How to deploy a Node.js application using a Docker?

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Today we will discuss on how to deploy a Node.js application using a Docker in the cloud server. Before that let us discuss what is Node.js and docker.

Node.js is a free, open-source server environment and uses javascript on the server and runs on various platform like Linux, Windows, Unix etc. And its Cross-stage runtime condition is based on Chrome’sV8 javascript motor. Using you can create a quick, versatile server-side web application and it is also a highly scalable server-side application using javascript. It is lightweight and effective as it is the occasion -driven and non-blocking I/O display.

A Docker allows the package an application with all of its dependencies into a standardized unit, called a container, and this container is a stripped-to-basics version of a Linux operating system. The software which is loaded into the container is called an image. Here a Docker image will be built for the application and the image runned as a container.

 

Follow the below steps to deploy a Node.js application using a Docker in cloud server:

Step 1: Create your Node application:

  Step 1.1: Log-in to your SSH and

  Step 1.2: Create a directory called src

                    $  mkdir src

   Step 1.3: Change directory (this will be the root directory for the project)

                     $ cd src

 

Step 1.4: Create a file name package.json and add the following using the editor  (You can edit and add, your name, description, author)

               $ nano package.json

Add the following:

{

"name": "hey_there",

"private": true,

"version": "0.0.1",

"description": "hey there Example",

"author": "",

"dependencies": {

      "express": "3.2.4"

                              }

}

Step 2: Create an index.js  and change the port to 8080 ( or to any other port which is required)

        Step 2.1: Create index.js using the below:

                                        $ nano index.js

        Step 2.2: Add the below

 

var express = require('express');

var app = express();

app.get('/', function (req, res) {

  res.send('Hello from Docker\n');

});

app.listen(8080);

console.log('Running on http://localhost:8080');

Step 3: Create a docker file where it allows you to build and deploy a docker image based on the set of instructions you have provided within it.

Step 3.1: create a file named Dockerfile  and populate it with the below command

                                 $ nano Dockerfile

Step 3.2: Add the below code

FROM centos:latest

MAINTAINER Name Here <username@localhost>

RUN rpm -Uvh http://happy.me.in/epel/7/x86_64/e/epel-release-7-5.noarch.rpm

RUN yum install nodejs npm -y

COPY ./src /opt/src

RUN cd /opt/src; npm install

EXPOSE 8080

CMD ["node", "/opt/src/index.js"]

The explanation for the above code:

FROM centos:latest :  will use an image called centos. In case there is no image/pic available on your host, Docker will pull one from its repository.

MAINTAINER Name Here <username@localhost>: This instruction allows you to set the author for the image being created.

RUN rpm -Uvh http://mirror.pnl.gov/epel/7/x86_64/e/epel-release-7-5.noarch.rpm

RUN yum install nodejs npm -y

RUN cd /opt/src; npm install

These instructions will  "RUN" file will execute the shell commands given. Now you have to download the epel-release rpm and install it and also install nodejs and npm from its repository.

COPY ./src /opt/src:  To Copy the directory from the host into the container.

EXPOSE 8080: Open port 8080 for the outside world to use.

CMD ["node", "/opt/src/index.js"] :  Once you open the port CMD will provide default execution for the container.

Step 4: To Build image run this command

docker build -t name/application

Step 5: To deploy and test the application by using the  following command

docker run -p 89110:8080 -d name/application

Step 6: To test the application so to run that applicant follow the below command

curl http://132.17.24.26:89110/

If you see Hello from Docker then you have successfully deployed your Docker image.

 

Following the above steps, you can deploy a Node.js application using a Docker.