Parse Server is an open source implementation of the Parse API for mobile applications. It can be be deployed to a range of environments running Node.js and MongoDB. This series focuses on running Parse Server infrastructure in generic GNU/Linux environments such as those provided by DigitalOcean.

Parse is a Mobile Backend as a Service platform. In January of 2016, Parse announced that its hosted services would shut down within a year. In order to help its users transition away from the service, Parse has released an open source version of its backend, called Parse Server. This guide supplements the official documentation with instructions for installing the Parse Server module on an Ubuntu 14.04 system, such as a DigitalOcean Droplet.

Parse is a Mobile Backend as a Service platform which is shutting down in January of 2017; fortunately, Parse has released an open source API called Parse Server. Parse Server is under active development, and seems likely to attract a large developer community. It can be be deployed to a range of environments running Node.js and MongoDB. This guide focuses on migrating a pre-existing Parse application to a standalone instance of Parse Server running on Ubuntu 14.04.