pm2 unable to register service on port when started with ansible - node.js

Question

I have the following ansible playbook
- name: "update apt package."
become: yes
apt:
update_cache: yes
- name: "update packages"
become: yes
apt:
upgrade: yes
- name: "Remove dependencies that are no longer required"
become: yes
apt:
autoremove: yes
- name: "Install Dependencies"
become: yes
apt:
name: ["nodejs", "npm"]
state: latest
update_cache: yes
- name: Install pm2
become: yes
npm:
name: pm2
global: yes
production: yes
state: present
- name: Creates Directory
become: yes
file:
path: ~/backend
state: directory
mode: 0755
- name: Copy backend dist files web server
become: yes
copy:
src: ~/project/artifact.tar.gz
dest: ~/backend/artifact.tar.gz
- name: Extract backend files
become: yes
shell: |
cd ~/backend
tar -vxf artifact.tar.gz
#pwd
- name: Executing node
become: true
become_method: sudo
become_user: root
shell: |
cd ~/backend
npm install
npm run build
pm2 stop default
pm2 start npm --name "backend" -- run start --port 3030
pm2 status
cd ~/backend/dist
pm2 start main.js --update-env
pm2 status
I have the following issue with the task Executing node. So on my remote server, if I run each of the commands manually, after logging onto the remote machine via SSH, as root user, pm2 starts the services as expected as I can also confirm from pm2 status. I can also verify that the service is bound to port 3030 and listening on it (as expected).
But when I try doing the same using Ansible playbook, PM2 does start the service, but for some reason it does not bind the service to the port 3030 as I can see there is nothing listening on 3030.
Can someone please help?
Major edit 1
I also tried breaking up the entire task into smaller ones and run them as individual commands through the command module. But the results are still the same.
Updated roles playbook:
- name: "update apt package."
become: yes
apt:
update_cache: yes
- name: "update packages"
become: yes
apt:
upgrade: yes
- name: "Remove dependencies that are no longer required"
become: yes
apt:
autoremove: yes
- name: "Install Dependencies"
become: yes
apt:
name: ["nodejs", "npm"]
state: latest
update_cache: yes
- name: Install pm2
become: yes
npm:
name: pm2
global: yes
production: yes
state: present
- name: Creates Directory
become: yes
file:
path: ~/backend
state: directory
mode: 0755
- name: Copy backend dist files web server
become: yes
copy:
src: ~/project/artifact.tar.gz
dest: ~/backend/artifact.tar.gz
#dest: /home/ubuntu/backend/artifact.tar.gz
- name: Extract backend files
become: yes
shell: |
cd ~/backend
tar -vxf artifact.tar.gz
- name: NPM install
become: true
command: npm install
args:
chdir: /root/backend
register: shell_output
- name: NPM build
become: true
command: npm run build
args:
chdir: /root/backend
register: shell_output
- name: PM2 start backend
become: true
command: pm2 start npm --name "backend" -- run start
args:
chdir: /root/backend
register: shell_output
- name: PM2 check backend status in pm2
become: true
command: pm2 status
args:
chdir: /root/backend
register: shell_output
- name: PM2 start main
become: true
command: pm2 start main.js --update-env
args:
chdir: /root/backend/dist
register: shell_output
- debug: var=shell_output
No change in the result even with the above:
while running the same manually, either individually each command on the bash shell or through a .sh script (as below) works just fine.
#!/bin/bash
cd ~/backend
pm2 start npm --name "backend" -- run start
pm2 status
cd dist
pm2 start main.js --update-env
pm2 status
pm2 save
Sometimes, even the manual steps also do not get the port up and listening while the service is still up. But this happens rarely and I am unable to consistently reproduce this issue.
Why is this not working is my primary question. What's am I doing wrong? My assumption is that, conceptually, it should work.
My secondary question is how can I make this work?