Containerizing Node.
js application on Docker
The primary goal of this example is to show you how to allow Node.js application into Docker
container. For this example, you need Docker installed and a basic understanding of Node.js. I have
used Ubuntu for this setup. Node.js container generally have Dockerfile that comprises of the app
and will start when Docker engine initiates container off image.
Setup comprises of 1. Connect container to docker Host
2. Connect container to Database (PostgreSQL for database connectivity)
1. Update your system
apt update && sudo apt upgrade
2. Install PostgreSQL
apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib
3. Change the Postgres user’s Password
passwd postgres
4. Set password for postgres database user
su - postgres
psql -d template1 -c "ALTER USER postgres WITH PASSWORD 'yourpassword';"
5. Create Database for app and connect
Created nodejs
Psql nodejs
Add hello world to the DB
nodejs=# CREATE TABLE hello (message varchar);
nodejs=# INSERT INTO hello VALUES ('Hello world');
nodejs=# \q
6. Create Dump of DB for later use and sign out of the postgre Linux user using exit command:
pg_dumpall > backup.sql
7. Copy the dump data to home directory
sudo cp /var/lib/postgresql/backup.sql ~/.
8. In this scenario we will be connecting database from a container which will have IP address
other than our localhost, for this edit PostgreSQL config file to allow connections from
remote IP’s.
Open /etc/postgresql/9.5/main/postgresql.conf in a text editor.
Uncomment the listen_addresses line and set it to ‘*’:
9. Enable and start the postgresql service:
sudo systemctl enable postgresql
sudo systemctl restart postgresql
10. Create Hello World app on Node.js
Install Node and NPM and navigate to home directory and create a directory app.
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_8.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install nodejs
mkdir app && cd app
11. Use vim or nano to create app.js
12. Install the pg module and test the app, database will display “Hello world ” on the console.
This app uses NPM module to establish database connectivity, it then later queries hello
table which return “Hello world message”.
npm install pg
node app.js
13. Connect container to Docker Host
GO to home directory and create a Dockerfile to run Node.js application
Image from docker file will copy the app/ directory to new image and edit app.js to allow
application to connect with database instead of localhost.
14. Build image from Docker file from current directory
docker build -t Node1_image .
15. Connect container to Database
Docker sets default bridge network through docker0 network interface, use ifconfig to view
interface
16. Allow PostgreSQL to connect from Docker interface for that go to
/etc/postgresql/10/main/pg_hba.conf
17. Since docker host contains IP address as 172.17.0.1 all containers of host will have an IP
address in range of 172.17.0.0/16
18. Restart the database :
Sudo Systemctl restart postgresql
19. Now start the container
docker run --add-host=database:172.17.0.1 --name container_node container_image
The add host will allow database host ,which will locate IP address of Docker host.
20. Now, within the container, use ping command to test connection to database host
docker exec -it container_node ping database
21. Now, Test the container by pinging the address from Docker host
docker exec -it container_node node home/app.js
If the configuration is successful, the program will display “Hello World”
Image Reference: https://medium.com/@simon_lee/how-i-learned-docker-and-deployed-a-
node-js-server-200e742259e5
