app.js becomes app.cjs (common js) imports must be require instead ie: var http = require('http'); var express = require('express'); // Assuming Node.js env with npm // Body Parser and Mongoose likely installed through npm var bodyParser = require('body-parser'); var mongoose = require('mongoose'); const app = express(); and then end the file with: // Start the server on a port as defined by cPanel environment (e.g., process.env.PORT) app.listen(process.env.PORT, () => { console.log(`Server started on port ${process.env.PORT}`); }); add environment variables in cpanel and npm install dotenv in terminal require('dotenv').config(); const variable = process.env.variable