Docker and Deployment¶

This guide covers Docker configuration and deployment strategies for the MVP template.

Docker Configuration¶

The template includes Docker configuration for both development and production environments.

Docker Files¶

docker-compose.dev.yml: Development environment configuration
docker-compose.yml: Production environment configuration
frontend/Dockerfile.dev: Frontend development container configuration
frontend/Dockerfile: Frontend production container configuration
backend/Dockerfile.dev: Backend development container configuration
backend/Dockerfile: Backend production container configuration

Environment Variables¶

Docker Compose uses environment variables defined in these files:

.env.development: Development environment variables
.env.production: Production environment variables

The template includes .env.example as a starting point.

Development with Docker¶

Start the development environment:

docker compose --env-file .env.development -f docker-compose.dev.yml up

This will start: - Frontend development server with hot reloading - Backend API server with hot reloading - Any other services defined in docker-compose.dev.yml

Volume Mounts¶

In development mode, the source code directories are mounted as volumes, allowing for hot reloading:

volumes:
  - ./frontend:/app
  - /app/node_modules

Production Deployment¶

Build and run for production:

# Set the BUILD_ID environment variable
export BUILD_ID=$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)

# Build the containers
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.yml build

# Run the containers
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.yml up -d

Or use the included build script:

ENVIRONMENT=production ./build.sh
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.yml up -d

Container Registry Deployment¶

To push images to a container registry:

Update the image names in docker-compose.yml:

image: your-registry.com/your-username/your-project:frontend-${BUILD_ID:-latest}

Build and push the images:

# Build the containers
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.yml build

# Push the containers
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.yml push

Customizing Docker Configuration¶

Adding New Services¶

To add a new service, add a new section to the Docker Compose files:

new-service:
  build:
    context: ./new-service
    dockerfile: Dockerfile
  environment:
    - VARIABLE=value
  ports:
    - "1234:1234"
  networks:
    - app-network

Customizing Resource Limits¶

You can add resource limits to your services:

services:
  backend:
    # ... other configuration
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '0.5'
          memory: 512M

Continuous Deployment¶

The template includes a GitHub Actions workflow in .github/workflows/ci.yml that can be extended for continuous deployment:

deploy:
  needs: [backend-tests, frontend-tests]
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
    - name: Deploy to production
      run: |
        # Add your deployment steps here
        echo "Deploying to production..."

Secrets Management¶

For production deployments, you should use a secrets management solution:

Docker Swarm secrets
Kubernetes secrets
Environment variable encryption

Example using Docker Swarm secrets:

# Create a secret
echo "my-secret-value" | docker secret create my_secret -

# Reference the secret in docker-compose.yml
secrets:
  my_secret:
    external: true

services:
  backend:
    secrets:
      - my_secret

Health Checks¶

The template includes health checks for services. You can customize these in the Docker Compose files:

healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8000/healthcheck"]
  interval: 10s
  timeout: 5s
  retries: 5