using the provided credentials.
2. Navigate to the root directory of your web server.
3. Upload all the files and folders from the “www” directory of your Ionic project to the root directory of your web server.
• If using a file manager provided by your hosting provider:
1. Login to your hosting provider’s control panel or file manager.

Step 3: Configure Web Server

After transferring the files, you need to configure your web server to serve the Ionic app correctly. The configuration steps may vary depending on the type of web server you are using. Here are some common configurations:

Apache Web Server

If you are using Apache as your web server, create an “.htaccess” file in the root directory of your web server (if it doesn’t already exist) and add the following code:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.html$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.html [L]

This configuration ensures that all requests are redirected to “index.html” which is the entry point of an Ionic app.

Nginx Web Server

If you are using Nginx as your web server, open your Nginx configuration file (e.g., “/etc/nginx/nginx.conf”) and add the following code inside the “server” block:

location / {
  try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
}

This configuration also redirects all requests to “index.html”.

Step 4: Test Your Deployed Ionic App

Once you have completed the previous steps, your Ionic app should be deployed and accessible through the URL associated with your web server.

Open a web browser and navigate to your app’s URL (e., http://yourdomain.com). You should see your Ionic app running successfully.

Note: If you encounter any issues, make sure to check the console of your browser for any error messages. It’s also a good idea to inspect the network requests to ensure that all files are being loaded correctly.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we learned how to deploy an Ionic app to a web server. We covered building the Ionic app for production, transferring files to a web server, configuring the web server, and testing the deployed app. By following these steps, you can make your Ionic app accessible through a URL and reach a wider audience.